BATON ROUGE, La. — A near miss of a grand slam in the opening game, and a lack of offensive output in the second kept Central Arkansas from picking up a win on opening day of the 2014 season as the Bears fell 8-4 to Murray State and 3-0 to Oklahoma State in the first day of the Tiger Classic at LSU.

The Bears (0-2) narrowly missed grabbing a lead late in the Murray State (1-0) game when freshman left fielder Hannah Stirton came to the plate with bases loaded and two outs and the Bears trailing 7-4, and hit a shot to left field that was caught over the wall by the Racers' Cayla Levins to end the Bears' sixth inning.

The Racers tacked on an additional run in the bottom half of the inning and then closed it out by allowing only a Taylor Dear single in the seventh to seal the victory.

All of UCA's runs came in the 5th inning, which began with a Sam Forrest double followed by a Sarah Bigej walk and a single from Stirton to score Forrest. Sophomore catcher Jessie Taylor then stepped in and crushed a three-run homer to make it 6-4 Racers. The Racers responded with a run in the bottom of both the 5th and 6th, and had another called back due to runner leaving early.

The Bears gave up 13 hits and walked five in the loss, and stranded nine base runners in all. Taylor and senior Taylor Dear each had a pair of hits in the loss.

In the second game, against Oklahoma State (1-0), the Bears mustered only three hits and coaxed no walks as they were shut out 3-0 by the Cowgirls. OSU got a pair of runs in the third inning and added another in the seventh – benefitting from a UCA throwing error that allowed OSU's Michaela Patton to score a batter later.

The Bears threatened in the third, getting Forrest and Bigej on 2nd and 3rd base, but were unable to push them across the plate.

Junior Ciara Clampitt pitched the entire seven innings for the Bears in the nightcap, surrendering just two earned runs on six hits.

The Bears continue play in the Tiger Classic on Saturday when they take on Minnesota at 11 a.m. and Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville immediately following.