The UCA baseball Bears took two of three against South Dakota State in their home series lasting from Feb. 27 to March 1, giving coach Nick Harlan his 99th and 100th win at UCA.
Game one of the series was won through pitching.
Junior starting pitcher Denver Hamilton went 6.1 innings, allowing just one earned run – a solo homer in the top of the sixth.
Hamilton struck out five and gave up only four hits. He also walked two batters.
The starter, whose record improved to 2-0 on the season, threw 89 pitches, 56 of which were strikes.
After giving up the home run, Hamilton was able to strike out the side and record the first out of the seventh before being relieved by junior pitcher Braxton Haywood.
Haywood was formidable in relief, striking out three while allowing only one base runner via a walk across 1.2 innings.
Senior pitcher Hunter Alexander closed the game, facing only one batter in the ninth – who he struck out, to earn the save and give the Bears the win.
Offensively, UCA grinded away at South Dakota State starter senior pitcher Ty Madison.
An RBI groundout by junior outfielder Zeb Allen brought sophomore infielder Nate Negre home in the first.
Allen continued his offensive output with a two-run right field homer in the fourth inning to put UCA up 3-0.
After the Jackrabbits got on the board in the top of the sixth, UCA got the run back as Allen once again scored off of a Parker Gwyn single to left field.
The Bears tacked on another run in the seventh, as Allen scored catcher Casey Shipley on a right side line drive to put UCA up 5-1; the left fielder contributing on all five runs.
After taking game one, UCA returned the following evening with the chance to win the series.
Freshman pitcher Cade Meeler got the start for the Bears, the Morrilton, AR, native entering the game with a 2-0 record.
The Jackrabbits got after Meeler early, scoring two runs in the second off of a left-field liner.
In the fourth, with a runner on third base, South Dakota State added another run off of a ground out.
Meeler exited the game after this, having pitched 3.2 innings, striking out two and allowing four hits.
The Bears’ bats fell silent for the first five innings.
Ultimately, it would be Allen who would open up the offense for UCA, as he doubled in the sixth.
This set up a two-run homer from freshman infielder Landon Carter, cutting the score to 3-2.
But, in what would become a common theme for the Bears, South Dakota State was able to pull away in the seventh.
A Jackrabbits double, plus a series of subsequent UCA fielding errors, allowed South Dakota State to score three runs and build its lead to 6-2.
Another Jackrabbits run in the top of the eighth put them up 7-2 with just six outs remaining.
The Bears began to rally in the bottom of the eighth.
A redshirt sophomore infielder Jack Runsick single scored freshman outfielder Jayden Sloane and a passed ball allowed Negre to score.
Allen would add another run off of a sacrifice fly, which scored junior infielder Parker Gwyn, making the score 7-5 heading into the ninth.
South Dakota State added more insurance in the ninth inning, scoring a pinch runner off of a sacrifice fly.
Down 8-5, UCA was not able to do much with three outs remaining, making that the final score as the series was now tied 1-1.
Heading into the first day of the new month, UCA faced the Jackrabbits in a rubber match to claim the tightly-contested series.
UCA jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Allen was able to score off of a South Dakota State throwing error.
Freshman pitcher Caide White started the game for the Bears and managed a clean sheet through four innings.
With two outs in the fifth, a Jackrabbits single and walk loaded the bases – which was then followed by a pair of RBIs which gave South Dakota State a 2-1 lead.
White was relieved by junior pitcher Braxton Haywood.
In his start, White struck out four and allowed two runs on three hits.
UCA answered in the bottom of the fifth with graduate student infielder and pitcher Jagger Schattle’s two-run homer to right field, putting the Bears up 3-2.
Haywood pitched 1.1 innings, striking out one and giving up no hits before being relieved by senior pitcher Hunter Alexander.
In the top of the eighth, the Jackrabbits got a solo home run off Alexander to tie the game at 3-3.
In response, UCA blew the game wide open with six runs in the bottom of the inning.
Sloan was able to score off of an RBI fielder’s choice from Carter.
With the bases loaded, Gwynn was hit by pitch, scoring another run and a junior catcher and infielder Zach Adams single scored two more runs.
The Bears scored off of another South Dakota State error and a Sloan sacrifice fly scored the innings final run, putting UCA up 9-3 with three outs remaining.
Alexander closed out the ninth as he finished with four strikeouts and one run allowed across three innings.
South Dakota State finished the game with three errors, all of which led to UCA runs.
After earning the home series win, the Bears will take a trip to the Music City to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on March 3.
