Arkansas-Missouri softball game suspended, to continue Friday

A weather delay caused the Arkansas softball team’s SEC Tournament opener against Missouri to be suspended in the top of the fifth inning late Thursday at Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field.

The game is scheduled to resume Friday at 9 a.m. CDT. Missouri will be leading the Razorbacks, 2-1, and will have runners at first and third with no one out.

A day of thunderstorms caused two games to be postponed until Friday: quarterfinal matchups between Georgia-Florida and South Carolina-Texas A&M. Thursday’s scheduled first game between LSU and top-seeded Tennessee (won by LSU in a 2-1 upset) was delayed from its scheduled 10 a.m. start time until 5 p.m.

When Arkansas-Missouri got underway shortly after 8 p.m., the Tigers struck in the first inning against Razorbacks starter Morgan Leinstock. Jenna Laird led off the game with a single and stole second. Maddie Gallagher drove in Laird with an RBI double that fell just in front of a sliding Reagan Johnson in left-center for an early 1-0 Missouri lead.

After Arkansas’ Hannah Gammill ended a nine-pitch at-bat with a game-tying solo home run to center off Missouri starter Cierra Harrison in the fourth inning, the Tigers’ bats wasted no time in going right back to work in the fifth.

Kayley Lenger led off the inning with a bunt single along the first base line. Arkansas catcher Kennedy Miller waited for the ball to go foul until home plate umpire Robbie Guest correctly signaled that it was a fair ball. Afterwards, Laird connected for her second hit of the night, a run-scoring double off the top of the wall in center that put Missouri back on top.

When Alex Honnold followed Laird with an infield single to put runners at the corners with no one out, it forced Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel to make a pitching change. Robyn Herron entered in relief before a nearby lightning strike caused the game to go into a delay at 9:24 p.m. CDT officially.

Leinstock finished the night with four innings pitched. She allowed two runs and seven hits and will be responsible for both runners on base when play resumes Friday.

The game’s continuation can be seen on SEC Network.