Bears pick up first conference win

Just two days after their big 4-3 win over Ole Miss, the UCA baseball team returned to UCA Field and picked up another 4-3 win, this one over conference foe UTSA.

It was the first ever night game under the lights at UCA Field, but UCA did all got all their offense before the sun even went down. They scored a run in the first and three in the third and held on to win down the stretch.

The Bears won the first game under the new lights at UCA Field.

Brandon Dunn got the start on the mound for the Bears, and he set a career high with seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings. He gave up two earned runs, got into big trouble in the fifth and left with a 4-2 lead.

The coaches really wanted him to make it through five before heading to the bullpen, but Dunn was inconsistent hitting the strike zone in the inning. The result was two strikeouts and three walks to load the bases.

"He competed," head coach Doug Clark said. "He really wasn’t throwing a lot of pitches."

But the three walks in the inning was enough to get Clark to make the call for Matt Whitaker, and the call worked out perfectly. Whitaker came in, threw one pitch and got a grounder to third for the inning-ending force out.

The plan for Whitaker was to try and hold off to use him as a closer, maybe allowing him to come back and pitch again on Sunday. But Dunn’s fifth inning struggles changed that.

"Once we brought [Whitaker] in, we were going to burn him," Clark said. "But the good news is he went the rest of the way, so we’ve got a lot of guys fresh."

The only run Whitaker allowed came in the sixth when he gave up a double over the head of Scott Cline in center. The runner, who reached on a walk, scored from first.

With the tying run at second, Whitaker gave up another walk, and then found some luck. UTSA’s lead off hitter singled up the middle, but the runner from second tripped going around third. His only chance was to get up and head back to third, but Cline’s throw was cut off by first baseman Peyton Seelinger who rifled the ball over to Yerby at third in time for the out.

The out was obviously big, but no one knew just how big until Whitaker then walked his third batter of the inning. He then settled down and pitched well against the Roadrunners’ three-hole hitter – who already had a solo blast in the top of the first. The fly out to center ended the inning, and for the second inning in a row, UTSA left ’em loaded.

"The only negative tonight was just not thorwing strikes, but the win supercedes that," Clark said.

Dunn and Whitaker combined to only give up five hits, even striking out nine, but it was the 10 walks that stood out.

The big third inning for the Bears’ offensively was partly due to the walks given up by UTSA pitchers. Kent Taylor’s double scored Kevin Rawls who reached on a walk; Cline followed and doubled to center, scoring Taylor and Chris Davis who also walked.

"I’ll take those three runs over hits any day," Clark said referring to the lack of hits in the inning.

The Bears will look to win the series Friday night at 6:30.

Bats and Pritchett lead to win over MSU

Bobby Pritchett threw six innings of seven-hit ball on Sunday versus Missouri State.

UCA starter Bobby Pritchett went six innings and threw just two bad pitches, both with two outs and both resulting in two-run homers. Missouri State used eight pitchers in an unsuccessful effort to slow the UCA offense in a 15-4 win for the purple Bears Sunday at UCA Field.

Pritchett improved to 2-0 on the season by giving seven hits, just two earned runs and striking out five.

“He probably has the best command of his fast ball that we have,” head coach Doug Clark said. “He has a resilient arm, is a good athlete and looks like he’s having fun and confident out there.”

The first of his bad pitches came in the first inning when 6-3, 230 pound lefty clean-up hitter, Ben Carlson smoked a fast ball over the right-field fence.

UCA had chances to get one the board in the bottom of the inning, but MSU starter Austin Todd got Chris Houk and Scott Cline to strikeout with the bases loaded.

Pritchett picked up three strikeouts in the second, and UCA broke it open in the bottom of the inning.

Richie Irvin started with a single to left. Tye Throneberry followed with a well-placed bunt between the pitcher and first for a single.

“I thought that really got us started,” Clark said. “That was nice.”

After an out, Peyton Seelinger got another infield hit that the shortstop fielded but had no play. Graham Martin hit the first pitch he saw to right, scoring Irvin. Chris Davis hit a sac fly to center that scored Throneberry, and Jonathan Yerby followed with a single to left that plated Martin from second.

Houk then made up for his first inning strikeout in the form of a three-run homer to center that put UCA up 6-2. Cline walked, advanced to second on an error when they had him picked off and scored when Irvin singled for the second time in the inning. MSU finally changed pitchers and got out of the inning after UCA scored seven runs on seven hits.

Pritchett made a strange habit of getting the first two batters he faced only to give up a harmless hit to the third. That set things up to feel very similar to the first inning when Carlson strolled back into the box. This time Pritchett got Carlson to strike out on a well-thrown fastball. But the Bears couldn’t put any runs up either and stranded two.

In the fourth, Pritchett got some help in the field. Throneberry made his second nice play of the day. This one a more impressive and acrobatic catch over his shoulder in deep left center. Without the catch, MSU may have scored from first. The runner had already started to round second when the catch was made. Instead, Pritchett got out of the inning with no damage.

Richie continued his hot streak at the plate in the bottom of the inning with his third hit of the game to score Houk who led off the inning with a double – 8-2 Purple Bears.

Bobby continued his weird streak in the fifth, this time with the third hitter reaching on an error. (Martin’s throw from short almost killed me. It sailed high over Seelinger’s glove and dangerously close to my head. It was close enough that the MSU first base coach thought that I did, in fact, get hit.) The error hurt a little as MSU’s number three hitter, another lefty, jumped on a pitch and sent it over the right-field fence.

The MSU runs were unearned, and UCA responded with five more runs, all coming with two outs, to add a comfortable cushion. With the bases loaded, MSU changed pitchers to face the hot-hitting Irvin. In response, Irvin picked up his fourth hit, a bases-clearing double.

“It’s nice for him to have that big game,” Clark said. “He’s been struggling a little.”

And Throneberry continued his day with a homer down the left-field line, putting UCA up 13-4.

“He had a big day,” Clark said. “There were a lot of guys contributing with the bats.”

Pritchett ended his day after getting a double-play ball to end the sixth. He was replaced by Reece Cross in the seventh, and Cross impressively retired six straight batters, including the heart of the MSU order.

UCA was able to add to more in the seventh, again with two outs, as Kent Taylor’s pinch hit single to center scored two more.

Jeremy Brewer replaced Cross in the ninth to end the game. The only hit he allowed – came with two outs.

The win wraps up the series with Missouri State with both teams winning two games. It was UCA’s second four-game series in a row.

“We might not ever do that again,” Clark said about the four-game series. “I don’t know what I was thinking. If we would have had [Jeremy] Cloud that would have helped. He’s an innings-eater.”

The win moves UCA to 5-3 before a trip to Texas Tech on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games will be aired on KUCA 91.3 and UCASports.com.