24 Apr 2024 Bears complete season sweep of Red Wolves

CONWAY —  The University of Central Arkansas Bears completed the in-state season sweep of Arkansas State on Tuesday night, winning 10-8 at Bear Stadium.

The Bears (17-22) also beat the Red Wolves (17-23-1) 8-4 in 12 innings back on Feb. 27 in Jonesboro.

UCA tied its season high for the second consecutive game with 15 hits, including home runs from senior A.J. Mendolia and junior Colton Sageley and a triple by junior Tanner Leonard.

Sophomore right hander Coleman MacRae turned in a quality start to get the victory, going six innings and striking out a career-high 10 batters while allowing just two runs.

Sophomore Gavin Alveti, the sixth UCA pitcher, induced a double play ground ball with two runners on in the ninth to end it and pick up his second save.

UCA, which completed its homestand with a 4-1 record, fell behind twice but battled back both times. Trailing 2-1, the Bears scored five times in the fifth, and once in the sixth to run out to a 7-2 lead. But the Red Wolves scored a combined six runs over the final three innings to make it a game.

After ASU closed the gap to 9-7 with two runs in the eighth, UCA added an insurance run on a towering lead-off home run from Mendolia, his fifth of the season and 11th of his career. The Red Wolves got one run back in the top of the ninth before Alveti closed it out.

Mendolia finished 4 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, while freshman Zeb Allen was 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. The top three batters in UCA’s lineup, Allen, Mendolia and Kade Seldomridge, combined to go 8 for 14 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored.

Sagely, the designated hitter, went 1 for 4 with a three-run home run, the first of his UCA career. Second baseman Bryce Cermenelli had two runs batted in for the Bears.

A-State finished with 13 hits, with Austen Jaslove and Cade Tucker getting three each.

UCA returns to ASUN Conference play this weekend when they travel to Florence, Ala., to take on the North Alabama Lions.