Natchitoches, La. – The Central Arkansas Bears took the field on Saturday looking to put themselves in position for a sweep of one of the top teams in the Southland Conference on Saturday afternoon. The game was tied for most of the afternoon, but the Bears surrendered a trio of late runs, falling to the Northwestern State Demons 5-4.
Northwestern State (21-17, 13-6 SLC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, getting a sacrifice fly from first baseman CJ Webster and an RBI single from second baseman David Fry, but the Bears answered immediately, putting up two runs of their own in the top of the second. Catcher
Travis Hull led off the inning with a walk and was sacrificed to second base by second baseman
Brad Dillenberger before third baseman
Hayden Steele drove him in with a double to right field. After Steele moved to third on a wild pitch, right fielder
Ty Tice ripped a single through the right side to drive him in and even the score at 2-2.
Central Arkansas (19-13, 10-7 SLC) got another pair of runs in the top of the seventh to take a 4-2 lead. Designated hitter
Nick Rougeau got things started with a single up the middle and came in to score on a double from left fielder
Wesley Hoover, who then scored on a single from first baseman
Matt Anderson.
The lead would hold until the bottom of the ninth, when the Demon put up three runs to secure the win. Fry pulled NWLA to within 4-3 with a single to left field, and right fielder Caleb Dugas drove a two-run single to right field to plate a pair and end the game.
Brandon Hagerla started on the mound for the Bears, limiting the Demons to two runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four in 4.2 innings.
Bo Stitch was the first Bear out of the bullpen, allowing two hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Derek Beier (2-1) took the hard-luck loss, allowing three runs, all of which were unearned, on four hits while striking out one in two innings.
Riley Echols retired one batter, allowed one hit, and issued one walk in 0.1 innings.
The Bears and the Demons will play the rubber match of their three game set tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 PM.
