Lake Charles, La. – The Central Arkansas Bears faced off with league-leading McNeese for a doubleheader to close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon. Despite dropping both games of the DH, 7-1 and 10-2 in five innings, respectively, the Bears clenched the fourth-seed in next week's Southland Conference Tournament.
The day's first game started with McNeese (39-12, 23-4 SLC) jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. The Cowgirls would add a pair of runs in the third to push the lead to 5-0 before Central Arkansas (35-20, 16-11 SLC) got on the board.
First baseman
Audrey Pratt worked a one-out walk to get things going, before moving to second on a single from shortstop
Kate Myers. An error on the play allowed Pratt to advance to third, and a sacrifice fly from pinch hitter
Lindsay Elliott drove her in and cut the McNeese lead to 5-1.
The Cowgirls would add a run in the fifth and the sixth to extend their lead to 7-1.
Kayla Gomness (11-5) took the loss for the Bears, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out one in 5.2 innings.
Nicole Fullilove got the final out for the Bears, striking out one batter and hitting another.
The Bears got off to a better start in game two, when right fielder
Briana Whisenhunt led off the game with a single to center field. She moved to third on an error off the bat of second baseman
Sarah Bigej, before a passed ball allowed her to score, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
McNeese put up a crooked number in the bottom of the inning, however, taking a 4-1 lead into the second.
UCA got a leadoff double from left fielder Hannah Stirton in the top of the second. The UCA outfielder moved to third on a groundout from Pratt, before coming in to score on a sacrifice fly from Myers to cut the McNeese lead to 4-2.
McNeese would add two runs in the third and four in the fifth to put the run-rule into effect.
Payton Herman (1-1) took the loss, surrendering six runs on five hits and a walk in 2.0 innings, while Fullilove gave up four runs on three hits and three walks while striking out one in 2.0 innings of relief.
On the day, the Bears' offense was led by Whisenhunt and Stirton, who each picked up a pair of hits.
Central Arkansas earned the fourth seed in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Lake Charles. The Bears will take on fifth-seeded
Stephen F. Austin at 1:30 PM, with the winner moving on to face top-seeded McNeese at 6:30 PM.
