Conway, Ark. - First baseman Jonathan Houston went 3-for-4 including a pair of RBIs to lead Central Arkansas to a 5-2 win over Sam Houston Sunday in the final contest of a three-game Southland Conference series.
UCA (23-27, 12-18) won two of the three games in the series as the Bearkats out-hit Sam Houston 9-6 Sunday.
Sam Houston (34-19, 17-13) took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning as third baseman Kevin Miller walked and scored on a double to center field by outfielder Mark Hudson.
Central Arkansas scored two runs in the third inning and added another on an RBI single by Houston in the fifth that proved to be the game-winning hit.
Second baseman Ryan Mooney singled, was sacrificed to second then scored on a single to center field by designated hitter Chris Andreas.
UCA added two insurance runs in the seventh inning, one scoring on a double by Houston.
Bearkat starter Caleb Smith (4-2) was the losing pitcher.
Following the UCA series the Bearkats will wrap up the regular season against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Thursday, May 19, through Saturday, May 21.
The series marks the final home appearance for Sam Houston head coach Mark Johnson who is retiring at the end of the 2011 season. Game times for the series are 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Johnson, who last year became only the 44th head coach in NCAA Division I baseball history to post more than 1,000 victories, will be honored in a special pre-game ceremony before the "Farewell Game" Friday, May 20.
Tickets for the three remaining home games including the Mark Johnson "Farewell Game" Friday May 20 at 6:30 p.m. are available online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
