LITTLE ROCK, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears took the suspense out of Coach Allen Gum's school-record victory on Tuesday night, cruising past the Little Rock Trojans 5-1 at Gary Hogan Field.

    Gum, in his seventh season as UCA's head coach, became the winningest coach in school history with 210 victories, passing his predecessor Doug Clark. The Bears (29-20) made it look easy in the rubber game with the Trojans, behind strong pitching from junior starter Will Brand (4-1) and early production from the offense.    

    The Bears take the "Rock N Roar" season series over the Trojans 2-1 for the second straight season, with lefthander Brand winning both games for UCA. On Tuesday, he allowed seven hits but just one run. Brand also won the opener in Conway back on March 14th. The Trojans won the second meeting at Dickey-Stephens Park last month.

    The Bears took advantage of a Little Rock error and two hits to score twice in the first inning for all the runs they would need. Junior Keaton Presley led off the game with a triple to left field. Hunter Strong followed with an RBI single and he eventually scored on Brooks Balisterri's fielder's choice.

    In the third inning, catcher William Hancock had an RBI single, scoring Rigo Aguilar, who reached on an infield single. Jansen McCurdy's base hit in the fourth inning brought in Presley to give Brand a 4-0 lead to work with. The Trojans (21-31) got their lone run in the fifth but UCA  countered that with Hancock's fielder's choice. 

    The Bears left the bases loaded in that frame and the Trojans did the same in the bottom of the innings, thanks to a diving stop by second baseman Eddy Sanchez for the third out.



    Gum, who led the Bears to a school-record 42 wins in 2013, now has 436 total wins in his collegiate career.

    "It does mean a lot to me,' said Gum, who was doused with water after the record-setting victory, "but it means a lot to me because of the players that came to our program. And especially when you start talking about early on. Convincing them that we're going to have a good, solid program, we're going to win ballgames. 

    "And most importantly, it's just believing in what we're trying to do. We have three main goals, and that's to win championships, to get our degrees _ and we don't miss on that _ and then just to develop great relationships. And I'm just thankful for the guys, because they did it. And I've said this since I started coaching... good players make good coaches. And I've been very blessed to have a lot of really good players come through here and do what they've done. It's all the credit to those guys.

    "But it does mean a lot to me and it means a lot to my family, there's no question about that.'

    Hancock, Presley, Aguilar and Balisterri all had two hits for the Bears, who finished with 11. Little Rock starter Carter Brown (3-2) took the loss, allowing 3 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.

    The Bears finish up Southland Conference play beginning Thursday when they host the Nicholls Colonels at Bear Stadium with a berth in the SLC Tournament on the line. UCA is in a tie for fifth place with a 15-12 record, with the top eight teams gaining berths. 

    Game times are 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. for Senior Day on Saturday.