FAYETTEVILLE — The stage was not too bright for University of Arkansas softball pitcher Payton Burnham in her first NCAA Tournament start.
The freshman right-hander got the start in the Razorbacks’ first game of the Fayetteville Regional on Friday, and she made the most of it in a 10-0, five-inning victory over Saint Louis at Bogle Park.
Burnham pitched the 17th no-hitter in program history, and the first by a Razorback in the NCAA Tournament.
She became the third Arkansas pitcher to accomplish the feat this season, joining Robyn Herron (Feb. 16 vs. Louisiana-Monroe) and Reis Beuerlein (April 18 vs. Colorado State).
“I’m really proud of P for a no-hitter,” Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel said. “It’s really exciting as a freshman to come (into) your first postseason game in Bogle and just really trust your stuff and trust your defense.”
Arkansas advanced to play Oklahoma State (34-18) in winners bracket matchup scheduled for noon Saturday. The Cowgirls erased a four-run deficit to defeat Indiana 11-6 in Friday’s first game.
“When you get out here, no matter if it’s your first one or your 10th one, you have a little bit of nerves,” Deifel said. “There’s excitement, and for them to just stay really present and do what they do — it was great to see them so comfortable in that moment.”
Burnham (14-2) accomplished her no-hitter in 66 pitches, throwing 41 for strikes. She struck out 6 with 1 walk and 1 hit batter while inducing 6 groundouts and 3 fly outs.
It was Burnham’s second consecutive standout performance in front of a home crowd at Bogle Park, also getting a shutout May 3 in the regular-season finale against LSU.
Her performance Friday came in front of an announced crowd of 3,038.
“My defense behind me, they played perfect,” Burnham said. “It wouldn’t have happened without them, but I was just trusting my stuff through the zone, trusting in my defense and then our offense, just putting the pressure on and keeping the pressure on.”
The Razorbacks gave their pitcher immediate run support when they batted through the lineup in a five-run bottom of the first.
Reagan Johnson led off with a single down the third-base line, then stole second base on the second pitch of Bri Ellis’ at-bat. Ellis and Courtney Day both walked in four pitches to load the bases with one out for Kailey Wyckoff, who delivered with an RBI single to right field
It was the onset of a big game for the Texas Tech transfer.
In her first NCAA Tournament game, the junior was 3 for 3 with a career-high 5 RBI. The lefty hitter had a pair of singles and a double.
“Being in postseason for the first time, I kind of got a little bit in my feels,” Wyckoff said. “I kind of had to set that aside, because it’s not about me. But going into it, I just knew that I had to stick to my plan and it just kind of worked out for me.”
It was the second consecutive game for Wyckoff to record three hits, tying her season-high.
“She’s just been on fire lately,” Deifel said. “She is an elite hitter.”
Ella McDowell walked with the bases loaded to tack on another run before Kennedy Miller kept the big inning going with a two-run single up the middle. Atalyia Rijo drew a walk to load the bases for nine-hole hitter Karlie Davison, who singled to left field to stretch the lead to 5-0.
It began a rough outing for Saint Louis starting pitcher Taylor Hochman, who gave up 10 runs in her 3 1/3-inning start. Hochman (16-8) allowed 7 hits and 7 walks against the 25 batters she faced.
“Kudos to Arkansas,” Saint Louis Coach Christy Connoyer said. “They can swing the bat … very disciplined team. Courtney, she runs a really nice program. S, hats off to Arkansas for their discipline and their plate approach.”
Wyckoff extended the lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the second with a sharply hit RBI single up the middle to score Raigan Kramer, who led off the inning with a single.
After a scoreless third, the Razorbacks poured it on again in the fourth.
Wyckoff delivered the game’s only multi-base hit with a bases-clearing double to left-center field. It scored Kramer, Ellis and Day, who reached due to walks and an error. Rijo set the game’s final score with an RBI single up the middle.
“I think we were all just seeing the ball really well today,” Wyckoff said.
Burnham enacted a run rule in the fifth inning, ending the game with a strikeout of Allie Marietta. She was the third Billiken who struck out looking, as Burnham mixed her speeds and kept them guessing.
“She moved the ball well,” Saint Louis catcher Abby Mallo said. “She changed speeds, changed planes. We saw a lot of rise balls and a lot of changeups. It kept batters off balance.”
Burnham, whose family is moving to Arkansas, said her mother Kendall was in the stands to watch her big performance. The former Kendall Richards was a star at Texas A&M, where she set the program’s single-season batting average record of .454 in 1996.
“You could tell right away (Burnham) has some intangibles that you just can’t coach,” said Deifel, recalling recruiting the pitcher. “She wants the ball. She’s fearless. She’s competitive.”
Left-hander Isabel Royle pitched the final two outs for the Billikens and gave up one hit.
Arkansas won a home regional opener in run-rule fashion for the fourth time in five years. Each of those have been shutouts.
“I’m just really proud of the team with the way they came out in our first game here,” Deifel said “I thought that P and our defense set a really good tone in the first inning. Our offense carried that momentum, and I thought they just did an incredible job of taking what they gave us and then also being ready when the ball showed up. I just thought it was a complete effort.”
