UCA drops mid-week road game to Memphis despite early lead

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It was a promising start that didn’t hold up.

Central Arkansas, sitting at 27-22 overall and 14-10 in ASUN play, jumped out to a 2-0 lead Tuesday night but couldn’t keep Memphis at bay.

The result was the Bears dropping the final mid-week non-conference game of the season 8-3 at FedEx Park Avron Fogelman Field.

The Tigers, who came in with a losing record of 19-28 and 10-11 in American Conference play, found their footing in the middle innings and didn’t look back.

Parker Gwyn got things started in a big way for the Bears. He connected on the very first pitch of the game and sent it deep to left field for a solo home run, putting UCA ahead 1-0 right out of the gate. Memphis couldn’t answer in their half of the first and the Bears carried that lead into the second inning.

Casey Shipley pushed the advantage to 2-0 when he scored on a wild pitch in the second. The Tigers went down in order again and it looked like the Bears might be in control of the game’s tempo early on.

That changed in the third inning. Memphis got on the board with an RBI single from Freddy Rodriguez, then pulled even on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brady McAbee, tying the game at 2-2.

Memphis bats erupt in fourth

The fourth inning is where the game got away from UCA. Michael Gupton hit a solo homer to give Memphis its first lead and the Tigers kept rolling from there.

Rodriguez came through with another RBI single and Javon Hernandez delivered the big blow, a two-run home run that pushed the lead to 7-2. Memphis scored five times in the frame, turning what had been a close game into a comfortable cushion.

The Bears didn’t roll over quietly.

Keaton Laidley launched a home run to deep right field in the sixth inning to make it 7-3 and gave UCA fans something to cheer about.

It was the Bears’ second long ball of the night, but Memphis didn’t let the deficit tighten any further. The Tigers added one more run in the seventh, stretching the final margin to 8-3.

UCA finished the night with six hits and one error, while Memphis collected 12 hits without committing an error. The Tigers also swiped five bases compared to none for the Bears.

Four arms take mound for UCA

The Bears used four pitchers in the loss. Starter JB Williams worked three innings, giving up four hits and two earned runs while striking out one.

Nicholas French took the ball next but struggled in his two-thirds of an inning, surrendering four hits and four earned runs. The decision landed on him as he took the loss, dropping to 0-1 on the season.

Kannon Nesslage gave the Bears some length after that, working two-and-a-third innings with four hits and two earned runs allowed but fanning four batters. The bright spot out of the bullpen was Austin Jones, who closed out the final two innings without allowing a single hit or a run, striking out three while walking two.

What’s next for Bears

With the regular season winding down, UCA turns its attention back home.

The Bears host North Alabama at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 8, at Bear Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and available on The Bear 91.3 radio.