Feb 26th, 2007 05:55AM
by:

By CODY USHER
UCA ASSISTANT SID

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas baseball team made two dramatic comebacks on Sunday to complete the sweep of Saint Louis at UCA Field. The Bears (5-3) remained perfect at home by downing the Billikens (0-6) 5-4 in seven innings and 13-12 in 10 innings in the nightcap of the double-header.

In the first game, the Bears trailed 4-2 headed into the bottom of the sixth inning, when senior designated hitter Matt Warren led the frame off with a double. Junior catcher Chris Davis drove Warren in with a double down the fight field line to cut the lead to 4-3. Freshman Tye Throneberry tied the game with RBI-single that plated Davis.

Junior center fielder Scott Cline led the bottom of the seventh off with a triple off the right field wall. After an intentional walk to freshman Graham Martin, Warren grounded into a fielder's choice and Cline was caught in a rundown on his way to home plate. Davis came up and drove in Martin with the game-winning hit to center field.

Throneberry went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in and Davis was 3-for-4 with two RBI and two doubles.

UCA junior Matt Whitaker struck out nine batters while giving up seven hits, four runs and four walks in five and a third innings. Freshman Bobby Pritchett (2-0) picked up his second win of the weekend by giving up two hits and striking out two in 1 2/3 innings of relief.

SLU's Ryan Bird struck out four and gave up two walks, four runs and six hits in six innings. Mark Zielinski was responsible for the loss by giving up one hit and a run in a third of an inning.

The second game saw UCA overcome an eight-run deficit in a contest that lasted three hours and forty minutes and had 36 total hits.

Junior right fielder Chris Houk gave the Bears a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a home run black over the left-center field fence. The Billikens knotted the game in the third inning with a RBI-double by Ryan Crespi and single by Blake Bratcher that plated Crespi.

SLU added three more in the fourth on RBI hits by Tom Pinnell, Crespi and Bratcher. They went up 7-2 in the sixth inning on a two-run double by designated hitter Greg Rodgers. The Billikens took a 10-2 lead in the seventh with three runs on four hits.

UCA scored in the bottom of the seventh when Martin scored on a ground ball by Pritchett. Saint Louis went up 11-3 in the eighth inning on RBI-single by Pinnell.

SLU starter Eric Rohr, who held the Bears to three runs, nine hits and one walk with four strikeouts over the first seven innings, was replaced by Dan Cowsert to start the eighth. Houk led the inning off with a walk, then reached second on a wild pitch. With one out, junior first baseman Grant Gatlin drew a walk and Martin singled through the right side of the infield, scoring Houk. With two outs, Pritchett drew a walk to load the bases.

Junior left fielder Kevin Rawls followed with a two-run single to center field to cut the lead to 11-6. Reliever Brock Hewitt came in and gave up a triple to freshman Zack Dickson to make the score 11-8.

SLU's Casey Moore blasted a solo home run in the top of the ninth off of Bear reliever Josh Charette to push the lead to 12-8.

The Bears struck gold again in the bottom of the ninth, by tying the game with a RBI single by Davis and a three-run double by Dickson. Charette induced three Saint Louis ground outs in the top of the 10th to set up the magical comeback.

Billiken reliever Zielinski managed to get two outs in the bottom of the 10th before he gave up a walk to Gatlin. Martin then drove in Gatlin with a double to right center to cap the Bears' third come-from-behind victory of the series.

Martin went 5-for-6 at the plate with two doubles, two runs batted in and three runs scored. Dickson came off the bench to go 3-for-3 with a double, triple and five RBI. Houk and Rawls were each responsible for two of the Bears' 17 hits.

Moore led SLU with four of their 19 hits. Bratcher and Gilbert Marlowe added three hits each.

UCA starter Jonathan Ashworth gave up seven hits, four runs, one walk and struck out one in 3.1 innings of work. Charette picked up his first win of the year by throwing three innings and striking out two batters with three hits and two runs.

SLU's bullpen combined to give up eight hits, 10 runs, six walks, and five strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.

The Bears will begin a three-game series at UAB on Friday, March 2.