Bears’ Stone throws no-hitter
CONWAY - Gavin Stone was unhittable, literally, Friday night in the University of Central Arkansas' Southland Conference opener at Bear Stadium.
The junior right-hander tossed the third no-hitter in school history, beating Southeastern Louisiana 2-0 in the series opener.
Stone, from Lake City, was in control from the start, facing two batters over the minimum. He threw 112 pitches, 85 for strikes, and walked just one batter.
He also struck out a career-high 13 batters, including all three batters in the third as well as the final batter of the game.
The Bears (6-7, 1-0) got all the offense they would need against SLU ace Trey Shaffer, who was equally sharp through the first five innings, in the sixth when junior second baseman Benny Ayala hit his league-leading fourth home run.
The Bears added an insurance run they would not need in the eighth when Beau Orlando doubled to the left-center gap to score Coby Potvin.
The Bears finished with just three hits off two SLU pitchers in a game that was played in 2 hours and 11 minutes.
The last no-hitter for the Bears was by Bryce Biggerstaff against Jackson State in 2013.
The Lions (5-8, 0-1) left one runner on base the entire game and that came in the fifth ining after a leadoff walk by second baseman Champ Artigues.
He advanced to second on UCA's lone error, but Stone struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
After the error, Stone set down the final 14 batters of the game.