CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears return home this week for a four-game homestand, beginning Wednesday at 6 p.m. against in-state rival UALR at Bear Stadium.
UCA (11-7, 6-3) looks to break a four-game losing streak that began last Tuesday at 19th-ranked Oklahoma State and continued with last weekend's Southland Conference series at Houston Baptist. Prior to that, the Bears had won eight consecutive games and were in sole possession of first place in the SLC.
UCA is currently in a three-way tie for third place with McNeese State and Sam Houston State. The Bearkats come to Conway on Friday for a three-game conference series.
UCA and UALR split their series last year, with UCA winning 5-4 in 11 innings at Bear Stadium. Tyler Langley walked to lead off the 11th inning, moved to second on Doug Votolato's sacrifice bunt. He came all the way around to score the game-winner when UALR's center fielder dropped a fly ball by Nate Ferrell.
The Trojans (7-11, 4-4) won the rematch in Little Rock 7-6, scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Bears had swept their first two league series at Stephen F. Austin and at home against Lamar, but were swept by HBU last weekend, being outscored 21-4. UCA dropped to sixth in the SLC in hitting at .265 after entering the weekend at .285. The Bears' earned-run average also rose to 3.54 from 2.91. The Huskies hit .337 in the three-game set while UCA managed only .158. HBU's pitching staff had a 1.00 ERA on the weekend compared to UCA's 6.93.
UCA junior first baseman Matt Anderson continues to lead the SLC in hitting by a wide margin with a .440 batting average. The second-best average is .376. Anderson is also first in on-base percentage (.532) and second in slugging percentage (.591). Junior shortstop Logan Preston is tied for third in home runs with four, while Chris Townsend is third in walks and Ferrell is ninth in RBI.
The Trojans, coached by former Conway Wampus Cat Chris Curry, are coming off a 1-2 series loss at Troy last weekend and will host former Southland member Oral Roberts on Tuesday night at Gary Hogan Field.
