The Bears (11-12, 3-3 ASUN) stuck around with the best baseball team in the nation on Tuesday, March 21, before the number one ranked LSU Tigers (21-3) pulled away with a 10-4 win at Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
UCA coach Nick Harlan said the game was a valuable experience for the team.
“Like I have always said, every time you play in this type of environment, it is valuable because you gain confidence. The more they play against really good teams in these environments, the better off they will be for the next opportunity.”
The Bears were held scoreless in the first three innings of the game, but the bats began to heat up at the top of the fourth, with freshman outfielder Kade Seldomridge striking a fly ball to center field for a double and UCA’s first hit of the night.
Junior infielder Tyler Monroe followed by lacing a triple into right field, resulting in a run from Seldomridge.
First baseman Evan Hafley, a graduate student, connected with a pitch to add a sacrifice fly to the score, bringing Monroe home and tying the game at three runs apiece.
Senior outfielder Dylan Cyr capitalized on the building momentum for the Bears and blasted his fifth home run of the season over the left field fence, giving UCA a 4-3 lead.
“We looked comfortable and we had good at-bats early, and I was proud of that. We got back in the game and took the lead and I thought we put together some good at-bats to do that,” Harlan said.
LSU tied it at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning with a grounder down the third-base line that scored junior infielder Jordan Thompson.
The Bears were blanked during their at-bat in the fifth inning and a three-run home run by LSU’s Thompson in the bottom of the fifth gave the Tigers a 7-4 lead.
LSU, 14-0 at home, took advantage of a balk, two walks and a throwing error by the Bears to put up three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, just one being earned, increasing their lead to 10-4.
Senior third baseman A.J. Mendolia extended his on-base streak to all 20 games this season with a walk in the top of the fourth inning and Dylan Cyr finished the game hitting 1-3 with two runs batted in.
“We didn’t play well enough to win the game, although we played very hard and aggressive. We just didn’t play fundamentally well enough to win the game. We gave up some free bases and made some small mistakes that cost us a little bit and extended some innings,” Harlan said.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Dillan Janak and freshman pitcher Trent Gregson both finished with three strikeouts for the Bears, LSU reigning supreme with a final score of 10-4.
The UCA baseball team hosts the University of Louisiana Monroe at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29.