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Bears close with win and winning season

ASN — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 20:08:30 +0000

UCA Athletics
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

ABILENE, Texas – It wasn’t a thing of beauty but the result was pretty darn good looking to the University of Central Arkansas Bears on the final Saturday afternoon of the 2018 season.

A hard-fought 16-7 Southland Conference road victory over the Abilene Christian Wildcats secured a winning season for the Bears (6-5) in head coach Nathan Brown’s debut season. The UCA defense dominated on a defensive kind of day at a windy Wildcat Stadium, allowing just 73 yards and zero points in the second half. A late interception by sophomore Robert Rochell _ his second of the day _ sealed the victory and sent 17 UCA seniors out on a winning note in their final game.

The victory was also UCA’s 100th since moving to the NCAA FCS level in 2006.

“I’ve been saying all along, we really do have a good team,’ said Brown, who took over the UCA program after four years as offensive coordinator. “Our guys fought their hearts out to win a game like this. You saw a team playing for UCA pride. And I said it all week, those teams that play like that are scary.’

The Bears, after falling behind 7-3 with 13:06 left in the second quarter, dominated on the defensive side. ACU’s final 10 possessions of the game produced eight punts, a fumble and an interception.

UCA trailed until the 5:48 mark of the third quarter when senior Matt Cummins connected on his third field goal of the day, a 42-yarder, good for a 9-7 UCA lead. Needing a big play or two to run time off the clock, UCA got a 21-yard pass to sophomore tight end Jack Short, down to the ACU 18 with under 5:00 minutes remaining. Three consecutive runs by junior running back Carlos Blackman moved it to the 2 before Hales found Short with touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone that survived an official’s review and gave UCA the cushion (16-7) it needed.

The Bears’ defense did the rest, stopping the Wildcats at midfield with Rochell’s second pick of the day and team-high fourth of the season to seal it.

“I thought we played a pretty complete game, no turnovers on offense and we turned them over,’ said Brown. “And good things happened for us.’

The first half – including a scoreless first quarter – was a combination of defense, punts and field goals. UCA struck first with a 20-yarder field goal by Cummins with 14:11 left in the second quarter. ACU answered with its only scoring drive of the day, capped by a 36-yard touchdown pass from Luke Anthony to D.J. Fuller, good for a 7-3 lead with 13:06 left in the half.

Cummins, a senior from Conway, connected again from 37 yards to get the Bears within 7-6 at halftime. UCA had just 119 yards of total offense in the opening half, but ACU was not much better with 158 total and just 11 rushing yards on 14 attempts. The Bears eventually finished with 292 total yards on 79 plays, compared to just 231 on 55 plays for the Wildcats. UCA dominated the time of possession, 37:36 to 22:24. UCA controlled the ball for 20:37 in the decisive second half.

“Our defense was outstanding and gave us that opportunity to punch it in there at the end and that was huge,” Brown said.

Blackman led all rushers with 85 yards on 13 carries (6.5 per carry), while Hales completed 23 of 41 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. Seniors Jakari Dillard and Cedric Battle led UCA receivers with five receptions each, while Short caught a career-high four passes, including the final touchdown, the second of his career.

Jackie Harvell, a sophomore safety, led UCA’s solid defensive effort with seven tackles, two for lost yards and a sack and forced fumble. Joe Hampton and Jaylin Small both recovered muffed punts by ACU, while junior linebacker Roy Sutton and senior tackle Eric Jackaon recorded UCA’s other two sacks. UCA junior punter Taylor Wallace was a key factor all afternoon, averaging 44.3 yards on seven punts, with a long of 56 yards and four inside the 20 yard line.

UCA finishes the year 6-5 overall and 5-4 in SLC play.

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Early deficit too much for Bears in loss

ASN — Sun, 04 Nov 2018 03:37:59 +0000

UCA Athletics
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director

CONWAY – The University of Central Arkansas Bears dug themselves a three-score deficit against the hottest team in the Southland Conference and could not come back Saturday night in a 38-24 loss to the Lamar Cardinals at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The 19th ranked Bears (5-4, 4-3) lost their first Homecoming game since 2002 and fell to the Cardinals for the first time in eight meetings, also missing out on a chance to move back into a first-place tie in the conference. First-place McNeese State, which had a one-game lead on UCA and three other teams heading into Saturday, lost 23-6 to Southeastern Louisiana. Lamar (5-4, 4-3) won its fourth straight game after an 0-3 start in the SLC.

The Cardinals scored on the second play of the game on a 28-yard pass from Jordan Hoy to Mason Sikes, set up by a 47-yard run on the first play, for a quick 7-0 lead just 21 seconds into the game. UCA responded with a 7-play, 70-yard drive that took just 2:43, ending in a 23-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman Luke Hales to senior Lester Wells to tie it at 7-7.

From there, the Bears traded field goals for touchdowns the rest of the first half, resulting in a 35-16 halftime deficit. Lamar scored four times before halftime, all touchdowns, while UCA got field goals of 24, 32 and 36 yards from senior Matt Cummins. The Cardinals finished the first half with 427 yards of total offense, averaging 10.4 yards per play. Lamar had four pass plays of at least 25 yards and two runs of at least 20 yards. Hoy completed 12 of 18 for 285 yards and four touchdowns in the opening half.

The Bears got 115 rushing yards from sophomore Kierre Crossley on just seven carries in the opening 30 minutes, but Hales was just 5 of 19 passing for 91 yards before halftime.

The second half was more of a defensive battle, with UCA holding Lamar to just 85 total yards and a 27-yard Elvin Martinez field goal. However, the Bears’ offense never got untracked, despite a gift turnover at the Lamar 15 with 10:50 left to play. Junior defensive end Chris Terrell sacked and stripped Hoy and senior tackle Eric Jackson fell on the ball at the 15. But the Bears fumbled on the first play and gave the ball back to the Cardinals at the 20.

The Bears got a 2-yard touchdown pass from junior running back Carlos Blackman to junior tight end Luke Ross on a direct snap play with 11:36 remaining to cut the margin to 38-24 just before the Lamar fumble. From there, UCA turned the ball over on downs on three consecutive possessions down the stretch. The Bears got into Cardinal territory one final time when Hales hit Brandon Myers for 30 yards on first down. But an offensive pass interference call against UCA and a sack ended the threat with 2:22 left to play.

UCA finished with a respectable 435 yards of total offense, including 176 on the ground. Crossley had 115 yards, his second 100-yard rushing effort of the season, while junior Carlos Blackman had 70 on 12 carries and also threw his first career touchdown pass. Defensively, Terrell finished with seven tackles including two sacks and another tackle for loss and a forced fumble to earn the L.B. Jackman Award that goes to the outstanding player in the Homecoming game.

Sophomore Jackie Harvell had 8 tackles and 3 tackles for loss, while Raphael Garner and Reggio Dean added 8 tackles each and Michael Ware had 4 tackles and two for loss.

Senior Jakari Dillard caught four passes for 83 yards for the Bears and Wells added three catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.

UCA continues its homestand next Saturday, hosting another red-hot team in Incarnate Word at 3 p.m. at Estes Stadium. UIW beat Sam Houston State 43-26 on Saturday and is now tied for first with McNeese State and Nicholls State at 5-2. The Bears, now in a four-way tie for fourth place, close the season at Abilene Christian on Nov. 17.

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Bears third in SLC preseason poll

ASN — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 04:58:38 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director

HOUSTON – The University of Central Arkansas Bears were the third choice in the 2018 Southland Conference preseason football poll released Thursday as part of the SLC Football Media Day activities.

The Bears, the defending conference champions, were third behind Sam Houston State and Nicholls State. SHSU received 187 total points and 10 first-place votes, while Nicholls got 173 and six first-place vote. UCA came in with 170 points and five first-place votes, while fourth-place McNeese State picked up the other first-place vote.

“We’re obviously excited to be considered in the top half of the conference,’ said first-year UCA head coach Nathan Brown, who has transitioned from his role as the Bears’ offensive coordinator. “I think the conference has a lot of quality talent coming back this year. You think about Nicholls and their quarterback coming back, McNeese and their quarterback back, and the tradition of Sam Houston.

“But preseason polls don’t really mean much to us. We’re working hard, building off our 2017 Southland championship. Hopefully this will be somewhat of a motivation to our players, our student-athletes, each and every day, knowing that we have a very good team coming back and we’re working toward competing for another Southland Conference championship.’

UCA, which had a perfect 9-0 record in SLC play last season, opens the 2018 season at FBS Tulsa on Sept. 1 in Tulsa. The Bears host non-conference Murray State in Week 2 before opening SLC play on Sept. 15 at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La.

The Bears were represented at Media Day by junior running back Carlos Blackman from Gosnell, Ark., and junior defensive end Chris Terrell from Pensacola, Fla. Both are first-team preseason All-SLC selections, two of the 11 preseason honorees for the Bears.

Blackman heads a deep and talented offensive backfield that feature last season’s SLC Freshman of the Year Kierre Crossley from Everman, Texas, along with senior Cedric Battle, among others. Those running backs will be playing under Brown in a different role, and new offensive coordinator Ken Collums, another former UCA quartetback like Brown. UCA’s new running backs coach Taylor Reed and tight ends coach Ryan Howard are also former UCA quarterbacks.

“Coach Brown actually recruited me,’ Blackman said, “so we’ve always had a good relationship. So him moving to head coach instead of offensive coordinator is more of a good thing than a bad thing for me.

“(Our depth) is basically a secret weapon but not really a secret. Because we have so many options and people are always fresh and ready to go because there are so many of us. Everybody can do what they need to do to make us successful.’

Terrell teamed with defensive tackle Eric Jackson for 38.5 tackles for loss and 22 sacks between them last season, on one of the best run defenses in the nation. He credits teamwork for that success.

“The key is just putting in the work,’ Terrell said, “and having pride in stopping the run. And now we have some young guys who I think are ready for the challenge. I think they’ve just been waiting for their opportunity. Eric and I have a little bit of competition between us. That’s how it’s supposed to be, to bring out the best in both of you. We just push each other, and try to push everyone around us, to get better every day. That’s our job, that’s our role on this team.’

2018 Southland Conference Football Preseason Poll

Team (First-place votes) Total
1. Sam Houston State (10) 187
2. Nicholls (6) 173
3. Central Arkansas (5) 170
4. McNeese (1) 159
5. Southeastern Louisiana 119
6. Stephen F. Austin 90
7. Abilene Christian 89
8. Northwestern State 86
9. UIW 53
10. Lamar 52
11. Houston Baptist 32

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UCA sits second at SLC women’s championship

ASN — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 02:48:26 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

MONTGOMERY, Texas – The top-seeded University of Central Arkansas women’s golf team sits in second place after Round 1 of the 2018 Southland Conference Championship being played at Woodforest Golf Club.

UCA shot 299 and is two shots behind Houston Baptist and six shots ahead of third-place Sam Houston State. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is fourth at 306, followed by McNeese State (308), Lamar (311), Incarnate Word (314) and Stephen F. Austin (318).

UCA freshman Geraldine Wong is in second place overall after opening with a 1-over 72. Wong had an eagle on No. 6 to go with three bogeys for her 72. She trails HBU’s Alisa Chong by a stroke and is one stroke in front of HBU’s Kaity Cummings.

UCA senior Fernanda Lira and junior Emma Svensson are tied for seventh place with 4-over 75s, while freshman Tasha Ainsley-Thomas is tied for 14th (77) and freshman Brett Permann is tied for 28th (80).

The second round is set for Tuesday morning, with the tournament wrapping up on Wednesday morning. UCA is a three-time runner-up at the SLC Championship.

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Gray, Bears sweep Skyhawks in doubleheader

ASN — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 05:31:21 +0000

UCA Spors
Steve East, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

CONWAY – The University of Central Arkansas Bears got a complete-game shutout from senior Tyler Gray and home runs by seniors Josh Somdecerff and Keaton Presley to sweep a non-conference doubleheader from the UT Martin Skyhawks on Saturday at Bear Stadium.

The Bears scored seven runs in the third inning and Somdecerff hit his sixth home run of the season to lead the Bears to a 10-4 victory in the opening game. Gray then dominated Game 2, striking out 12 and allowing just three hits in a complete-game 3-0 shutout.

Gray moved into second place in career strikeouts at UCA with 249, trailing only Matt Whitaker’s 269. Presley got the only hit the Bears (21-13) would need in the first inning, with a three-run blast off the scoreboard in left field, also his sixth of the season. UCA finished with just seven hits off a pair of UT Martin pitchers, with Presley the only Bear with multiple hits.

In the opener, the Bears also scored in the first inning when junior left fielder Hunter Strong doubled to right center to lead off the inning and scored on Presley’s triple down the right field line when the UTM right fielder slipped on the wet grass. UCA then put up seven runs in the third on just three hits, taking advantage of two UTM errors, two wild pitches, a passed ball and two hit by pitch. One of those hits was Somdecerff’s leadoff home run, a line drive to left field. Coby Potvin added a two-run double as UCA went up 8-1.

After the Skyhawks got a run in the top of the seventh, UCA responded with two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Rigo Aguilar singled up the middle and William Hancock doubled to right field. Dusty Wright’s two-run single pushed UCA’s lead to 10-1. The Skyhawks, who ended up with 12 hits like the Bears, scored a single run in the eighth and two more in the ninth but junior Conner Williams got the final three outs to end it.

Somdecerff, Aguilar, Potvin and T.J. Black had two hits each, with Potvin and Wright picking up two RBI apiece. Junior Tanner Wiley (3-1) got the victory, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run and striking out four.

The series finale is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Bear Stadium.

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Howard to play in Final Four All-Star Game

ASN — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 03:14:25 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The most decorated men’s basketball player in University of Central Arkansas history will get to represent the Purple and Gray one more time at the NABC Reese’s College All-Star Game on Friday in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four.

UCA graduate Jordan Howard was one of 20 players named to the All-Star teams and will compete at 3:35 p.m. Friday at the Alamodome on CBS Sports Network.

Howard, the career scoring leader at UCA and in Arkansas Division I history, will pay for the East All-Stars, coached by Yale University head coach James Jones. His brother Joe Jones from Boston University will coach the West team. Howard is joined on the team by players from Creighton, Clemson, UCLA, TCU, Bucknell, Davidson, Colorado, Winthrop and St. Bonaventure.

Howard, the Southland Conference Player of the Year for 2017-18, is the career three-point leader in the SLC, at UCA and in Arkansas Division I with 384 career three-pointers. He set UCA records for career points (2,524), career free throws (558) and free-throw percentage (86.8), season three-pointers (113) and season points (880).

Howard scored in double figures in 120 of his 124 career games at UCA and made at least one three-pointer in 120 of 124 games. He led the SLC in scoring this season at 25.1 points per game led the nation in total points scored at 880. Howard was the active career scoring leader in the NCAA and was second in three-pointers.

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A-State earns top seed in Southland Bowling Tournament

ASN — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 01:06:36 +0000

A-State Sports
Brian Cook, Graduate Student Assistant

JONESBORO – The 2018 Southland Bowling League Championship will take place March 23-25 at USA Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The double-elimination tournament will feature all eight league teams and will be streamed live on InsideBowling.com

The Red Wolves (82-33) earned the No. 1 seed by having the best NCAA RPI ranking of the league’s eight teams entering tournament weekend. A-State will face eighth-seeded Monmouth in its first match Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. If they win that match, the squad will face the winner of the No. 4 Stephen F. Austin and No. 5 Tulane match.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Sam Houston State will face No. 6 Valparaiso and No. 2 Vanderbilt will take on No. 7 Louisiana Tech to complete the first round of the league championship.

Each match will follow a best-of-three format as teams will bowl one standard five-person game for total pinfall, then five baker games for total pinfall. If one team wins both the traditional game and baker games, they advance. If both teams split the standard and baker games, they will move on to a best-of-seven series of baker games. Teams will change lane pairs after each game.

For the first time in NCAA bowling history, automatic qualification to the NCAA tournament will be given to the winning team from qualified conferences’ championships, including the Southland Bowling League.

A-State previously placed third in the Columbia 300 Music City Classic, a tournament that featured 32 teams and 18 of the top 25 teams in the latest NTCA Coaches Poll.

Vanderbilt is the defending league champion after winning its second tournament title in three years at the 2017 championship, which was held in Jonesboro, Ark. Single session tickets, which permits entry for one day only, will cost $10. Three day session passes will permit entry to all matches, costs $15. Both children under the age of five and Southland Bowling League Institution students get in free with valid student ID.

Fans can keep up with the Arkansas State women’s bowling team by following the squad on Twitter (@AStateBowling) and by liking the Arkansas State Women’s Bowling page on Facebook.

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Bears win first SLC Tournament game with lockdown defense

ASN — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 04:58:26 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

KATY, Texas – A lock-down defensive effort down the stretch gave the University of Central Arkansas Bears their first Southland Conference Tournament victory on Wednesday night and let them play another day at the Merrell Center.

The seventh-seeded Bears held the sixth-seeded Lamar Cardinals to just seven points over the final 11:41 of the game to win going away 67-57 in first-round action. UCA, which fell behind by as much as nine points early in the second half, outscored Lamar 22-7 from that point to advance to Thursday’s second round against No. 3 seed Stephen F. Austin at 7:30 p.m.

“Really proud of the effort and proud of our win and the fact that we get a chance to play again tomorrow,’ said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. “It feels good. I was real excited for our guys. That was a big goal that they had this year, to make the tournament and then at least win a game. The thing I like, they were celebrating in there, but they keep saying three more, three more. And I like that. I love that enthusiasm.’

Surprisingly, the Bears earned it on the defensive end after besting the Cardinals 100-91 in double overtime in their first meeting this season in Beaumont, Texas. UCA held Lamar to just 37.1 percent shooting from the field and just 15.4 percent (4 of 26) from three-point range. In the two games this season against the Bears, Lamar has shot 8 of 57 (14 percent) from beyond the arc.

“I think it was the type of game that maybe we needed, it was just a gut-check,’ said Pennell, who brought his team to the SLC Tournament for the second consecutive year, a first for UCA’s men’s program. “We got down and we took a time out and and I grabbed Mathieu Kamba and I said ‘You’re a senior and your career is about to end. You need to do something. And from that point on, he was light’s out.

“I was really happy with that, for (seniors) Jordan, Mathieu and Ethan, that was such a big win. I thought our guys showed what I’ve been seeing all year, kind of the change in our program. And that is some grit and toughness. I thought when we got down eight, we took the time out and you could see they weren’t ready to go home yet. And that was probably the thing that was most encouraging to me.’

UCA senior Jordan Howard, named the SLC Player of the Year on Monday, finished with a game-high 26 points, going 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, including 6 of 6 in the final 47 seconds. Freshman Matthew Mondesir finished with 12 points, while Kamba and junior Thatch Unruh had 11 each. But more importantly, a combination of Mondesir, Kamba and senior Ethan Lee held Lamar’s first-team All-SLC forward Colton Weisbrod to just five points after he scored a career-high 38 in the first meeting. He made 16 free throws in the first game and one on Wednesday.

“That was an interesting game from our perspective,” Pennell said. “Because as we build this program, you have to go through different steps. Last year when we were here, I thought we were just glad to be here. And I even felt yesterday in practice that there was a different feel about our team, because these guys, especially Mathieu and Jordan and Ethan, who have been here before, they fully intended on coming down here and winning this first game.

“I saw that determination and I saw that grit. And I thought really the details of that was, our defense was really good. I thought the defense and the rebounding is what helped us, and we had some timely buckets. And obviously when we can get Jordan to the free-throw line, that’s almost as good as automatic every time.’

The Bears, outscored 17-6 to start the second half, fought their way back into the game with two baskets by Unruh, layups by Kamba and Mondesir and a jumper by Howard that tied it at 50 at the 10-minute mark. From there, it was all UCA, with the Bears getting a key three-pointer and a rebound basket from 7-foot freshman center Hayden Koval in a span of 1:30. Over the final 1:25, Kamba put in a rebound basket and Howard nailed six free throws in a row to end it.

“When we got down nine and took the time out, I got on them a little bit,’ said Pennell. “But I challenged them more that you’re letting an opportunity slip through your hands. And I knew it wasn’t anything more than effort. It wasn’t like their schemes or our lack of schemes. It was just we had to give a little bit more effort.

“So for us to do that, and win it on that (defensive) end of the floor, was really, really phenomenal.’

UCA and SFA split the two regular-season meetings, with the Bears winning 100-92 in Conway on Jan. 24 and the Lumberjacks getting a 97-62 win on their home floor on Feb. 21. The winner of that quarterfinal game takes on No. 2 seed Nicholls State at 7:30 Friday in the semifinals. The SLC championship game is set for 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2.

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Bears make short work of Lions in Southland opener

ASN — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 20:04:05 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

CONWAY – The No. 14/16 University of Central Arkansas Bears nearly doubled up offensively on Saturday night and cruised to a 38-6 victory over the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in their Southland Conference opener on “The Stripes” at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The Bears (2-1, 1-0) rolled up 473 yards of total offense while holding the Lions (0-3, 0-1) to just 279 yards, with UCA running six fewer offensive plays. The Bears, who have won their two games this season by an average of 30 points, netted 214 rushing yards and threw for another 259 yards.

UCA used a 21-point third quarter to break away from a 14-3 halftime lead and was never threatened after that. The 21-point outburst came courtesy of an 18-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman Kierre Crossley, 15-yard pass from senior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand to senior wide receiver Roman Gordon and a 38-yard fumble return by junior linebacker Raphael Garner that made it a 35-3 UCA lead.

Crossley, from Everman, Texas, had a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for his first career touchdown as a Bear. Sophomore running back Carlos Blackman started the scoring, capping a 7-play, 63-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run on UCA’s first possession of the game. Juwan Petit-Frere returned UCA’s ensuing kickoff 79 yards to the UCA 79 yards to the Bears’ 13 but the defense held on fourth-and-two.

The Lions would also miss two field goals, from 45 and 49 yards, and suffer the only turnover of the game, the fumble that UCA defensive end Chris Terrell forced at the 45 and Garner picked up and ran it in for the touchdown with 5:44 left in the third quarter to seal the victory. UCA also led SLU on downs twice, once in the Lions’ own end of the field.

UCA had five running backs with at least four carries, led by Crossley with 10 rushes for 81 yards. D’erek Fernandez had six carries for 33 yards, while starter Carlos Blackman had 11 for 29 yards. Hildebrand finished 13 of 20 for 259 yards and one touchdown, while Dillard caught three passes for 71 yards. Hildebrand, from Bossier City, La., jumped from seventh to fifth in career passing yards at UCA and now has 5,639 for his career.

Defensively, the Bears held the Lions to just 84 yards passing. Senior rover George Odum finished with 12 tackles, while Garner had a career-high 11 tackles, one tackle for loss and the 38-yard fumble return for his first career touchdown. UCA recorded 14 tackles for loss for -63 yards.

The Bears, picked second in the preseason SLC poll, beat the fourth-pick Lions for the third straight year, and second consecutive time by 30-plus points. UCA leads the overall series 8-3. The Bears improved to 30-6 on “The Stripes,”, which were installed for the 2011 season.

UCA has an open date next weekend before hosting nationally third-ranked Sam Houston State on Saturday, Sept. 30 in a battle of the Nos. 1-2 SLC from last season. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

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Bears fall in Southland Tournament Championship game

ASN — Sun, 28 May 2017 04:28:37 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

SUGAR LAND, Texas – Playing their second game on a hot, humid day, the University of Central Arkansas Bears could not handle a talented No. 3 seeded Sam Houston State Bearkat team in the 2017 Southland Conference Tournament championship game on Saturday night.

The Bearkats, fresher after only three tournament games – and none on Saturday – downed the fifth-seeded Bears 9-4 to win their second consecutive SLC title and earn their fifth trip to the NCAA Regionals in six years.

The Bears were coming off a draining 3-0 elimination game win over Houston Baptist earlier in the day in 90-degree temperatures that set them up for their third SLC championship game appearance in five seasons. But UCA looked like the more tired team from the opening inning of their fifth game in four days.

“Our guys kept fighting, I think they just got the breaks,’ said UCA head coach Allen Gum, who led the Bears to the 2013 SLC championship and a runnerup finish in 2014. “We didn’t get the leadoff hitter out and then we made a couple of physical errors early. Beating Sam, you almost have got to get the leadoff guy out. And then if you miss a double play, that’s trouble, also. And their pitcher was outstanding. He was pitching both sides of the plate with command.

“We finally settled down and got some things going. We had a chance to cut it to 4-3 and we got thrown out at the plate. And if you take a look at the box score, it looks worse than it was. They probably had five or six hits that they chopped on the dirt and bounced through the infield. And that’s called baseball. They found some holes and they got some breaks.

“We were able to come back and put a little more pressure on them, but we just couldn’t get that big timely hit. I don’t think we were out of gas, I just think it was there night. They’re good. And their speed, it makes it tough when they are bouncing balls on the ground and they can really run.’

The Bearkats scored three times in the first two innings, all unearned runs, after UCA committed a pair of errors. Junior designated hitter Justin McCarty eventually broke up Dakota Mills’ no-hitter and perfect game in a big way with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, capping a 12-pitch at bat, that cut the UCA deficit to 4-1.

The Bears made it 4-2 in the sixth when Keaton Presley singled up the middle and came around to score on Jansen McCurdy’s RBI double to the left-center gap. The rally was cut short when McCurdy was thrown out at the plate on an infield single by Rigo Aguilar.

After the Bearkats pushed the lead to 9-2 in the eighth. UCA responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, aided by three SHSU errors. But SHSU closer Nick Mikolajchak finished out the game, allowing no hits over the final 1 1/3 innings.

“I’m proud of our guys because we never quit,’ Gum said. “They kept fighting. They kept fighting the whole time and never game up, even when we were down quite a bit. They kept fighing and kept plugging.

“Tremendous group, I’m so proud of these guys, as far as the run that we had and the resiliency they had. The leadership from our seniors was outstanding. That was the second game today, and it was hot this morning. Maybe that did have an effect, and maybe that did lead to a couple of the errors. But I think it was just their night. They had it going.

“It was a tough loss today and they’re hurt. But when we get a couple of days and we can take a look at this season, where we were at the beginning and how we finished, it was a successful season.’

The Bears, who started SLC play with a 1-5 record but finished 17-13 in league play, close the season with a 34-26 overall record. UCA won at least 30 games for the third time in the past five seasons and tied its best SLC mark with the 17 league victories.

Senior pitcher Brandon Hagerla, senior shortstop Brooks Balisterri, junior outfielder Keaton Presley and junior second baseman Eddy Sanchez were named to the All-Tournament team.

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