Central Arkansas builds big early lead, holds off Jacksonville 11-6 in ASUN tournament
Jacksonville University's season ended in baseball with an 11-6 loss to Central Arkansas on Friday in the Pool B finals of the ASUN tournament, at Conrad Park in DeLand.
The Dolphins (27-31) fell behind 3-0 in the first inning as the Bears jumped on starter Tommy Allman (1-3) with RBI singles by Casey Shipley and Jake Trabbie.
UCA (26-29) then put the game out of reach with a five-run fourth. The Bears sent 11 players to the plate with Mason King, Tanner Leonard, Zeb Allen and A.J. Mendolia peppering the JU defense with RBI singles.
JU got a run in the third on Jaden Bastian's RBI single and another in the sixth on a run-scoring hit by Cade Hentz.
Josh Steidl hit a three-run double in the top of the seventh to cut UCA's lead to 9-5 but the Bears got two runs back in the bottom of the seventh on run-scoring hits by Shipley and Allen.
The Dolphins' last gasp came in the top of the ninth when Tyrell Brewer and Chandler Howard hit back-to-back doubles, with Howard delivering his seventh RBI of the tournament. The Bears' Trent Gregson then struck out Steidl and Abdriel Delgado to end the game.
Central Arkansas will play Kennesaw in one semifinal game at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Stetson faces Florida Gulf Coast at 3 p.m.
The championship game is Sunday at 1 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JU Dolphins sent packing from ASUN baseball tournament with loss to UCA
