CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas softball team is adjusting this weekend's series at Eastern Kentucky, playing the opening game of the series at 9 a.m. CT Saturday morning, with a chance to play two on Saturday if the weather holds. Sunday's game at noon CT is currently unchanged.
The Bears (28-16, 10-4 ASUN) picked up three wins in an ASUN sweep last weekend at Bellarmine, getting the best of the Knights en route to a 37-4 drubbing over three games.
Addie Graham was named the ASUN Player of the Week following the series after hitting .600 over her ten at bats.
Emory Bowlin tossed her first-career no-hitter in game three, blanking Bellarmine as the Bears clinched the sweep with a 16-0 win.
Central Arkansas has won its last five ASUN games, having swept Bellarmine and claimed the two games at home against EKU two weeks ago. The Bears are still one of the best offenses in the ASUN, hitting .339 in conference games, along with ASUN-bests in triples (8), walks (81) and stolen bases (31).
Trinity Brandon has been a big part of the offense, hitting a team-high .420 in ASUN games, with three doubles and four home runs.
Renee Christian has four triples,
Kaitlyn Graham has seven doubles, and everywhere you look, there's a Bear with a quality number helping the team go into the weekend tied atop the ASUN Gold Division, along with EKU.
The two games against EKU in Conway both fell in favor of the Bears, a 5-3 win and a 3-2 win before weather impacted the final game of the series. The Bears were outhit in both games, but timely offense early in game one and late in game two allowed Central Arkansas to snag the series at home.
EKU (23-19, 10-4 ASUN) has won its last five games, having taken both games of a double header against Morehead State on Wednesday. Before that, the Colonels swept North Alabama at home, getting two shutouts with an extra-inning win in between. The Colonels are hitting .276 as a team this season, having hit at least that or better in three of the five games of the current winning streak.
The Colonels continue to utilize small-ball to find success, hitting over 87 percent of their hits as singles. EKU also adds 140 walks and 39 hit-by-pitches, getting on base 37.7 percent of the time, despite just a .276 batting average as a team. Jaelin Haynes leads the team with a .346 batting average, and Reese Knox has a team-high on base percentage of .512.
First pitch on Saturday has been moved to 9 a.m., with the rest of the series in a bit of potential flux. Saturday's game(s) will be streamed on ESPN+, and there will be live stats for all three games available online.
