Central Arkansas came up with one victory in its final at-bat Friday.
The problem was the Bears needed two to stay alive in the Southland Conference Tournament at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas
Southland Tournament
At Constellation Field, Sugar Land, Texas
FRIDAY’S SCORES
Central Arkansas 5, Northwestern (La.) State 4
Texas A&M-CC 6, Southeastern Louisiana 5 (10)
Houston Baptist 1, Central Arkansas 0
Sam Houston State vs. Texas A&M-CC, (n)
TODAY’S GAMES
Houston Baptist vs. Sam Houston State/Texas A&M-CC, 6 p.m.
Houston Baptist's Ross Kennell held UCA to four hits in a 1-0 loss that ended the Bears' season.
The loss to Houston Baptist came after UCA (29-24) scored on a wild pitch in in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat Northwestern (La.) State 5-4 earlier in the day, but UCA couldn't muster much offense in its second game of the day.
Kennell struck out 3 and walked 1 in 9 innings to upstage UCA's Tyler Gray, who held Houston Baptist to 1 run on 6 hits and struck out 3 in a complete-game loss. Houston Baptist beat UCA five times this season, including twice in the tournament.
"We haven't figured those guys out all year," UCA Coach Allen Gum said. "Today we just didn't get any timely hits. Give their guy credit. He had an outstanding game as well. ... It just comes down to getting a bounce, getting a timely hit, and we just didn't find one of those today."
Houston Baptist's only run came in the sixth inning when Thomas Clay doubled, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Curtis Jones' two-out single to right field. Gray held the Huskies (27-25) to one hit the rest of the game, but Kennell held the Bears hitless over the final four innings.
UCA's best chance came in the fifth when Charles Deckard hit a two-out single that moved Matt Anderson, who had reached on a fielder's choice, to second base. Deckard and Anderson then moved up a base on a wild pitch, but Tyler Langley flew out to end the threat.
Deckard had two hits for UCA, while Langley and Tice had one each.
It came just a few hours after the Bears defeated Northwestern (La.) State after rallying from a 3-1 deficit in an elimination game that began at 9 a.m.
Trailing 3-1 heading into the fourth, Logan Preston homered fro UCA, Brad Dillenberger scored on an error in the fifth and Langley scored on a passed ball in the eighth to give UCA a 4-3 lead. The Bears had two outs in the bottom of the ninth before Caleb Dugas' RBI single to right field off Bo Stitch tied the game at 4-4.
Then in the 10th, Dillenberger hit a leadoff single, advanced to second on a throwing error and to third on Tice's sacrifice bunt. Preston was walked intentionally, Corey Herndon struck out looking, and with Deckard at the plate Dillenberger scored on a wild pitch to end the game.
Sports on 05/23/2015