CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears got another solid pitching performance on Saturday to beat the Northwestern State Demons 3-0 at Bear Stadium and win their third consecutive Southland Conference series.

Junior righthander Tanner Wiley tied his career high with eight strikeouts and tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just six hits and walking four. He had a rare four strikeouts in the first inning alone, with the second batter reaching base on a wild pitch. Sophomore Mark Moyer recorded his third save, striking out two in two hitless innings.

The Bears (17-10, 9-2) broke the scoreless tie with a run in the fourth inning when junior left fielder Hunter Strong opened the inning with a double down the left-field line. Senior right fielder Keaton Presley then got a two-out single to left to make it 1-0. UCA made it 3-0 in the fifth as senior third baseman Rigo Aguilar led off with a single up the middle and went to third on William Hancock's base hit. Hancock ended up on second base after a throwing error by NSU left fielder Lenni Kunert. 

Both runners came in to score on a ground out by Michael Haun and an RBI single by second baseman T.J. Black.
 
Moyer struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth inning. Strong finished 2 for 4 and Presley was 2 for 3 as the Bears out-hit the Demons 9-6. Chaney Dodge was the only NSU player with more than one hit. NSU starter Ridge Heisler went the distance, striking out six and allowing nine hits and two earned runs.

The series finale is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.