CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will try to win their third consecutive Southland Conference game when they open a three-game league series with the Nicholls State Colonels at 7 p.m. Friday night at Bear Stadium.

The Bears (13-17, 7-8) are tied with the Colonels (18-15, 7-8) for seventh place in the 12-team league midway through the season.

UCA dropped the series opener at Southeastern Louisiana last weekend but then won the final two games to win its third SLC series of the season and first on the road. UCA swept Lamar at home to open conference play, then took 2 of 3 from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 23-25 at Bear Stadium.

The Bears dropped a non-conference doubleheader at No. 18 Ole Miss on Tuesday, losing 2-1 and 4-0. Nicholls is coming off a 5-2 loss to Tulane and a 2-1 series loss at UT Arlington last weekend.

The Bears feature one of the top hitters in the league in junior right fielder Forrestt Allday. He is eighth in the SLC in hitting at .358 and leads the league in walks (41) and on-base percentage (.555). Nicholls has one of the top pitchers in Seth Webster, who is 5-2 overall with 36 strikeouts and just 3 walks.

The Bears will be at home for the first time in 10 games. Their last outing at Bear Stadium was March 25.

Game times this weekend are 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.