The ASUN Softball Championship has been all about momentum swings and big innings, especially on May 8 at the University of North Florida Softball Complex when the title game matchup was set.
But it was played without either of Duval County’s ASUN members.
Fourth-seeded Jacksonville University eliminated No. 7 and defending conference champion North Florida with a 9-2 victory in a loser’s bracket game on May 8, but the Dolphins then fell to Central Arkansas 6-1 later in the day.
No. 2 Stetson beat vs. No. 1 UCA 4-0 on May 9 in the championship game to win its first ASUN softball title since 2014.
JU (34-21) scored four runs in the first inning and four in the fourth to take command against UNF (39-22) and win for the fifth time in seven meetings this season.
But after a 1-0 lead on Kate Linkletter’s fourth homer of the season in first inning held up through four against UCA (36-18-1), the roof caved in on the Dolphins when the Bears scored three in the fifth on Trinity Brandon’s bases-clearing single, then added three in the sixth, thanks in large part to two JU infield throwing errors in which players covering a base for force outs were pulled off the bag by wide throws.
JU’s ‘wheels fell off’
The Bears began their rally in the fifth by loading the bases, then scoring everyone when Brandon hit the right-center gap with a drive that rolled to the wall.
The Dolphins got runners on second and third with one out in the top of the sixth on Alison Carter’s fielder’s choice grounder and a double by Lindsey Chadwick. But UCA relief pitcher Emory Bowlin got Emma Mansfield to line out to short and Tatum McCool to pop to third.
LJ Smith led the Bears’ sixth off with a walk and was safe at second when Wells snared a bouncer up the middle hit by Lilly Hood and pulled shortstop Vic Bruneman off the bag with her throw. Gracie St. Hillaire then bunted down the third base line and Chadwick’s throw pulled McCool off the bag.
Grace Molitor then belted a two-run single and Addie Graham followed with an RBI hit.
Before those final two at-bats for the Bears, JU pitcher Reese Wells (7-7) had scattered six hits in five scoreless innings
“We needed more runs,” said Dolphins coach Erica Ayers. “Reese was doing a great job keeping them off balance and we figured we’d get a few more. And then the wheels kind of fell off on defense at the end.”
Ospreys ‘had a burden’ as defending champions
UNF’s reign as the ASUN Champions ended with the loss, and coach Jeff Conrad said returning players and those who come into the program need to understand that the bar will be set by last year’s team, which won the school’s first ASUN title and advanced to an NCAA regional championship game.
“It was a team that had a burden to carry all year, having a title to defend,” Conrad said. “There were times when we did a really good job of managing that and times that we felt the weight of it. It’s a good problem to have. They fought until the last day and there’s a lot to be said about that.”
Dolphins jump on Ospreys early
Jacksonville escaped a jam in the top of the first inning against UNF (39-22), then scored four runs in the bottom half to take the lead for good.
Hallie Langford singled and Addie Keef beat out a bunt, and JU pitcher Jacy Harrelson unleashed a wild pitch to move the runners up.
But she bailed herself out with two strikeouts and fly to Wells in left.
Carter highlighted JU’s first with a two-run single, Mansfield hit a sacrifice fly and Brunette added an RBI single.
“That was a challenge,” Conrad said. “I thought the first inning kind of defined the game. We had second and third, nobody out, the middle of our lineup up and get a chance to strike first and seize momentum. We weren’t able to cash in and they come out and do basically the same thing. Credit to JU for getting out of that situation and flipping it.”
The Dolphins added four runs in the fourth, highlighted by RBI hits by Kate Linkletter and Sarah Beth Brake and a double by Carter. Lindsey Chadwick closed it out with her 11th homer of the season in the sixth.
Harrrelson (22-7), the ASUN Pitcher of the Year, threw her second complete game of the tournament, allowing 10 hits in each game but walking only three. She struck out four against UNF.
Stetson dispatches UCA with ease in title game
Hayley Arnold, the tournament MVP, threw a three-hitter with five strikeouts and only one walk in the championship game. She capped a week in which she threw 11.1 scoreless innings, allowing only four hits and four walks.
The Hatters beat UNF 4-2 and Central Arkansas 8-2 to reserve their spots in the championship and eventually win their sixth ASUN softball title.
Arnold made relief appearances in Stetson’s first two victories in relief of Ava Braswell, and then got the start in the championship game. Mason Barclay’s two-run homer in the fourth proved to be all Arnold needed.
Center fielder Jaida Thomas and Harrelson made the All-Tournament team for the JU Dolphins, and pitcher Taylor Cook for UNF.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Central Arkansas scores late and often to eliminate JU from ASUN Softball
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
