The Bears (31-8, 14-1 ASUN) swept another softball series last weekend, shutting out the Bellarmine Knights (4-35, 1-14 ASUN) in all three games in Louisville, Kentucky April 15 and 16.
After a shutout 4-0 victory in front of a record-size audience at Farris field against the University of Arkansas earlier in the week, the series win against Bellarmine put the softball Bears at 12 wins in a row, breaking the previous program record of 10.
UCA was an unrelenting force as the series progressed, putting up more runs with each game and refusing to let the Bellarmine Knights score a single run the entire series.
The first game of the series had a slow start, with neither team scoring in the first inning. The Bears managed to bring a run home in the second inning, but then the score was stagnant until the sixth inning when UCA got their last two runs of the 3-0 game.
While there weren’t a lot of runs in the first game, the Bears’ shutout victory put them on a 10-game win streak, tying the program record, and foreshadowing the rest of the series.
UCA more than doubled their runs in game two, taking down the Knights 8-0. The Bears began game two by scoring a run in the first inning, a stronger start than game one, but nothing materialized for either side in the second inning.
They picked it back up in the third inning, bringing home another run, and kept their momentum for the rest of the game.
Bellarmine’s efforts proved futile in the face of the Bear’s relentless offense as they continued to score runs, including three runs in the sixth inning, until the game ended in a run rule — a rule the umpire can call on to end the game if one team is up by eight or more runs.
With their second win of the series the 2023 softball Bears officially broke the program win-streak record.
After getting some sleep in Louisville, the UCA softball Bears continued their ferocious offense in the third game of the series, triumphing over the Knights with a staggering 13-0 victory on Sunday.
UCA came out swinging in game three, putting up two runs in the first inning and another in the second inning before scoring six runs in the third inning. They kept up the pressure and brought home four more runs in the fourth inning, 13 runs in total.
The Bears had some standout individual performances in game three. Redshirt senior Jaylee Engelkes scored a solo home run, a clip of which can be seen on the @UCASoftball Twitter account, and redshirt senior Jordan Johnson pitched a no-hitter game against the Knights.
The Knights prevented the Bears from scoring again but it was too late, and the game ended in a UCA victory after the fifth inning — another run rule.
The softball Bears’ next games will be an alumni weekend home series against the Liberty University Lady Flames this weekend, April 22 and 23.