CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears baseball team will close out its home schedule with a weekend series against one of the top teams in the Southland Conference in the Sam Houston State Bearkats.

The series gets underway at 6 p.m. Friday at Bear Stadium. Game 2 is set for 4 p.m. Saturday, while "Senior Day" will be at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Bearkats (33-17, 16-11) are in third place in the SLC, while the Bears (21-26, 10-17) are in 11th place. However, the Bears swept the three-game series a year ago on the road in Huntsville, Texas. UCA is coming off an 11-3 victory over Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday, a game in which the Bears pounded out 17 hits.

The top eight teams in the final standings make the SLC Tournament field. UCA, still in the hunt for a berth, closes the season with a series at UTSA next weekend.

The Bears are led by junior left hander Dustin Ward, who is 7-3 overall and has won four of his past five conference starts. Freshman center fielder Jonathan Davis is sixth in the league in batting at .366. UCA is ninth in hitting with a team average of .280. Senior Jonathan Houston of Conway has tied the school single-season record with six triples, while the team has set a record with 21.

Sam Houston counters with the league's top-rated pitching staff, one with a team earned-run average of 3.21. Ryan Mooney is the Bearkat's top hitter at .357.

UCA is expected to start Ward on Friday, junior righthander Ryan Angus on Saturday and senior Evan Cox on Sunday.