UCA sweeps Bellarmine doubleheader to lock up ASUN series

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Central Arkansas softball team didn’t just win a road series Saturday butt did it with a patient, disciplined approach at the plate that’s becoming a calling card for this squad.

The Bears swept both ends of a doubleheader against Bellarmine, taking game one 8-1 and game two 13-3 to claim the ASUN series in Louisville before a rubber match on Sunday.

With the two wins, UCA moved to 27-16 overall and 9-4 in ASUN play, putting together one of its stronger stretches of conference softball this season.

Bellarmine dropped to 10-29 on the year and 3-11 in league action.

The story of the day wasn’t just the wins themselves, but the walk totals. The Bears drew a combined 22 bases on balls across the two games, including a program-record-tying 17 in game two alone.

That matched a UCA record set back in 2000 against Williams Baptist, a testament to how well the lineup worked counts and stayed disciplined against Bellarmine’s pitching staff.

Both Bailie Runner and Lucy Crowder earned wins in the circle and each gave up just one earned run. Crowder struck out a season-high five batters in game two, turning in one of her sharpest outings of the 2026 campaign.

Game One: Bears Grind Out 8-1 Victory

The first game took a while to get going. Both teams left baserunners on the diamond in the early going and UCA actually loaded the bases in the first inning on three walks without scoring.

It wasn’t until the fourth that either side broke through.

Lilly Hood singled to left field to get things started for the Bears and Grace Molitor followed with a hit of her own to put runners on base.

After Molitor swiped second, a groundout allowed Hood to come home with the first run of the afternoon.

Bellarmine answered quickly in the bottom half to tie it at one.

Addie Graham didn’t let that tie stand for long. Leading off the fifth, she crushed the first pitch she saw for her third home run of the season, putting UCA back in front.

The Bears then turned the sixth inning into a scoring showcase.

LJ Smith opened that frame with a triple and came around to score two batters later.

Autumn Vessier walked and moved up on a wild pitch, but her baserunning became a footnote when Renee Christian ripped a triple down the right field line to plate Vessier.

Graham then drove in Christian with a hit through the left side of the infield. Trinity Brandon singled to push Graham to third and Emma Robertson capped the rally by launching a three-run home run that put the Bears up seven and effectively ended the contest.

Runner went the full seven innings, finishing with just one earned run allowed.

Game Two: Crowder Shines as Bears Rack Up Record Walks

If game one was a slow build, game two was the opposite. UCA jumped on Bellarmine from the opening at-bat.

Graham got aboard via walk and a Brandon hit to center scored the first run. But the Bears weren’t close to done. Five of the next six batters drew walks — four of them on 3-1 counts — resulting in three more runs before the first inning ended. UCA led 4-0 with just one hit.

Bellarmine trimmed it to 4-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, but Crowder settled in and started working through the Knights lineup. In a second inning that she controlled from start to finish, Crowder struck out the side — mixing her location, speed and pitch selection to retire two batters swinging and one looking.

More walks set up a two-run RBI hit from Smith in the second, stretching the lead to 6-2. Brandon then added an RBI hit in the third to push UCA ahead 7-2. Bellarmine scored once more in the third to cut the gap to four, but Crowder and the defense worked through a bases-loaded jam without allowing any further damage.

Smith opened the fourth with another triple — her second of the doubleheader — and Hood followed with a walk and a stolen base. A wild pitch moved both runners up and scored Smith. Molitor hit a sacrifice fly to plate Hood and after a pitching change, two walks and a single loaded the bases again. A wild pitch scored pinch runner Sydney Kildow, Robertson drew another walk to reload the bases and Kaitlyn Graham took ball four to force in yet another run, pushing the score to 11-3.

The Bears added two more runs in the fifth when Christian tripled to send Vessier home and an error allowed Christian to cross the plate as well, closing the book at 13-3.

Crowder finished her five-inning outing with those five strikeouts and just two earned runs on her ledger, picking up her fourth win of the season against two losses.

Up Next for UCA Softball

The Bears have a chance to make it a perfect weekend when they return to the field Sunday morning for the series finale against Bellarmine at 11 a.m. CT. A sweep would be three wins in three days on the road and would push UCA’s ASUN record to double digits in the win column. The Bears take the field looking to keep the momentum going as conference play continues to heat up.