CONWAY, Ark. _ Two University of Central Arkansas baseball players were named to the Southland Conference Preseason All-Conference teams on Wednesday.

    Senior center fielder Tyler Langley of Conway was named to the first team and senior righthanded pitcher Connor Gilmore of Little Rock to the second team.

    Langley, from Conway High School, started all 53 games for the Bears in 2015, hitting .305 with a team-high 62 hits. Langley had 13 doubles, 3 triples and 5 home runs, with a team-high slugging percentage of .463. He also stole 10 bases and scored 39 runs, ranking seventh in the Southland. Langley had a team-high 19 multi-hit games, including going 4 for 6 with a home run against Sam Houston State. He also had four RBI against Wichita State.

    Gilmore, who played at Little Rock Catholic, was a two-time SLC Pitcher of the Week in 2015 and posted an 8-3 record with a 2.42 earned-run average in 15 starts. Gilmore struck out 59 batters and had a team-high five complete games in 108 innings. He pitched at least eight innings seven times, going nine innings four times. Gilmore pitched the Bears to a 7-6 victory over Nicholls in the SLC Tournament opener last May in Sugar Land, Texas. 

    The Bears, under the direction of head coach Allen Gum, open the season on Friday, Feb. 19 when they host NCAA Super Regional team Missouri State in a three-game series at Bear Stadium. Game times are 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. UCA, which finished 29-24 last season, will play its first nine games at home, and 14 of its first 18 at Bear Stadium.

    UCA's 2016 schedule is highlighted by matchups with perennial powers Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Oregon State and a three-game in-state series with Little Rock, with one game at each team's home stadium and one at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.