The University of Central Arkansas baseball Bears (15-17, 5-7 ASUN) lost their series against the University of Northern Alabama Lions (14-17, 7-5 ASUN) 1-2. The Bears faced the Lions in Alabama with one game a day between Thursday, April 2 and Saturday, April 4.

The Bears lost their Thursday game 3-4 after having scored first in the second inning, putting them up 2-0.

During the second inning senior infielder Keon Moseni was walked and junior infielder Parker Gwyn hit a two-run home run to left field bringing the pair home.

The Lions bit back in the third inning. Graduate student infielder Leighton Jenkins and junior infielder Jackson Westmoreland were driven home by redshirt sophomore infielder Petey Craska and senior infielder Dylan Coleman respectively, tying the game 2-2.

North Alabama saw another two run inning in the fourth when sophomore catcher Wes Walker walked and graduate student infielder Justin Santoyo hit a homer, bringing them both home and putting the Lions up 2-4.

After three scoreless innings, UCA put up another run when sophomore infielder Nate Negre walked, reached third on wild pitches and scored on a hit by redshirt sophomore infielder Jack Runsick.

Starting on the mound in this game was junior pitcher Patrick Fernandez. Fernandez went four and two-thirds innings, striking out four batters allowing four walks and three hits. The four runs that the Lions scored were all earned against Fernandez.

Reliever redshirt sophomore pitcher Jakes Jones pitched three and one-third innings without allowing any runs. Jones struck out five batters while allowing only two hits and walking zero batters.

Friday’s game played out differently for the Bears, who came away with a 4-2 win.

After a scoreless first inning, freshman outfielder Jayden Sloan singled in the second and advanced to third base on a fly out. Sloan scored when junior catcher Zane Denton singled, putting the Bears up 1-0.

North Alabama quickly matched the Bears 1-1 when Santoyo hit an RBI single.

After another scoreless inning in the third, the Lions took a small lead in the fourth when junior catcher Will Millard hit a solo home run and put the Lions up 1-2.

Central Arkansas answered later in the game during the seventh inning with a junior outfielder Zeb Allen solo home run. This home run was Allen’s 24th career home run and has put him tied at the UCA career home run record.

The game remained tied 2-2 through the ninth and tenth innings.

In the top of the eleventh inning, freshman infielder Landon Carter was walked. Carter advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a ground out. Redshirt freshman infielder Mark Ross also walked. Denton hit a ball into the outfield and both Carter and Ross crossed home plate, giving the Bears a 4-2 lead.

Junior pitcher Denver Hamilton started the game on the mound for the Bears, pitching four innings. Hamilton had two earned runs scored against him off of five hits, additionally he struck out four batters and had zero walks.

Relievers senior pitcher Hunter Alexander and graduate student pitcher Silas Cowgill combined to pitch seven innings, giving up seven hits and having six strike outs and four walks between the two of them.

Going into the final game of the series the pressure was on for both teams as they strove to win the series. Following the two relatively low scoring games, the offense for both teams seemed to kick into gear in the Saturday game, with a final score of 9-16, Lions for the win.

The Bears started off strong in the first inning with three runs scored. Allen doubled and Negre singled, moving Allen to third. Graduate student infielder/pitcher Jagger Schattle was walked, and Runsick reached first base on a fielder’s choice that allowed Allen to score as well with no out on the play. Sloan singled up the middle on a two RBI hit.

Going into the second inning the score was 3-2 and neither team slowed down. Negre singled, Schattle doubled, which set up Runsick to get an RBI on his single. Schattle stole home on a wild pitch, and Carter hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a third run.

Going into the third inning up 6-4, UCA had a scoreless inning, giving the Lions a chance to tie the game 6-6 in the bottom of the inning.

The Bears were able to get some more points on the board in the fourth inning with a pair of solo home runs from Schattle and Carter, but despite this, North Alabama came out of the inning ahead 8-9 after scoring three runs.

UCA scored what would be its last run of the game in the fifth inning when Allen brought Ross home on a sacrifice fly, but the Lions did not slow down and scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth. This extended their lead to 9-13.

The eighth inning would be the last time either team would score as North Alabama’s Dylan Coleman hit a three-run home run – extending the team’s lead to 9-16.

The Bears are once again on the road this weekend with a series at Lipscomb Friday, April 10 to Sunday, April 12.