Baseball
Christensen, Bears shut out Eastern Kentucky to clinch series, set up sweep chance
UCA finished with eight hits, with Negre, Curtis getting two apiece. EKU’s Colby Ott had two of Colonels’ five hits
CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas got a dominant complete-game shutout from junior right hander Charlie Christensen on Saturday afternoon and took a 2-0 victory over Eastern Kentucky at Bear Stadium.
The Bears (8-17, 3-5) won the series 2-0 after a much more offensive 8-7 victory in Friday’s series opener.
Christensen, from Olathe, Kan., improved to 2-2 on the season with his first career compete game, striking out a career-high nine batters and walking none and allowing just five hits, all singles. Christensen finished with 103 pitches and had perfect 1-2-3 innings in the first, second, third, sixth and eighth innings.
The Bears got the only run they would need in the first inning off EKU starter Bradley Gagen.
Zeb Allen was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and went to second on Nathan Negre’s single. After Allen was thrown out at third on a ground ball, Casey Shipley walked to load the bases.
Blaine French hit a ball between the pitcher, second baseman and first baseman and legged it out for a base hit, scoring Negre.
The Bears got an insurance run in the eighth against EKU reliever Ryker Walton. Right fielder Preston Curtis had a two-out double to left center and Noah Goodshield followed with an RBI single to right center for a 2-0 lead.
Christensen opened the ninth with a strikeout before allowing a base hit. He then got Nazir Mendez swinging and A.J. Groeneveld to pop up to second baseman Tanner Leonard to end it.
UCA finished with eight hits, with Negre and Curtis getting two apiece. EKU’s Colby Ott had two of the Colonels’ five hits.
Gagen (0-4) took the loss for the Colonels, while Walton struck out five and allowed just one run over 4.1 innings.
Game 3 of the series is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Bear Stadium.
