RICHMOND, Ky. – Looking to finish off a third sweep in ASUN play, the Central Arkansas softball team (25-15, 10-5 ASUN) did just that, holding off Eastern Kentucky (7-31, 3-12 ASUN) to claim the sweep and first place in the ASUN West after a 10-6 win on Saturday.
By scoring 10 runs, the Bears reached the double-digit mark for the fourth time this season. The top of the order was a massive part of that, as the top four batters for Central Arkansas combined for nine hits and eight RBI, accounting for five of the runs scored by the Bears.
Morgan Nelson struck first, driving in
Jenna Wildeman in the first inning on a fielder's choice.
Tremere Harris and
Jaylee Engelkes added to the lead in the second, each knocking RBI singles to make it 4-0 midway through two innings.
Starting in the bottom of the second, the teams would go back and forth with some scoring, each team answering run for run for a pair of innings. The Colonels got on the board in the home half of the second inning on a solo home run to put a point in the ledger and cut the lead to three. Harris, already back at bat in the third, connected on another single to bring
Kristen Whitehouse home to push it to 5-1. In the bottom of the third, EKU found another solo home run to keep the lead at three.
Nelson responded to the second home run with one of her own, driving one past left center to score her second bomb of the series. Later in the inning Wildeman hit a bases loaded single to put another run through, making it 7-2.
Eastern Kentucky hit a third solo home run to cut the lead to four, scoring again on a fielding error on the Bears. Brown and Engelkes hit a pair of RBI singles in the sixth inning to reach the 10-run mark, Brown driving in Wildeman and Harris, who had both stolen bases after getting aboard.
Attempting the comeback, EKU scored on a sacrifice fly and a fourth empty-bases home run, cutting the lead to four, but
Kayla Beaver, who came in during the fifth inning, closed the door.
Central Arkansas recorded a third-straight game of double-digit hits, the longest such streak since February, when the Bears were playing in nonconference tournaments. Wildeman added a pair of steals to her tally, swiping four bases on the series and reaching 32 on the year. Brown and Engelkes each reached 35 RBI on the season, with Brown taking a slight edge at 36 runs batted in.
Harris broke out of a slump in a big way this weekend, batting six-for-11 in the series and returning to the number two batter she started the year as. The Bears also drew 10 walks in game three, a season-high in that category.
The Bears remain on the road for a midweek this week, taking on the Memphis Tigers in the Bluff City. Having faced off once this year in the UofM Tournament, Central Arkansas looks to make it two wins over the American Athletic Conference foe. Game time against the Tigers is set for 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
