The Lady Hornets went 3-1 in the Ark-Monicello Division II Challenge in Bentonville, Arizona this past weekend. In the tournament, they went head to head against four teams from the area.  

“I think the camaraderie of the team has been going uphill these past two weekends,” said senior outfielder Carlie McComb. “We definitely all played for one another and played for the name on the front of the jersey. We strung together hits and limited our errors.” 

The first game that the Hornets played this weekend was on Thursday, Feb. 8.  The ladies got off to a rocky start as they started the weekend off with a loss.  They played Arkansas Tech University and took a hard loss, 5-9.

Although the Hornets had a rough start in the first game, they came back in the second game of the double header. The Hornets scored the first five runs of the game. In the end, ESU defeated Harding University 6-4.

The third game that was played was the following day, Feb. 9. The Hornets again won in a very high scoring battle.  They played Missouri Western State University, a team in their division, and won 17-10.

The fourth and final game of the tournament was played on Feb. 9, in the second double header this weekend. The Hornets played the host team, University of Arkansas At Monticello, defeating them 5-3 for an ending average of 3-4 in overall games for the weekend.

Danielle Sprinkle, senior utility hitter, led the Hornet offense over the course of the weekend.

“Everyone has a role, everyone has a job, and everyone is needed to make sure we get a W,” said senior outfielder Annilese Rockley. “I think because our pitchers are so young, as a team we are focusing on instilling confidence in them, which in turn puts confidence in ourselves.”

The Lady Hornets will be back in action this weekend, playing at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Trusler Sports Complex.