Jackrabbit nine drop series opener at UCA

Friday, February 27

Conway, Ark.

3 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Central Arkansas

2/27/2009 1:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: SDSU Sports Info

CONWAY, Ark. ? Central Arkansas struck for 10 runs in the second inning, cruising to a 14-3 victory over South Dakota State in college baseball action Friday afternoon.

UCA, a member of the Southland Conference, improved to 3-3 on the season. The Jackrabbits dropped to 1-3.

SDSU took an early 1-0 lead, scoring a run on a double-play grounder in the second inning.

UCA then sent 15 men to the plate in the home half of the inning, scoring 10 runs on 11 hits. Bobby Pritchett doubled twice in the inning, driving in two runs, and Tye Throneberry knocked in three runs with a base hit and sacrifice fly.

SDSU starter Caleb Thielbar recorded only four outs before exiting. The senior left-hander gave up eight of the runs ? all earned ? and allowed 10 hits. He did not record a strikeout or a walk.

The Jackrabbits' other two runs came in the fifth and sixth innings. Doubles by John Lee and Jesse Ayala led to the fifth-inning run, with the sixth-inning run scoring on a groundout.

Isaac Johnson pitched four innings in relief for the Jackrabbits and gave up the other six runs, four of which came in the sixth inning. Austin Busse pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, while Sam Pieczynski hurled a scoreless eighth inning.

Combined, Jackrabbit pitchers struck out two and walked six batters on the day.

The Jackrabbits had at least one hit in seven of the nine innings, notching 15 hits in the game. Joel Blake and Jesse Sawyer each went 3-for-4, while Lee, Ayala and Stephen Turner all collected two hits apiece.

Johnathan Yarby led the Bears' 19-hit attack with four hits, including two doubles, in five trips to the plate.

Jeremy Cloud worked the first six innings on the mound for UCA as he picked up his first win of the season. Cloud surrendered 10 hits and three runs, but did not walk a batter as he struck out three. Shaun McPeters was credited with a save after pitching the final three innings. He also struck out three Jackrabbit batters.

The two teams are slated to play the middle game of their three-game series Saturday afternoon, starting at 2 p.m.