BENTONVILLE -- Arkansas-Monticello softball coach Alvy Early wants to find a good second pitcher before the Cottom Blossoms begin Great American Conference play next weekend.
He'll get another chance this weekend as UAM hosts the 8-State Classic, which begins today at Bentonville's Tiger Athletic Complex softball field and Memorial Park. The three-day event features 30 NCAA Division II schools from eight states and a total of 86 games over seven different fields.
UAM 8-State Classic
WHEN Today through Sunday
WHERE Tiger Athletic Complex and Memorial Park, Bentonville
WHAT A three-day event featuring 30 NCAA Division II schools from eight different states and a total of 86 softball games. … Teams mainly come from three conferences — the Great American, the Northern Sun and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association — all of which are in one Super Region. … Games can be used for regional rankings and helping determine postseason play in May. … Event also serves as a fundraiser for Bentonville High’s softball team, whose coach, Kent Early, is the son of Arkansas-Monticello coach Alvy Early.
TEAMS Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech, Central Missouri, Concordia (Minn.), Drury, East Central (Okla.), Emporia State, Fort Hays State, Harding, Henderson State, Illinois-Springfield, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota-Mankato, Missouri-St. Louis, Missouri Southern, Missouri Western, Nebraska-Kearney, Northeastern State, Northwest Missouri, Ouachita Baptist, Pittsburg State, Rockhurst, Rogers State, Southern Arkansas, Southern Nazarene, Southwest Baptist, Upper Iowa, Washburn (Kan.), Wayne State, William Jewell.
SCHEDULE Can be found online at www.uamsports.com.
Senior Kendra Coleman picked up both wins last weekend as UAM (2-2) opened its season with an invitational classic in Bentonville. She has a 2.84 ERA, but everybody else on the pitching staff's ERA stands at 5.06 or higher.
"I looked at our conference stats, and we are first in hitting, first in fielding and last in pitching," Early said. "You're going to throw your number one pitcher against another team's number one, and you're not going to win all of those. We need somebody to do the job in the second game."
The field is heavy with teams from the GAC, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association -- all of which comprise one of the Division II super regions. This weekend's games are important to those teams because they will be used in determining regional rankings down the road.
Southern Arkansas (7-1) heads the field with its No. 5 ranking in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association's national poll, while Harding (6-0) is ranked 18th and Missouri-St. Louis (6-4) is 24th. Arkansas Tech (5-3) fell three votes short of remaining in the poll, and Wayne State (Mich.) also fell out.
"There's going to be some tough competition," Early said. "There is SAU, which is nationally ranked. Tech suffered a couple of losses, but any time you have Alyssa Gum, you're dangerous. Minnesota-Mankato has been a regional power in the past, while Northwest Missouri State looked good and Missouri-St. Louis has played well."
Bentonville has become almost a second home for Early, the father of Bentonville High coach Kent Early, and his UAM team. The Cotton Blossoms have yet to play at home and will have played 10 games at Bentonville once the classic is completed.
"The bad thing is we will have played 18 games before we play one at home," Early said. "We open conference play at Southeastern Oklahoma and at Southern Nazarene. That's tough on students being away from classics, and it's tough on a team physically."
Sports on 02/17/2017