CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears open the 2017 baseball season Friday with a three-game series against the Evansville Purple Aces.

    Game time for Friday's opener is 3 p.m. at Bear Stadium, followed by games at 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

    The Bears, coming off a 29-27 season, 16-14 in Southland Conference play. UCA won its last four regular-season games last year, including a three-game home sweep of perennial power Southeastern Louisiana, to earn the No. 5 seed in the SLC Tournament. UCA, which won 10 of its final 12 regular-season games, then beat Lamar in the tourney opener before falling to Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin.

    UCA lost three All-SLC selections in outfielder Tyler Langley, second baseman Chris Townsend and third baseman Logan Preston, but still return some quality experience. Sophomore right hander Cody Davenport returns on the mound and will draw the Friday start. Davenport, from Fayetteville, led the Bears to their SLC Tournament win over Lamar. Davenport shut out the Cardinals over 8 1/3 innings, allowing just four hits and striking out eight.

    Lamar had swept UCA during the regular season. Davenport was 6-2 with a 3.21 earned-run average and 71 strikeouts. Davenport, a preseason All-SLC selection, will be joined in the rotation this weekend by junior right hander Ty Tice of Prairie Grove and senior right hander Brandon Hagerla of Petaluma, Calif. Tice struck out 26 batters in 26 innings last season, while Hagerla missed the 2016 season after elbow surgery.

    UCA returns 18 letterwinners and lost 13. The key position returnees include: sophomore catcher William Hancock; senior shortstop Brooks Balisterri; sophomore first baseman Hunter Strong and junior outfielder Michael Haun. The pitching staff returns experience in junior right hander Tyler Gray (6-1 record, 3.34 ERA) and senior right hander Jacob Murray, who led the Bears with six saves last season but could have a role as a starter in 2017.

     "We're ready to get going. said UCA head coach Allen Gum, beginning his seventh season at UCA. "We've been practicing and playing against each other. How are we? I don't know. We need to see someone else. We need to play somebody else.

    "It's time to see where we are at. I like where we are at, but sometimes you can't really tell until you play somebody else. The first weekend, on both ends, there are always some things we'll probably need to work on. Hopefully they'll be some really good surprises.'

    Gum, who has won 181 games at UCA and 407 during his career, said the Bears will have to rely on some new faces in the upcoming season with the loss of so many starters from a year ago. 

    "The biggest thing for us right now is we have so many new players,' said Gum. "You're going to see a lot of new faces out there. Just a whole new lineup and so many new players. And we haven't gotten to see a lot of these guys when the other team shows up. So there's a lot of new for us.

    "But I'm excited. I like our guys. I think we're a balanced team. I think if you look at our program the last six years, that's what we strive for, to be balanced. On and off the field we strive for that. And I think that's what we have this year, balance. Hopefully we'll have two or three difference makers in the lineup, and definitely have to have two or three difference makers on the mound.   
    
    "If we have a good Friday guy, a good Saturday guy and a good backend guy, I like our chances.'

    The Bears will play seven of their first eight games at home at Bear Stadium _ including next weekend with a four-game series against Eastern Illinois _ before an extended road trip of seven consecutive games at Tennessee Tech and powerhouses Missouri State and Vanderbilt. UCA was 21-6 at home last season.