Bears go back to back in comeback

The University of Central Arkansas baseball team evened its season series with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a 6-4 victory Tuesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

UCA (32-20) trailed 4-2 in the top of the eighth, but UALR (26-24) surrendered the lead when Bears junior catcher William Hancock and senior shortstop Josh Somdecerff hit consecutive home runs.

Hancock’s 390-foot home run to right field drove in three runs, and Somdecerff hit a 87 mph fastball 383 feet onto Willow Street to set the final score.

UALR junior Nick Perez (2-2, 4.64 ERA) surrendered both home runs, and he earned the loss after moving from third base to the mound to pitch the eighth inning.

UCA freshman right-handed starter Gavin Stone (2-2, 5.33) earned the victory after pitching 7 innings with 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts.

UALR won their previous meeting with UCA this season in 11 innings, 6-5, on Feb. 20 in Conway.

The Bears now lead the all-time series 44-32-1.

The Trojans led 1-0 in the bottom of the third when junior right fielder Chase Coker beat out the throw at first base when he hit a grounder with two outs and two runners on base.

The Bears took a 2-1 lead in the fifth when Somdecerff led the inning off with his 19th double of the season. Senior center fielder Keaton Presley followed with an RBI sacrifice fly, and junior left fielder Hunter Strong hit an RBI double three batters later.

UALR tied the game 2-2 in the fifth when junior designated hitter Troy Alexander ran from third to home when UCA second baseman T.J. Black mishandled a ground ball.

UALR’s Perez hit an RBI triple in the sixth, then put UALR up 4-2 by scoring on a wild pitch.

UCA will begin its final Southland Conference series Thursday at Nicholls State at 6 p.m.

The Bears sit in third place in the standings but are just a half game ahead of fourthplace Northwestern State. The Bears cannot gain a seed higher than three.

UALR hosts Arkansas State University in its final Sun Belt Conference series starting Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Trojans trail Louisiana-Lafayette by a half game in the West Division standings, and they could clinch the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament with a division title.