CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears got timely hitting and another solid performance from a pair of pitchers to down trhe Eastern Illinois Panthers 5-1 in non-conference action Friday at Bear Stadium.
Evan Cox, a 6-foot, 200-pound senior righthander from Maumelle, threw six innings, striking out six and allowing one earned run for his first victory. Junior righthander Blake Payne, from Victoria, Texas, went the final three innings, allowing two hits, no runs and striking out two. The same duo combined to beat Southern Illinois Edwardsville 5-4 in last Friday’s opener.
The Bears (4-0) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning when third baseman Bryan Willson singled to left center and advanced to second on Jonathan Houston’s single. The Panthers recorded two outs before center fielder Jordan Getchell singled to center to score Houston. EIU (0-4) tied it at 1-1 in the third inning on Daniel Rowe’s RBI single.
UCA then took the lead for good with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Willson started it again with a single and Houston followed with another. Kyle Prevett then walked to load the bases. Greg Noble hit a ground ball to third but EIU’s third baseman Ryan Dineen threw high and wild to the plate, allowing both Wilson and Houston to score for a 3-1 lead.
Senior Zack Dickson had a one-out single in the fifth and moved to second on Ethan Harris’ perfectly placed bunt single. A fielder’s choice put Dickson on third and Houston walked to end the day for the Panthers’ starter Mike Hoekstra (0-2). Prevett greeted reliever Brent McNeil with a two-run single up the middle for a 5-1 lead.
Cox opened the seventh inning with a walk and gave way to Payne. He came in and forced a double play and, after allowing a base hit, got leadoff hitter Nick Preissman to pop out to second base. He struck out two, both in the top of the ninth inning, for his first save.
Houston was 2 for 3 with two runs scored, while Wilson was 2 for 4 and also scored twice. Shawn Ferguson and Jacob Reese combined for 4 of EIU’s 5 hits.
The teams meet again at 4 p.m. Saturday and close out the series at 1 p.m. Sunday.
