RUSTON, La. – The Central Arkansas softball team dropped its final game of the weekend against Louisiana Monroe, closing out the Bulldog Classic 3-1 after falling to the Bulldogs Sunday afternoon.
 
The Bears moved to 12-8 on the season, and have won at least 50 percent of their games in all four tournaments this season. Addie Graham extended her hitting streak to 13 games, Renee Christian added onto hers to make it seven-straight games, but Central Arkansas just couldn't tag enough at bats together to defeat the host Bulldogs.
 
But it didn't take long for the offense to start Sunday afternoon. Graham and Trinity Brandon went back-to-back hitting doubles, putting Graham in scoring position and immediately sending her home for the run. Louisiana Tech scored two in the home half of the inning, but the Bears seemed like the offense was poised to continue the work done previously in the weekend. Central Arkansas tied the game up at 2-2 in the third inning. Autumn Vessier walked, and Christian outran an infield single to get Vessier in scoring position. The pair advanced 60 feet on a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly scored Vessier from third.
 
Defenses would hold until the fourth inning, and the home team retook the lead with a pair scored in the fourth frame. In the sixth, the top of the order came through again, with Brandon getting on base via an infield single. Kaitlyn Graham walked, and Emma Robertson cracked one to right center to send Brandon home from second. But La Tech added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to stretch the lead to three, and the Bears couldn't overcome the deficit in the seventh.
 
Central Arkansas is back at home for the next one, hosting Tulsa on Wednesday, March 4^th at Natalie Shock Stadium. Game time against the Golden Hurricane is set for 5 p.m.