SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE BASEBALL

Lumberjacks knock off Bears

— Bobby Loveless hit two home runs, including an eighth-inning grand slam, and sixthseeded Stephen F. Austin eliminated No. 7 seed Central Arkansas from the Southland Conference Tournament, beating the Bears 7-2 at Bobcat Ballpark on Thursday.

With the Bears trailing 3-2, UCA junior left-hander Jeffery Enloe (5-8) ran into trouble in the top of the eighth. Zach Benson hit a one-out double and Enloe intentionally walked Hunter Dozier. Jarid Scarafiotti then walked to load the bases for Loveless, whose grand slam gave the Lumberjacks a five-run cushion.

“He hurt us today,” UCA Coach Allen Gum said. “Not only today but when we played them in the regular season, he just killed us. We felt like we knew how to pitch him, but we missed a couple of spots. And every time we missed, he made us pay for it. He has tremendous power and if he catches one, it’s going to go a long way.”

Enloe allowed 7 hits, struck out 5 and walked 2 in 7 1/3 innings.

Dozier homered in the first inning to give the Lumberjacks a 1-0 lead and he added an RBI single in the third for a 2-0 advantage. Stephen F. Austin made it 3-0 in the fourth when Loveless hit his first home run.

The Bears came back in the bottom of the fourth when junior Ethan Harris led off with a double and moved to third on Bryan Willson’s single to center. Catcher Travis Snider reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Harris to pull UCA within 3-1.

UCA cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth, thanks to Blake Marchal’s RBI single that scored Blake Roberts.

Harris and Logan Moon each finished 2 for 4 for the Bears, who finished 25-30, earning their first Southland Conference Tournament berth at the NCAA Division I level.

Sports, Pages 25 on 05/25/2012

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