SUGAR LAND, Texas _ Senior righthander Brandon Hagerla carried the University of Central Arkansas Bears into the Southland Conference Championship game with a 3-0 shutout victory over Houston Baptist on Saturday afternoon at Constellation Field.

    Hagerla, a senior workhorse from Petaluma, Calif., went the distance in 90-degree heat, allowing 10 hits but no runs, walking just one and striking out none. The Bears scratched out single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to back Hagerla's stellar work on the mound.

    "There was no question who we were going with,' said UCA head coach Allen Gum. "There was no doubt about it. Because we know who he's been every single day in our program. Our baseball program is very fortunate to have him, our university is very fortunate to have a guy like him, who is as loyal and full of substance as he showed today.

    "It was unbelievable. It was hot, it was humid, it was tough. And he came off 50 pitches just the other night. But he is a true warrior. He's a true champion.'

    In two appearances in the tournament, Hagerla has tossed 12.2 scoreless innings. It was UCA's fourth game in four days and earned them a spot in the SLC championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday against third-seeded Sam Houston State.

    "At the end of the year, our underclassmen do the plaques for Senior Day, and the underclassmen pick one word that describes the senior,' said Gum. "And his word was warrior. And there couldn't be a better word. What he's done for us this year, and what he's done for our program... that game right there, but I'm talking about every day. Every day for our team. He's just tremendous. I just can't say enough about his effort today.'

    The Bears finally got to HBU starter Cody Marshall with a single run in the fifth inning. Sophomore catcher William Hancock had a leadoff double in the fifth, moved to third on Eddy Sanchez' sacrifice bunt and scored on Keaton Presley's sacrifice fly to center field for the 1-0 lead.

    In the sixth, Rigo Aguilar got an infield single on a high chopper that Marshall fielded and threw past first base, allowing Aguilar to go to second. He went to third on as passed ball and made it 2-0 on Brooks Balisterri's sacrifice fly to right field, just beating the throw from HBU right fielder Brandon Brintz. 

    Hancock followed with a base hit to right center, Sanchez was walked and Michael Haun was hit by a pitch to load the bases before the Huskies got out of the inning. But the Bears came back with another run in the seventh when Hunter Strong got a one-out single, Rigo Aguilar was hit by  a pitch and Justin McCarty had an RBI single to right to bring in Strong for a 3-0 lead.

    "I'll be honest, I was a little bit disappointed,' said Gum. "We didn't get a couple of bunts down and a couple of other things. I think we could have expanded the lead. We didn't need it today in the first game, but we're going to have to execute a little bit better in the second game.'

    The Bears will be playing in their third SLC championship game in the past five seasons after winning the title in 2013 and losing in the championship game in 2014.

    "It's great. It's good to be here,' said Gum, who became UCA's winningest baseball coach two weeks ago. "I had a feeling in my gut, after the Nicholls weekend, after the two games on that day, the way they were coming together, I thought we'd have a good chance of being in this position. Because these guys are tough, they love each other. 

    "When you have that combination, they'll fight, they'll fight like crazy until the end. And that's what we showed today. We just have to do it one more time.'

    UCA swept the regular-season series from Sam Houston State in Conway back in April. The defending champion Bearkats have won three consecutive games in Sugar Land to reach the title game, beating Stephen F. Austin, Southeastern Louisiana and New Orleans.