A-State Drops Two in Opening Day of Club Softball World Series
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Arkansas State University’s club softball team got off to a rocky start as the Red Wolves lost a pair of close games Thursday in the first day of pool play at the National Club Softball Association (NCSA) World Series. A-State fell, 3-2, to Virginia Tech in the morning game and lost on a late run, 7-6, in the afternoon game to North Carolina State.
The tournament, which lasts four days, is being played at South Commons Softball Complex. Arkansas State, seeded ninth, will take on 11th-seeded East Carolina State at 10 a.m. (Central) Friday and wrap up pool play against Clemson, the tournament second seed, at 1 p.m. (Central).
In other tournament news, A-State outfielder Lexi Betts of Camden was named to the 2020 NCSA second team All-America squad.
“Thursday was a tough day,” said Keith Hinson, A-State head coach. “We were hitting the ball. We just need to start getting the timely hits. We just struggled to get the clutch hits when we needed them.”
Even though the score was close against VT, Arkansas State out hit the Hokies, 8-4. Keely Curtis of Harrisburg, led the Red Wolves going 3-for-4 and Betts went 2-for-3. Abby Hooper of Jacksonville started the game, pitching four innings, giving up four hits and three runs. Betts came into finish the game throwing for two innings and giving up no hits.
In the second game, Kendal White of Concord started on the mound, getting six innings of work. As in the first outing, Curtis led the team in hits with three on four at-bats. Rebecca House of Jacksonville, Emily Wilson of Oak Grove, Mo., and Lizzie White of Concord all had two hits apiece. House’s two-inning hit was a home run to start the A-State scoring, but North Carolina State was able to come back to hit a walk-off double to end the game.
Following Friday’s schedule, play resumes Saturday morning in the series double elimination schedule.
Games are available to watch live via the SportsChannelMedia page by selecting “South Commons, Columbus, Ga.,” and then the field number (Field#) from the dropdown menu.
