JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Central Arkansas softball team proved able to win in multiple ways to start the series against the Jacksonville Dolphins, taking both games of Saturday's doubleheader. After a quality offensive showing resulting in a 7-2 game one win, the Bears gutted out a 2-0 series-clinching win in game two.
 
Kayla Beaver picked up wins in each game, pitching in relief in the first showing before tossing a complete game shutout in the second half of the doubleheader. Offensively, Central Arkansas drew 12 walks on the day, using the bases on balls effectively in both games.
 
Game One: Central Arkansas – 7, Jacksonville – 2
Tremere Harris opened the series the way she has the last five games: getting on base, this time via a single. She would steal second, but get stranded in scoring position. Jacksonville responded in the home half of the frame with their first run of the day, piecing together four-straight one-base at bats to bring in a score. Central Arkansas righted the ship and recorded three-straight outs from there, but found itself trailing after one inning.
 
The Bears (23-8, 7-1 ASUN) would get right to work on evening the score, as Colleen Bare started the second with a walk of her own. With two outs, Jenna Wildeman punched an infield single and was able to get to second, with Bare getting to third. Harris would walk again to load the bases, and Kylie Griffin scored Bare with a bloop single over the shortstop's head, evening the score.
 
One run aside remained the score until the fourth, with both sides defending well against the other lineup. Erin Michael led off the frame with a walk, the third of her young career. A throwing error on Josie Willingham's bunt attempt allowed Michael to reach third, and Willingham would steal second to put both runners in scoring position. Wildeman walked to load the bases again, and two outs later, Madi Young stayed patient in the box to draw a walk of her own, scoring Michael and giving the Bears a 2-1 lead.
 
But the advantage would be short-lived, as a hit by pitch and a triple from the Dolphins leveled the score once more.
 
Central Arkansas would answer in a major way in the fifth; back-to-back walks to open the frame put the Bears in a solid position to do damage. Michael singled to load the bases for the third time in the game, and Willingham followed it up with a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-2. Two at bats later, Michael scored on a wild pitch. Another pair of walks loaded the bases again, forcing a pitching change from the Dolphins. Young mashed a single to right field, scoring two more, and Morgan Nelson singled through the right side to add one final run, putting Griffin home.
 
Beaver and the defense would hold on for the win, her 12^th win of the season, in the longest game of the season, clocking in at two hours and 42 minutes of game time.
 
Game Two: Central Arkansas – 2, Jacksonville – 0
Tremere Harris extended her streak of reaching base on the first at bat of the game to six games with a walk, getting on base on a full-count ball. Kylie Griffin took four-straight to get on base herself, putting a runner in scoring position before a ball had been put in play. Mary Kate Brown reached on an error to load the bases, and a wild pitch scored the first run of the game. Colleen Bare walked to reload the bases, and Josie Willingham walked to put another run home for a quick 2-0 lead.
 
Jacksonville responded with a runner at second in the home half of the first, but with two outs, it was tough to find a way to move forward, ending the inning a batter later with a lineout. Starting this game, Kayla Beaver and the defense got to work, making sure that a slower game at the plate didn't affect the defense. Jacksonville would need six innings to put two runners on base at the same time, helping the Bears record their 13^th double-play of the season in the fourth.
 
Finally, in the sixth, the Dolphins found consecutive productive at bats, pairing a walk and a single to cover two bases for the first time all game. But Beaver was having none of it, striking out the next two to retire Jacksonville without a worry. The seventh inning would leave the Dolphins looking for a desperation run, but again, Jacksonville failed to reach even second base before ending on a groundout to Madi Young.
 
The Bears walked 15 times on Saturday, already more than either of the other ASUN series, with another game to play on Sunday. Two wins to start the series clinches a third-straight conference series, and gives the Bears eight wins in their last nine games. Closing out the series against the Dolphins, first pitch on Sunday is set for 12 p.m. CT.