CONWAY, Ark _ A pair of Sam Houston State pitchers combined to strike out 22 batters as the Bearkats downed the University of Central Arkansas Bears 7-2 at Bear Stadium.

SHSU starter Sean Weatherford struck out 12 in five innings, with reliever Guillaume Duguay picking up 10 more as the Bearkats improved to 30-20 overall and 16-12 in Southland Conference play.

UCA (18-27, 9-19) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on senior Dillon Smith’s two-run home run to left-center, his seventh of the year. Sam Houston closed the gap to 2-1 with a run in the second inning when catcher Mark Wyatt homered just inside the left-field foul pole.

UCA senior starter Jeremy Cloud (4-6)  left in the eighth inning after racking up a season-high nine strikeouts. He allowed nine hits and four earned runs.

The Bearkats took a 3-2 lead after five innings when Tyler Knight singled in a run in the fifth. Sam Houston put up three runs in the top of the eighth to break the game open and added another in the ninth on Knight’s sacrifice fly.

Smith, Blake Roberts and Tye Throneberry had two hits each for UCA. Ryan Mooney, Nick Zaleski were the only Bearkats with multiple hits.

The teams resume the series with a 1 p.m. start Saturday.