CONWAY, Ark.-Central Arkansas scored
six runs in the first inning and plated a run in each of the first five innings
of the game en route to a 15-5 victory over visiting ULM Tuesday night at Bear
Stadium.
Boomer Blanchard tied his
career-high with four RBIs for the Warhawks as he went 2-for-4 at the plate
with a pair of two-run singles. Casey Auttonberry, who was making just his
fifth start of the season, was 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of runs scored.
Caleb Clowers picked up his team-leading 17th multi-hit game of the
season going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. The loss snapped a
three-game win streak for ULM (12-17).
Bobby Pritchett (3-1) had a
solid outing on the mound for the Bears as he struck out seven ULM batters and
scattered four hits. He earned the win after throwing four innings on the
designated staff day for the Bears. All nine Central Arkansas (9-19) batters in
the starting lineup recorded a hit led by Tye Thorneberry's 3-for-4, three-RBI
performance.
The Bears made the first
career start by ULM freshman Austin Young (0-1) one to forget as they tagged him
for six runs - five earned - on four hits in just two-thirds of an inning. The
Warhawks worked two outs in the opening inning with just one run across, but Michael
Pair kept the frame alive with a triple past a diving Shane Ardoin in center
field - it was the first of four consecutive hits by UCA.
Thorneberry put the Bears up
7-0 with a double down the line in left field after a two-out error by the
Warhawks kept the inning alive.
ULM pieced together four
straight hits in the top of the third to crack the scoreboard. Auttonberry and Ardoin
started the rally with back-to-back singles and then Clowers hammered a double
down the right-field line to plate one. Blanchard followed with a two-run
single back up the middle to cap the scoring.
Any comeback hope by the
Warhawks was quickly thwarted by the Bears in the home half of the fourth inning.
The first five batters of the inning reached base safely and five runs crossed
the plate as the Central Arkansas lead swelled to 12-3. The Bears added two
more runs in the fourth and one in the fifth.
Auttonberry and Blanchard
struck again in the fifth as the Warhawks put two more runs on the board.
Following a leadoff out, Auttonberry lined a double down the line in left field
and ULM loaded the bases when Ardoin reached on catcher's interference and
Clowers singled to center. Blanchard hammered a 1-1 offering from Jeremy Brewer
into center field to score two.
Jarrett Hammond had a solid
performance out of the Warhawk bullpen in just his second appearance of the
season. ULM's everyday catcher, Hammond worked 1.2 innings of scoreless relief
with a pair of strikeouts. Derek Ward closed out the game on the mound for the
Warhawks with two scoreless innings.
The Warhawks continue their
mid-week road trip Wednesday night when they take on Memphis at FedEx Park.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the second meeting of the season
between the two clubs-the Warhawks won 10-9 on March 10 in Monroe.
