CONWAY, Ark. – Two wins over Liberty on a Saturday not only extended the Central Arkansas softball team's winning streak to 14 games, but also clinched a spot in the ASUN Championships in May. The No. 24 Bears showed their versatility, winning game one with an offensive showing before taking game two with a dominant defensive effort.
 
Game One: Central Arkansas – 6, Liberty – 1
Central Arkansas wasted no time getting out in front, scoring the game's first run in the home half of the opening frame. Madi Young walked with two outs, and promptly scored on Mary Kate Brown's double to the right field corner. Liberty tied the game in the top of the third, connecting on a long ball to left field.
 
But the Bears would charge right back into the fray, ensuring that the score by the Lady Flames didn't generate any real momentum. Young tripled on her second at bat, scoring again to reclaim the lead off a single to left field by Brown. Morgan Nelson hit one of her four singles of the day to move Brown over to second, and the duo moved 60 more feet on a single by Colleen Bare. Two batters later, Josie Willingham connected on a single of her own to score Brown from third. Jenna Wildeman tapped an infield single, driving in the third run of the inning to make it 4-1. Bare, now at third base, scored on a wild pitch on the next at bat to stretch the lead to four runs.
 
Jordan Johnson, meanwhile, continued to pitch a gem of a game, stymying the ASUN's best hitting team and allowing just two hits all day. The defense backed her up with some tremendous play of their own, turning in a 26^th game without an error this season.
 
Just for good measure, the lineup put one more run home in the fifth. Facing a new pitcher, Willingham and Wildeman both took walks to open the inning, putting a runner in scoring position before the Lady Flame defense had a chance to record an out. Tremere Harris singled to load the bases, and three batters later, Brown took four-straight pitches to score Willingham on an RBI walk.
 
Liberty mustered one more hit in the seventh, but it was too little, too late, and Johnson and the defense slammed the door with two groundouts to end the game. The Bears racked up 11 hits to open the series, the eighth game of double-digit hits this season, and Liberty marked the fifth ASUN opponent to allow a game of double-digit hits. Meanwhile, the two-hitter was Johnson's seventh such game in the circle this year, and it was the 11^th time that the senior has allowed one or fewer runs in a complete game.
 
Game Two: Central Arkansas – 1, Liberty – 0
Kayla Beaver started game two with bad intentions, giving up a double to the first batter before responding with three-straight strikeouts to invalidate the hit. After the Bears earned just a walk in the home half of the inning, the feeling of the game was such that offense was going to be tough to come by after 11 hits in game one. But Beaver and the defense was up for the challenge, as six fielders would record either an assist or a putout during the course of the game, with zero errors being committed.
 
Back and forth the sides went, with neither team putting multiple runners on at the same time until the fifth inning, when Colleen Bare and Jenna Wildeman both drew walks in the frame. But with two outs, the Lady Flames were able to keep the Bears from scoring, stranding the pair.
 
Liberty took the top of the sixth and finally put multiple runners of its own on base, hitting back-to-back singles with two outs. But without a sacrifice option and force outs available, the Central Arkansas defense wasted little time getting the third out to snuff out the threat.
 
Now in the home half of the sixth, time was running out for either team to take a win. So the Bears seized the opportunity, with Mary Kate Brown hit a two-out single to center field to start the rally. Morgan Nelson followed her up with a single of her own, putting two runners on with two outs. Colleen Bare drew her third walk of the day to load the bases, setting up Jaylee Engelkes with an RBI opportunity. Putting down an infield knock, Engelkes reached on a fielding error by the shortstop, as the ball slipped past the infielder. In doing so, Brown was able to scamper home, scoring the lone run of the game.
 
Beaver stamped the win in emphatic fashion, striking out two of the three final batters, including the final at bat, to secure her eighth shutout of the season and clinch Central Arkansas a spot in the ASUN Championships.
 
The Bears and Lady Flames will compete one more time tomorrow at 10 a.m., capping the series between the leading team in the conference against the reigning champions.