HAMMOND, La. — Central Arkansas split on the opening day of the 2014 Southland Conference Softball Tournament at North Oak Park in Hammond, La. on Friday, defeating Sam Houston State 1-0 before falling 5-3 to Northwestern State later in the day. The Bears will face Stephen F. Austin at 1:30 p.m. Friday in an elimination game.
In the opener, the 6th-seeded Bears (25-33) knocked off 3rd-seeded Sam Houston State 1-0, scoring the game's lone run in the top of the 5th when sophomore third baseman Sam Forrest brought home sophomore center fielder Amy Gunnells from second base with a single into right field. Gunnells had singled to lead off the inning, was pushed to second on a Hannah Stirton sacrifice bunt, and then came around on Forrest's hit, giving Forrest her 43rd RBI of the season.
UCA pitcher Kylie Studioso held the Bearkats (26-26) to just four hits in throwing her fifth shutout of the season, and in the 7th inning retired the Bearkats in order with a pair of flyouts to Gunnells in center field and a groundout back into the circle to clinch the victory. The Bearkats were unable to advance a runner past second in the game as they were shut out for the first time this season by a Southland team, first time in 19 games, and just the fourth time this season – the others coming vs. No. 8 Nebraska, at No. 20 Louisiana, at Baylor.
Forrest and Sarah Bigej each had two hits for the Bears, with Gunnells and Stirton each reaching once.
In the day's second game, the Bears struck first in the opening stanza – putting the first two batters on and scoring when junior shortstop Hayley Parker doubled to score Forrest.
The Lady Demons (28-20) answered back with two runs in the 4th and another in the 5th to take a 3-1 lead, getting a pair of solo home runs from Brianna Rodriguez and Cassandra Barefield and a bases-loaded walk from Cali Burke.
The Bears battled back in the top of the 6th, scoring two to tie the game 3-3 when senior designated player Taylor Dear came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a high hopper over Rodriguez at first base to score Parker and pinch runner Lindsey Barsoum. Following Dear's hit, the Bears had runners on the corners with one out, but the Lady Demons retired the next two UCA hitters to end the threat.
Unfortunately for the Bears, NSU had an answer in the bottom half of the inning, scoring what would prove to be the winning runs on a triple by Burke to right-center.
The Bears got the tying run to the plate in the 7th as Bigej drew a one-out walk, but could do no further damage.
With the loss, UCA will face SFA on Friday in a game scheduled for 1:30 p.m., weather permitting. The Bears took both regular-season meetings, winning 7-6 and 7-3 in Conway before the series finale was canceled due to rain.
