CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas softball team has two weekends left in the regular season, with home games the rest of the way until the ASUN Championship in early May. This weekend, the Bears welcome North Alabama to Natalie Shock Stadium for a three-game set. The Bears and Lions will play a double header on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
The Bears (29-17-1, 11-5-1 ASUN) picked up the tiebreaker over EKU last weekend, going 1-1-1 in Richmond. Though Central Arkansas dropped game one, the team bounced back in game two to capture a dramatic comeback win, then had to settle for a tie on the drop dead Sunday rubber match. Emma Robertson hit a couple of seventh-inning bombs in games two and three to help the Bears clinch the tiebreaker over the Colonels, and Jaleigh White made her return to the circle after missing the last six weeks with an injury, picking up the win in game two.
 
Central Arkansas opened up the conference portion of the schedule at North Alabama, and it remains the only series that Central Arkansas lost this season. The Bears dropped the two losses with late rallies in Florence, but avoided getting swept with an 8-6 win in game three.
 
Last year's series in Conway, however, was a great one for the Bears. A clean sweep, Central Arkansas didn't allow more than two runs in any of the three games, helping the Bears lock up the No. 3 seed in last season's ASUN Championship.
 
With just two weekends left, the Bears are currently in a tie for second place in the ASUN Gold Division, trailing only the Lions. With a game missing from a rainout earlier in the year, the ASUN Gold will now come to winning percentage in ASUN games, which still puts Central Arkansas behind North Alabama (67 percent to 72 percent). Winning this series even 2-1 would flip that, putting Central Arkansas ahead of the Lions (67.5 percent to 66.7 percent).
 
North Alabama (31-12, 13-5 ASUN), however, continues to play good softball as the year continues. One of two ASUN teams to reach 30 wins in the regular season to this point, the Lions swept Austin Peay last weekend, winning a pair of close games before dominating the final game of the series 9-1. Holly Merritt played excellent softball against the Govs, hitting 6-for-8 in the series, pairing that with a 3-for-3 day against Ole Miss last Tuesday to win ASUN Player of the Week.
 
First pitch on both days of the series is at 1 p.m. All games will be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats available online as well. Central Arkansas welcomes back its storied alumnae this weekend, hosting those that have built our program over the last 30 years.