ASUN BASEBALL
Jacksonville 6, Central Arkansas 5
The University of Central Arkansas came up short in a loss to Jacksonville after allowing two late runs to drop the first game of a three-game weekend series Thursday at Bear Stadium in Conway.
After three scoreless innings, the Bears (11-14, 3-4 ASUN) fell behind as the Dolphins (12-13, 6-1) scored four runs in the fourth innings. Blake Edmonds, Josh Steidl and Chandler Howard each hit a home run to combine for four RBI.
UCA responded with an RBI single from Zeb Allen to cut into the lead before AJ Mendolia made it 4-2 in the fifth innings with an RBI groundout.
The Bears took their first lead in the seventh inning thanks to a Dolphin wild pitch and a two-run double by Bryce Cermenelli to go ahead 5-4.
But in the eighth and ninth innings, Jacksonville scored on RBI singles from Cade Hentz and Justin Nadeau, respectively, to win 6-5.