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CONWAY —  The Central Arkansas softball Bears open their sixth straight Southland Conference Tournament on Wednesday – hosting for the first time when the 5th-seeded Bears take on the 4th-seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats at 1:30pm on the opening day of the six-team, double-elimination tournament at Farris Field on the UCA campus.

The Bears closed out the regular season by winning 4 of their final 5 Southland series, including 8-2 down the stretch – finishing with a 2-1 series win over Northwestern State in the final weekend to secure their spot in the league's postseason tournament for the sixth straight season. Central Arkansas is one of just two programs – along with reigning champion McNeese – to qualify for the six-team tournament in each of the last six years.

This year's field includes the Cowgirls – last year's tournament winner and winner of the league's regular season crown this year, their third in the last four years – at the top spot, with Nicholls and Lamar repeating as the 2 and 3 seeds and Northwestern State rounding out the field at No. 6.

The field has combined for 14 Southland tournament titles, with each team aside from Lamar having claimed at least one championship – led by five by Northwestern State and four by McNeese. The Bears are seeking their second championship, having gone 4-0 in the 2015 tournament held at Northwestern State to earn the Southland's automatic berth to the NCAA regionals for the first time in program history.

The tournament opens at 11am with Lamar and NSU looking to earn a spot in a 4pm matchup with 2nd-seeded Nicholls; with the Bears and Bearkats squaring off in Game 2 for a shot at the Cowgirls at 6:30pm. The UCA-SHSU loser will go on to an elimination game scheduled for 11am Thursday against the Lamar-NSU loser.

The Bears (24-32, 14-13 Southland) will be playing on their home field where they went 14-9 on the season including a 6-1 mark in their final seven. They were 8-4 at Farris Field in Southland competition this season, including a sweep of Southeastern Louisiana.

They'll be matched up with a Bearkat team that is 23-25 overall and 14-13 in Southland play with an 8-14 mark in road games. The Bearkats won three of their last four series, finishing the season with a sweep of Houston Baptist, outscoring the Huskies 17-6 to rebound from a sweep at the hands of Southeastern Louisiana the previous weekend.

The Bearkats took two of three from the Bears in their series this season in Huntsville, shutting the Bears out in the first two games with 13-0 and 4-0 victories before the Bears rallied in the third game to come home with a 5-3 win. Since joining the Southland in 2007, the Bears hold a slim 15-13 advantage in the series over the Bearkats, with SHSU winning the first two postseason meetings before the Bears scored a 1-0 win in the 2014 Southland tournament in Hammond, La.

Senior pitcher Kayla Gomness, who was voted to the All-Southland 2nd team announced yesterday, comes in with a 1.44 earned run average in conference games, sporting a 10-7 record. Gomness allowed just 15 walks in 116.1 innings pitched this season during conference play. She will be making her fourth postseason appearance, highlighted by five innings of scoreless relief and walking none in the championship game of the 2015 tournament as the Bears knocked off the two-time defending champion Lady Demons on their home field.

It will be the fourth Southland tournament for senior all-conference outfielder Briana Whisenhunt, who comes in with a career batting average of .360 in Southland tournaments. Whisenhunt earned a spot on the 2015 all-tournament team after hitting .353 in the four games, including a three-hit performance in the opening round win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Whisenhunt – the Bears' all-time leader in steals (96) and second on the program's career hit list with 226 – led the team in conference play this season with a .302 batting average. She and fellow senior outfielder Hannah Stilton – who led the team with a .405 on-base percentage in Southland games – will each be starting the 12th postseason game of their careers.

On the flip side, there will be as many as 10 players seeing their first postseason action in a Central Arkansas uniform. Freshman Cylla Hill – a 3rd team All-Southland selection as a utility player – led the team with 13 RBI during the conference season and 29 for the year, while freshman first baseman Kaylyn Shepherd tied Whisenhunt for 2nd on the team with 9 RBI during conference play and hit .297 on the season, finishing behind only Whisenhunt with 43 hits, while having a team-high .458 on-base percentage for the year.

The Bearkats are led offensively by first team All-Southland third baseman Tori Koerselman, who finished the season with the league's 5th-best batting average at .381, including a .372 clip in conference games. Tiffany Thompson had 7 home runs for SHSU, to tied for 8th most among Southland players, and Megan Crosby had 6.

Games 1-9 of the Southland tournament will be streamed live on the Southland Digital Network, the Southland Conference mobile app and the new Southland app available for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku, with Chris Mycoskie, Steve Owens and Chris Kane sharing play-by-play duties throughout the opening rounds.

The championship round will be an exclusive presentation of ESPN3, which can be viewed via WatchESPN, the ESPN app, and WatchESPN.com with Mycoskie and former Southeastern Louisiana pitcher Kati Morse on the call.

Tickets for the tournament are available online or can be purchased in person at Farris Field. All-Session passes are $20 for adults, $10 for youth (ages 5-12). Single-day passes are $10 & $5.