CONWAY, Ark. - It was a case of deja vu for the Eastern Kentucky University softball team as it took extra innings to decide the series opener against Central Arkansas, with the Colonels taking the win in ten innings on Sunday night.

The Colonels (27-9, 8-1 ASUN) have only played two games this year that required free softball to decide the winner, both against the Bears. The other result was a 2-1 win in eleven innings for the Colonels during the previous series opener between the two teams on Mar. 14 in Richmond.

As with the previous extra inning game, Maddi Rutan (12-6) was in the circle for the Colonels, pitching a complete 10.0 inning showing that featured 12 strikeouts and just five hits.

The performance brings the sophomore up to 150 strikeouts this season, sitting top ten in the nation and just ten strikeouts behind her previous season total in 70.0 fewer innings.

It was the Colonels striking first early in the game as Makayla Mathis picked up her fourth RBI in six games, driving a single up the middle in the second inning.

That run was all the scoring the game would see until the dying moments of regulation. The Bears tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh on a solo home run to right field. UCA further threatened to walk the game off with a runner on first with two outs. However, a runner left early violation came as the final out in the inning to end the threat.

Neither team could muster the decisive run in the eighth and ninth innings as Rutan and Bailey Runner were engaged in another heated pitching duel - both having been the starters and pitching complete games in the previous eleven-inning contest.

The breakthrough came for the Colonels in the top of the tenth as Jaelin Haynes was placed on second base as a ghost runner to start the inning.

Kennedy Drafton delivered in a big way, putting the Colonels ahead with a lined shot up the middle as she scored Haynes and put herself on second after the Bear center fielder could not handle the ball. Rutan followed up with a single of her own through the right side that scored Drafton for the insurance run.

The Bears attempted a second comeback to extend the game, putting runners on the corners with just one out, but the Colonel defense tightened up and shut down the next two batters to take the win.

UP NEXT

The teams finish the rain-delayed series with a doubleheader on Monday. First pitch for game one is for 12 PM ET with game two scheduled for 2:30 PM.