Conway – Thanks to a last-minute change-of-venue due to weather, the Central Arkansas Bears played their 2017 home opener nine days earlier than planned, welcoming the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lady Lions to Farris Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Bears found themselves in an early hole, but scored in every inning to put the Lady Lions away in five innings, 10-2.

UAPB (1-5) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to an RBI double from third baseman Kameron Graham, but the Bears responded in the bottom half of the frame, getting a leadoff double from right fielder Briana Whisenhunt and an RBI single from first baseman Kaylyn Shepherd.

Central Arkansas (1-5) struck again in the bottom of the second inning, opening with walks from second baseman Krissy Fontillas and centerfielder Jessie Hoover and getting a sacrifice bunt from third baseman Audrey Pratt to move them into scoring position. After left fielder Hannah Stirton was hit by a pitch, Whisenhunt lofted a sacrifice fly down the left-field line to score Fontillas and a dropped popup off the bat of Shepherd allowed Hoover to score to make it 3-1.

The Bears added two more runs in the third, as Fontillas and Hoover hit back-to-back home runs to left-center field, before getting another pair of runs in the fourth inning. Stirton got things started with a single through the left side and Whisenhunt ripped a single up the middle to move pinch runner Kayla Crutchmer over to third base. A throwing error on the play saw Crutchmer cross the plate to make it 6-1. After Shepherd was hit by a pitch and catcher Lauren Brooks lined out, shortstop Kate Myers poked a single
to centerfield to score Whisenhunt and push the UCA lead to 7-1.

Three Central Arkansas errors gave the Lady Lions a run in the top of the fifth, but the UCA offense more than made up for it in the bottom of the inning. Hoover opened the inning with a walk and Pratt picked up her second sacrifice bunt of the day to move her over before Stirton worked a walk. A single from Whisenhunt scored Hoover before a dropped fly ball plated Stirton and Whisenhunt to end the game.

Sophomore Ellie Reaves (1-1) picked up her first win for the Bears, allowing one earned run on five hits, a walk, and a strikeout in 4.1 innings of work. Senior Kayla Gomness got the final two outs of the fifth inning, getting one strikeout.

The Bears hit the road for four games at the Purple & Gold Challenge, hosted by LSU this weekend. Central Arkansas will face off with Georgia Southern at 12:00 PM on Saturday before squaring off with seventh-ranked LSU at 5:00 PM. On Sunday, the Bears will do it again, battling the Eagles at 10:30 AM and the Tigers at 1:00 PM.