CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas softball team lived up to its potential on Friday, claiming both games of a doubleheader against Stetson. Now winners of four-straight, the Bears took game one with a gigantic fifth inning, and pieced together a solid second outing to claim its second ASUN series of the year.
 
The Bears outscored the Hatters 14-1 in two games, and got solid outings from both Bailie Runner and Julia Petty. The duo combined for seven strikeouts while walking just two total batters, and made it five-straight games walking two or fewer batters.
 
Game One: Central Arkansas – 9, Stetson – 1
Through one and a half innings, both sides had placed base runners on in each appearance. The Hatters had a pair of early hits, and Tremere Harris walked in the first inning for the Bears. But the tone of the game shifted dramatically in the home half of the second inning. Morgan Nelson needed to see just one pitch before finding one she liked, crushing the second pitch of the at bat for her fourth home run of the season, giving the Bears an early lead.
 
Stetson was dead in the water until the fourth inning, before the Hatters pieced together a couple of hits with a fielder's choice to tie the game at one run aside. And midway through the fifth, that score held, making game one feel like a defensive battle that was just waiting for someone to make a critical mistake.
 
The Bears took that feeling and promptly laid it to rest, as the offense took off and never looked back. Sending 11 players to the plate, it all started off with a leadoff single by Kennedy Fisher. Singles from Kylie Griffin, Tremere Harris and Lilly Hood scored Fisher and Griffin, giving Central Arkansas the lead. After a pitching change, Nelson singled to send Harris home, and a sacrifice fly by Gracie St. Hilaire put the lead at 5-1. Colleen Bare tripled to send a pinch-running Tallulah Pascucci home, and Amiyah Collier doubled to score Bare. The order returned to where it started with Fisher, who hit a single to score Collier, and moved to second on the throw home. Griffin finished the first game off with a double of her own to score Fisher for a second time in the inning.
 
Central Arkansas' eight-run inning was the first for the Bears since the sixth inning against Southern Illinois back in February.
 
Game Two: Central Arkansas – 5, Stetson – 0
Stetson opened the second game with a pair of hits, one of which was eliminated by Kennedy Fisher throwing out a runner trying to steal second. The Hatters put down two more hits in the second, and it seemed as though the road team might break through in the second half of the doubleheader.
 
But it was Central Arkansas who scored first in this one as well, thanks to a pair of hits in the second from Lilly Hood and Gracie St. Hilaire. After Hood reached second on a rocket down the left field line, St. Hilaire put one in the opposite corner of the field, reaching third base and scoring Hood for the first run of the game.
 
The Bears would add a pair of runs in the fourth inning. St. Hilaire watched four balls go by to start the frame, and reached third base on a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt from McKayla Betts. With two outs, a wild pitch scored the sophomore outfielder, and a Kylie Griffin single scored Betts.
 
As the fifth rolled around, Tremere Harris opened the inning with a bunt single, and moved to second on a Stetson error that allowed Morgan Nelson to reach base. St. Hilaire continued her torrid day, putting down a terrific bunt and beating out the throw to load the bases. Colleen Bare zipped a single through the left side to score two, and the lead was 5-0 after five innings.
 
Stetson put a runner on second in the seventh, and moved her to third on a groundout. But with two outs and a runner 60 feet from scoring, Julia Petty struck out the final batter from a 2-2 count, dashing the hopes of the Hatters and earning her second shutout of the year.
 
Central Arkansas plays Stetson one more time on Saturday, with first pitch at 11 a.m. at Farris Field.