CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas softball team continues to look for consistency and footing on day two of the Michelle Short and Adam Brown Memorial Collegiate Classic, splitting two games on Saturday. The Bears dropped a narrow one against Evansville before responding with a narrow win over Saint Louis.
 
Game One: Central Arkansas – 4, Evansville – 5
The Bears got off to a great start in game one, eliminating the first three batters quickly, then getting to work on offense. Addie Graham led things off with a walk, then stole second and reached third on an error, blitzing the Evansville defense in a matter of seconds. Trinity Brandon sent a sacrifice fly out to right field, and the Bears were up 1-0.
 
Evansville threatened in the second, putting runners on second and third after putting a couple of at bats together. But it was a pair of Bear returners that ended the threat, with Autumn Vessier handling a pop-up in foul territory and LJ Smith cleanly fielding a grounder to end the half inning. Central Arkansas went back to work, loading the bases with three walks. With two outs, Graham tripled to center field, clearing the bases to push the lead to four.
 
But as the inning turned over, Evansville started chipping away. Piecing together several at bats, the Purple Aces scored two in the third inning, then tied the game in the fifth. The game stayed scoreless until the seventh, where Evansville found a double and  long single to take a 5-4 lead that the Bears couldn't answer in the home half.
 
Game Two: Central Arkansas – 3, Saint Louis – 2
Both offenses struggled to keep runners moving in the early innings of the final game of the day. Saint Louis had one runner in the first, while the Bears had runners in each of the first two innings, but neither side was able to keep the lineup moving around the bases.
 
Trinity Brandon gave it a shot in the third, getting on base with a two-out single. Kaitlyn Graham put down an infield hit, and Emma Robertson punched a scorcher up the middle to score Brandon from second to give Central Arkansas a 1-0 lead.
 
Saint Louis scored two in the fifth inning, but Central Arkansas immediately matched it in the bottom half of the inning. Brandon again got things going with a single, and Robertson moved her to third with a swing of her own. LJ Smith put the afterburners on to get the run in, reaching first on an infield hit with two outs, just barely beating the throw to first to allow Brandon's sprint home to count.
 
Central Arkansas reclaimed the lead in the sixth, needing just two plate appearances to do so. Emma Veach came in for a pinch hit appearance and drew a walk. Addie Graham sent her home with a massive hit down the right field line, sending Veach all the way around the bases to give the Bears a one-run lead. Saint Louis would put a runner on third in the top of the seventh with two outs, but a groundout to Grace Molitor at short put the potential tying run to bed.
 
Central Arkansas has one more game this weekend, playing on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Natalie Shock Stadium to close out the Michelle Short and Adam Brown Memorial Collegiate Classic.