Allen’s grand slam powers Bears to series sweep over EKU

CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas knew it had a chance to make a statement Sunday afternoon, and it did just that.

The Bears wrapped up a three-game series sweep over Eastern Kentucky with a 9-6 victory at Bear Stadium, moving their overall record to 22-18 and their conference mark to 10-8.

The Colonels dropped to 10-30 on the year and 4-14 in ASUN play.

Eastern Kentucky didn’t waste any time getting on the board. The Colonels scored twice in the opening inning, taking advantage of a pair of doubles and a hit-by-pitch to grab a 2-0 lead.

UCA didn’t stay down for long.

In the second inning, the Bears put together a rally that changed the game. Parker Gwyn got things going with a double to left field.

After a string of hit-by-pitches and a stolen base, Casey Shipley drew a hit-by-pitch that brought home the first run.

Then Zeb Allen stepped up and launched a grand slam to right field, putting the Bears out front 5-2 in one swinging moment.

Allen finished the afternoon with three hits and four RBIs, and Gwyn scored three times while smacking two doubles.

UCA kept adding to its lead in the third inning. Jagger Schattle singled to start the frame, and Gwyn ripped his second double of the game.

Keaton Laidley and Jack Runsick each drove in runs, pushing the Bears’ advantage to 7-2 heading into the fourth.

Eastern Kentucky answered in the fifth with two runs to close the gap, but Runsick responded with an RBI triple in the bottom half to keep UCA ahead 8-4.

The Colonels added single tallies in the sixth and seventh innings to pull within 8-6, but that’s as close as they’d get.

Shipley sealed it with a solo home run to left field in the eighth, making it 9-6 and providing the Bears with the cushion they needed.

Bears’ bullpen shines late

On the mound, Jacob Pannell started and pitched two innings, allowing two runs on two hits.

Austin Jones followed and worked 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs while striking out two.

JB Williams came in and took care of business, throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings without allowing a hit to earn the win and improve to 2-4 on the season.

Hunter Alexander closed things out with a clean inning of work to record his ninth save of 2026. That save also gave him his 19th career save at UCA, tying the program’s all-time record.

The Bears won’t have much time to celebrate. They’ll travel to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State University on Tuesday with first pitch set for 6 p.m.