UCA’s 1-4 weekend includes win over 14th-ranked LSU

The University of Central Arkansas opened its 2022 season over the weekend and came away with a significant result Saturday evening, beating No. 14 LSU 3-2 for its first win.

After losing a pair of games on Friday and its opener Saturday, the Bears (1-4) put together a two-out rally in the top of the seventh inning against LSU in the nightcap. Tremere Harris singled and Mary Kate Brown reached on an error to start the inning. Jaylee Engelkes followed with a double down the left-field line to score Harris from second to give UCA its 3-2 lead.

The Tigers led off the bottom of the seventh with a single from Ciara Briggs, but the center fielder was called out advancing to second base on a fielder’s choice in the next atbat. Two consecutive fly outs followed and UCA had its first win of the season.

Engelkes’ go-ahead double was one part of a significant evening, as she went 2 for 4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. Kayla Beaver pitched a complete game and earned the victory. She finished with 5 strikeouts, 3 walks and allowed 2 earned runs.

The win was UCA Coach Jenny Parsons’ first with the team. It was also the program’s first-ever victory against LSU and, while it was the program’s sixth win against a top-25 team, it was the first time in school history it has beaten a top-15 program.

The rest of the weekend was not as fortunate for UCA. Its win against the Tigers was its only victory in five games.

The Bears closed the weekend with a 2-1 loss to LSU on Sunday.

The Tigers went ahead in similar fashion to UCA an evening prior, scoring the go-ahead run on an RBI single from Georgia Clark in the bottom of the sixth inning.

In two games Friday, UCA lost 7-4 to South Alabama and then 9-0 to Illinois. The Bears lost 2-1 to Illinois on Saturday as first baseman Kailee Powell hit a walk-off, two-run home run for the Fighting Illini.

The Bears, who were selected to finish third in the ASUN preseason coaches poll, are now one of five teams in the conference with a sub-.500 record, alongside Lipscomb (13), Liberty (0-3), Jacksonville (0-4) and Eastern Kentucky (0-5).