Conway, Ark. –

The Central Arkansas softball team paid tribute to the courage of the military on Sunday afternoon, hosting the Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions for Military Appreciation Day. The Bears wore special camo jerseys to commemorate the occasion and welcomed military veterans onto the field for a pre-game ceremony. On the field, the Bears took advantage of a big first inning to take down the Lady Lions 5-0.

Central Arkansas (31-16, 10-9 SLC) jumped out to an early lead, plating four runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Central Arkansas took advantage of four hits, five steals and an error in the inning to put together their biggest inning of the weekend. Second baseman Melissa Bryant, third baseman Tiffany Roby, and designate player Jessie Taylor had RBIs in the inning.

The Bears added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning to push their lead to 5-0. Melissa Bryant doubled down the left field line to open the inning, before being lifted for pinch runner Cristin Curl. Curl moved to third on a wild pitch and came in to score on a sacrifice fly by catcher Melanie Bryant.

Kelsie Armstrong (24-10) earned the win for Central Arkansas, throwing her fifth complete game and third shutout of the past week. She kept the Lady Lions (28-18, 10-11 SLC) scoreless on the day, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out six. Rachael Hellyer (11-2) suffered the loss, surrendering four runs on three hits and a walk without recording an out in the first inning. Taylor Bishop threw six innings of relief for Southeastern Louisiana, giving up one run on five hits and three walks while striking out one.

Central Arkansas returns to the field on Wednesday, traveling to Monroe, Louisiana to face Louisiana-Monroe. The Bears then return home for their final home series of the year, playing host to SLC foe Lamar. The teams will play a double header beginning at 11:00 am on Saturday before wrapping up the series with a single game at 1:00 on Sunday afternoon.