ABILENE -- Central Arkansas pitchers Kayla Beaver and Jordan Johnson combined on a pair of complete-game shutouts Friday night as the Bears swept a Southland Conference softball doubleheader from the Wildcats by the scores of 7-0 and 8-0 at Poly Wells Field.
Donelle Johnson was the Wildcats' leading hitter, going 1-for-2 with a walk in game one and 3-for-3 from the leadoff spot in game two. She also had one of three Wildcat doubles in the nightcap along with
Riley White and
Shaylee Alani.
The teams will complete the three-game conference set Saturday with the first pitch set for 12 p.m. The two losses drop the Wildcats to 6-17 overall and 2-3 in the league, while the Bears improve to 15-10 and 3-2.
UCA used multiple-run innings in both games to take early leads and expand them as the Bears collected 17 hits in the doubleheader. UCA put four runs on the board in the first inning of the opening game of the twinbill and added three more in the fourth inning.
Beaver made it stand up, allowing just two hits and two walks over seven complete frames, while striking out seven Wildcats to pick up the win and improve to 7-3 on the season. Johnson and
Calie Burris had the only hits in the game for ACU.
The Bears won the nightcap via the run-rule by scoring three times in the top of the third on a three-run home run by Jaylee Engelkes and then adding two more runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Johnson went all six innings, giving up five hits -- three to ACU's
Donelle Johnson -- and striking out four to improve to 4-4 on the year.
Â
