RICHMOND, Ky. – Everything was clicking for the Bears (24-15, 9-5 ASUN) as they picked up two wins over Eastern Kentucky (7-30, 3-11 ASUN) on Friday. Central Arkansas tallied 24 hits and scored 10 runs, while the pitching staff combined for 16 strikeouts while allowing just two runs on the day.
Jordan Johnson continued a white-hot stretch of pitching, eclipsing 10 strikeouts for the third-straight game in a 5-1 win in game one.
Kayla Beaver pitched in the second game, adding six Ks and picking up her team-leading 14
th win of the season.
Game One: Central Arkansas – 5, EKU – 1
Both teams threatened early, with the Bears putting on two runners in the first. After a four-ball walk to
Tremere Harris,
Mary Kate Brown singled to put runners on first and second with one out. From there,
Jaylee Engelkes reached on a fielder's choice that eliminated Harris, with
Kristen Whitehouse striking out to end the inning. Eastern Kentucky responded in the bottom of the second, putting a pair of runners in play on back-to-back walks. With two outs, the bases got loaded on a fielding error, but the inning ended on a Johnson strikeout.
The stalemate was finally broken in the third inning, as Brown singled to bring
Jenna Wildeman home for the first run of the game. Engelkes grounded out in the next at bat, but it gave Harris enough time to scamper home from third to make it 2-0 Bears after three innings.
Both teams scored in the fourth inning;
Tylar Vernon smoked a single through the left side, forcing a throwing error that allowed
Kylie Griffin to score. The Colonels would pick up a run in the home half of the frame on a solo home run.
Central Arkansas would add an insurance run in the sixth inning, as smart baserunning from
Lindsey Williams forced an error on the catcher, causing her to drop a rushed tag, putting the final score on the board.
Johnson struck out the final batter to clinch her ninth win of the season, ringing up her conference-leading 127
th batter on the year.
Game Two: Central Arkansas – 5, EKU – 1
Jenna Wildeman started game two with a single and a steal, as she has done on multiple occasions this year. This time, however, marked her 30
th swipe of the season, making her the sixth player in the country to hit that particular milestone this season. A couple of batters later,
Mary Kate Brown would ground out in the infield, but would give Wildeman enough time to get home for the first run of the game.
Into the second, the middle of the order continued to put the bat on the ball.
Kylie Griffin reached on an error, moving over to second base on a
Morgan Nelson single. Up next,
Tylar Vernon would lay down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position.
Reagan Sperling came in and put the cherry on top, hitting a sacrifice fly to score Griffin to make it a two-run lead.
The Bears continued to add a run almost every inning, with the exception of the third and seventh.
Morgan Nelson homered to start the fourth inning, and was promptly answered by
Jaylee Engelkes, who hit her team-best ninth homer to start the fifth. Brown would score Wildeman one more time in the sixth inning to lock up a series win for the Bears.
Central Arkansas recorded 12 hits in each game, marking back-to-back 12 hit outings for the first time since games two and three against Kennesaw State, moving to 12-1 when recording 10-plus hits. Additionally, the Bears stretched their winning streak to five games and look to make it six on Saturday. Game time on Saturday is set for 12 p.m. CT.
