CONWAY -- Neither Central Arkansas nor UALR entered Wednesday's game at Bear Stadium brimming with momentum.
UALR had lost four of its previous five, including a loss to Oral Roberts on Tuesday in which it walked 16 batters. UCA had lost its past four, including a three-game sweep at Houston Baptist in which it hit .158 as a team.
The Bears (12-7) bounced back in a big way Wednesday, scoring nine runs on seven hits in the first inning of a 15-3 victory over the Trojans (7-13) in seven innings.
UCA Coach Allen Gum said part of the breakout had to do with a few lineup tweaks. Gum moved center fielder Tyler Langley from the ninth spot in the lineup to the leadoff spot, where he was last year, and moved first baseman Matt Anderson from fifth to fourth. Designated hitter Nate Ferrell and right fielder Braxton Phillips also moved down one spot to sixth and seventh, respectively.
"We felt like there needed to be a change," Gum said. "Sometimes if something is stagnant, change something up and see if it sparks it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Tonight it did."
It didn't take long, either.
UALR's Tanner Rockwell made his first career start and promptly hit Langley with a pitch. Langley moved to second on a bunt before the next six UCA hitters reached base to start the rout.
Travis Hull and Matt Anderson each hit RBI doubles, while Logan Preston was hit by a pitch, Braxton Phillips hit a two-run double and Hayden Steele hit a two-run single.
Hull later drove in two runs with a single and Anderson drove in another with a double. The Bears added two runs in the second, third and fourth innings and finished with 16 hits.
Rockwell took his first loss of the season after giving up 9 runs on 7 hits in 1 inning. It came a day after UALR lost 15-2 to Oral Roberts. The two losses highlighted UALR's biggest deficiency in Coach Chris Curry's first season: Pitching depth. UALR's weekend starters -- Cory Malcolm, Cameron Allen, Sam Thoele -- have a cumulative ERA of 4.63, while the rest of the team has an ERA of 10.92.
"That rests square on my shoulders," Curry said. "I'm the pitching coach, so I've got to figure out a way to close the gap between the guys that aren't your front-line guys versus the guys who need to develop and come along. That's my job, and I got to get it fixed."
The Trojans scored two runs in the fifth when Petr Sila and Ryan Scott singled and scored, and Hayden Martin walked and scored on Sam Vogel's RBI single in the sixth. Scott, a junior from North Little Rock, extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
Anderson went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI in raising his Southland Conference-leading batting average to .483.
"He's done really, really well and competed well," Gum said. "We've had him in the sixth [spot], moved him up and it didn't faze him. He still did a good job for us, and he's getting off some good swings."
SUN BELT CONFERENCE
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI ST. 6, ARKANSAS STATE 5
Southeast Missouri State (15-9) scored on an unearned run in the eighth inning and held on to defeat Arkansas State (10-12) in a nonconference game Wednesday at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro.
Brandon Neel reached on an error to open the eighth inning for Southeast Missouri, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a flyout to right. Clayton Evans followed with a bunt single that allowed Neal to score the goahead run.
Austin Baker hit his second home run and was the only Red Wolves player with more than one hit, going 2 for 5 with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored.
SWAC
MISSOURI 9, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 3
Missouri scored eight runs in the first three innings and finished with 11 hits as it salvaged a midweek split against Arkansas-Pine Bluff with a victory at Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Mo.
Logan Bone went 2 for 4 and drove in 2 runs for Missouri.
Chris Burns went 2 for 3 with 1 run scored for UAPB, which defeated Missouri 8-3 on Tuesday. Michael Bradley was 2 for 4 with 1 RBI.
Andrew Schwabb (1-0) allowed 1 run on 1 hit over 3 innings to earn his first victory. Humberto Medina (0-2) took the loss for UAPB after allowing 6 runs, 5 earned, on 5 hits in 2 innings of work.
Sports on 03/26/2015