Central Arkansas advances to face No. 6 Stephen F. Austin at 4 p.m. CT Thursday, while Northwestern State slots into the 9 a.m. game Thursday against No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana. Jay Anderson put the Bears on the board first, reaching on a leadoff single and scoring from first on a double off Tyler Smith’s bat. Smith tested his luck on a single two batters later, but a Lenni Kunert missile to the plate beat Smith by a healthy margin to keep the score at 1-0. Box Score | Photo Gallery | Tournament HomepageSUGAR LAND, Texas – No. 2 Central Arkansas put No. 7 Northwestern State, the defending Southland Conference Tournament champions, on the difficult path for its title defense with a 2-0 win over the Demons on Wednesday afternoon at Constellation Field. Northwestern State ace Nathan Jones, who had struck out four of five batters from the last batter of the first to the first batter of the third, was nearly pegged for a second run on a Josh Ragan double that would’ve been a round-tripper if it landed a few inches higher. A trio of walks issued allowed Ragan to touch home plate and double the Bears’ lead.BSB: @UCABearBaseball on the board first in our second game. 30th RBI of the year for Smith, scoring Anderson. 1-0 Bears over @NSUDemonsBSB, B1st.?? https://t.co/ZNpKLqrhM1???? @espn apps #ProveIt #BearClawsUp #SouthlandStrong pic.twitter.com/5PiC4XD2fk— Southland Conference (@SouthlandSports) May 22, 2019 Davenport needed just 18 pitches to manufacture six-straight outs before allowing a double to Kunert, just Davenport’s fifth hit allowed on the afternoon. He responded by punching out pinch-hitter Peyton Davis for his eighth strikeout of the game. Central Arkansas starter Cody Davenport kept NSU off the board for all nine frames, allowing just six hits and one walk. The senior from Fayetteville, Ark., struck out 11 Demons and became the Bears’ career leader in strikeouts at 270. Jones settled back in and retired seven of the next nine batters he faced, including three-straight strikeouts, before passing the ball off to Nathan Hodo, who limited UCA to two hits over the final three innings with three strikeouts. However, the Demons couldn’t find an answer for the Bears’ hurler.