DELAND, Fla. – Not exactly the start that the Central Arkansas softball team wanted, but the No. 1 seeded Bears split a pair of games to stay alive in the ASUN Championship on Thursday. After falling in the early game to North Alabama, the Austin Peay Governors were on the receiving end of a little bit of vitriol as the Bears rolled through to advance to Friday.
 
Game One: No. 1 Central Arkansas – 0, No. 5 North Alabama – 2
The first game of the ASUN Championship came against a familiar foe in North Alabama, a team against which the Bears went 2-1 in the regular season. But Thursday's first inning did not go as planned, with the Lions scoring two runs in the top of the first inning.
 
Central Arkansas, meanwhile, went cold at the absolute worst time, struggling all day to pick up any offense. The Bears collected only four hits all afternoon, taking the same path as in last season's conference tournament: entering as a high seed and falling in game one. Kayla Beaver came in the third and immediately went to work, retiring all 14 batters she faced.
 
Game Two: No. 1 Central Arkansas – 10, No. 7 Austin Peay – 1
Facing Austin Peay for the first time this season, there were some question marks as to how to play the Colonels, seeing this particular team for the first time in postseason. The Governors connected on back-to-back two-out singles in the second inning to score a run, taking an early 1-0 lead.
 
But in the third inning, Central Arkansas responded emphatically, scoring eight runs in the home half of the frame. Jenna Wildeman singled with one out to get aboard, stealing second shortly thereafter. Tremere Harris immediately paired it with a punch up the middle, scoring Wildeman to tie the game with the Bears' first score of the tournament. Kylie Griffin dropped in a third-straight single, moving Harris to second. The pair stole bases to move 60 feet closer, and an errant throw to third allowed Harris to scoot home to take a 2-1 lead. Madi Young tapped down a fourth-consecutive hit to drive home Griffin, advancing to second as the defense threw home.
 
Continuing to move runners, Young stole third, inching closer to scoring the fourth run of the game. Mary Kate Brown walked, and Morgan Nelson followed it up with a single of her own, sending Young across the plate. McKayla Betts, subbed in at right field, put down yet another single, marking seven-straight one-base at bats for the Bears. With the bases loaded, Jaylee Engelkes strode to the plate ready to do damage. And just 55 miles from Disney World, Engelkes waved her wand, or bat, as it were, and made magic: the senior slugger located and detonated on a pitch, hitting her second grand slam of the season to break open the lead. The Governors, changing pitchers, would get out of the inning, but the damage had been done, the Bears exited the third with eight runs scored in the frame.
 
Central Arkansas added two more in the fourth inning, piecing together four-straight plate appearances to move Young from first all the way through home to increase the lead to that always important eighth run. Two batters later, with the bases still loaded, Willingham took a walk, adding a tenth and final run.
 
Kayla Beaver and the defense were on point in the second game of the day, allowing seven hits across five innings, but never letting the Governors threaten very much. Beaver picked up her 21^st win of the season, marking three-straight seasons of 21 wins for the redshirt junior. Nelson reached 40 RBI on the year against the Governors, marking at least one hitter reaching the 40 RBI mark every year since 2018, with the exception of the 2020 Covid season.
 
Next up for the Bears is a 2 p.m. CT game against Florida Gulf Coast.