CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears made short work of the fourth-place Sam Houston State Bearkats on Friday night, rolling to a 16-0 victory in seven innings and less than two hours at Bear Stadium.
The Bears (22-26, 11-17), fighting to get into the Southland Conference postseason tournament, jumped on SHSU starter Brandon Kimbrel in the first inning, scoring three runs on two hits. They added four runs in the fourth and then exploded for nine more in the fifth inning to tie their highest run total of the season.
For the game, UCA out-hit SHSU 15-3, with three Bears getting as many hits as the Bearkats (33-18, 16-12) did as a team. Seniors Zack Dickson and Kyle Prevett, and sophomore Ethan Harris had three hits each, with Harris and Prevett knocking in two runs apiece.
Harris started the rout in the bottom of the first with a leadoff single to right field. Jonathan Davis followed with a walk and Michael Pair’s single scored Harris. Blake Roberts reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Davis before Roberts and Pair executed a perfect double steal, with Pair crossing the plate for a 3-0 lead.
In the fourth, the Bears chased Kimbrel, who entered the game with a 6-2 record. Greg Noble, Dickson and Prevett had consecutive singles to load the bases for Harris, who had a ground-rule double to right field to score two runs. Davis’ sacrifice fly made it 6-0 and Jonathan Houston doubled down the right-field line to score the seventh run.
With UCA starter Dustin Ward cruising to his fifth victory in his past six conference starts, the Bears put it out of reach in the fifth by sending 14 batters to the plate. The Bears collected seven hits, two walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch to score nine times.
Snider cleared the bases with a three-run double midway through the inning. Prevett had two RBI in separate at-bats in the inning, while Davis, Houston and Roberts knocked in the other runs.
Ward (8-3) set the Bearkats down in order in the top of the seventh inning to give the Bears their biggest margin of victory since joining the Southland Conference. The junior lefthander allowed 3 hits, all singles, and struck out 6. The Bearkats are the No. 2 hitting team in the league with a .298 average, and also have the top pitching staff with a team earned-run average of 3.21
Kimbrell (6-3) got the loss, allowing 7 hits and 7 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Harris went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI from the leadoff spot. Dickson finished 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored and Prevett was 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.
Game 2 is set for 4 p.m. Saturday.
