CONWAY, Ark. – Opening ASUN play with a doubleheader against North Florida, the Bears took both sets against the Ospreys on Saturday, winning the first game 1-0 before cruising to a 13-4 game two. The wins improved Central Arkansas to 17-7 on the year with a 2-0 start to conference play.
 
The Bears hit three home runs on the day, including firsts for Madi Young and Janiah Wilson. Game two saw Central Arkansas match a season-high with 13 runs, all of them coming in the third and fourth innings.
 
Game One: UCA – 1, North Florida – 0
The first game of the series saw both teams with a base runner in the first inning, with the Ospreys getting on first base via an error and Madi Young reaching second with a single and a stolen base. But neither team really threatened in the first, nor in the top of the second, in UNF's case.
 
Morgan Nelson threatened and delivered in the home half of the second, starting down a 1-0 count and tanking the next pitch to straight-away center. The homer was Nelson's team-leading fourth of the season, and gave Central Arkansas a 1-0 lead early in the game.
 
Jordan Johnson took over from there, limiting North Florida to a single base runner in each of the next four innings, forcing the Osprey lineup to put the ball in play to one of the nation's best defenses. It wasn't until the top of the seventh that UNF had multiple base runners, with a single and a walk putting Ospreys on first and second with one out. Kylie Griffin played heads up defense on the next batter, getting a second out on a foul ball, putting the Bears in the driver's seat needing one more out. Johnson pitched to a 3-1 count, in danger of loading the bases, but refocused and threw back-to-back strikes to end the game. It marked the third shutout of the season for Johnson, who moved to 7-3 on the year.
 
Game Two: UCA – 13, North Florida – 4
The Bears had a slower start to the second game, moving a runner to third base in the bottom of the first, but stranded her before reaching home. Then in the second, the Bears would let the Ospreys score the first run in the second inning.
 
But the offense would uncork in the third inning, now facing a new pitcher, opening straight away with a triple off the bat of Erin Michael. Normally a pinch runner, it marked the first hit of the year for the freshman, who unloaded one on a 1-0 pitch. Jenna Wildeman and Tremere Harris both drew walks, loading the bases with no outs. Now at the plate, Kylie Griffin tied the game on a sacrifice fly to shallow left, allowing Michael to speed home to knot the game at 1-1.
 
The WIldeman-Harris combo stole to get to second and third, and Madi Young followed it up with another walk to load the bases. With speed on every base, Mary Kate Brown punched a double to left center, sending two runs home to take the lead and Young to third, forcing a second pitching change by the Ospreys.
 
But the switch didn't make a difference, as Morgan Nelson ripped a single to score a fourth run in the inning. Colleen Bare continued to put pressure on North Florida, connecting on a double that stayed fair on the right field line that put Brown home. Back around to where the order started, Michael bashed another extra base hit, this one a double, scoring two more runs to put the score at 7-1.
 
Entering the fourth at the top of the order, after ten batters went to the plate in the third, Harris opened the frame with a first-pitch single up the middle. Griffin singled with her next at bat, and suddenly, the fourth seemed just like the third. Enter Young, a transfer who lit up the statbook at Butler CC last season. Down to a 2-2 count, the Derby, Kan., native cracks one deep to left center, kissing her first home run of the season goodbye and stretching the lead to nine.
 
The Bears still weren't done, as Bare and Nelson got on base to continue to add to the fun. Pinch hitting for Morgan Curley, Janiah Wilson bombed a three-run homer in her first official at bat of her career, emptying the dugout to celebrate in absolute jubilation at the freshman's hit.
 
North Florida picked up three runs in the top of the fifth, desperate to extend the game and cut the lead, but it was too little, too late, as Kayla Beaver earned her tenth win of the season.
 
The Bears and Ospreys will play one more game on Sunday morning, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m. at Farris Field.