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SUNDAY - 1:00

   CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas baseball team will get to know their home field at Bear Stadium pretty well over the next three weeks, beginning the 2018 season with a 12-game homestand.

    First up is a three-game series with Northern Illinois beginning at 3 p.m. Friday. The remainder of the series, weather permitting, is set for 1 p.m. games on both Saturday and Sunday.

    UCA returns its entire weekend rotation from last season and those three will get the starts on opening weekend. Senior righthander Tyler Gray of Fort Smith, who was drafted in the 20th round by the Minnesota Twins after last season, will draw the opening day start, followed by junior righthander Cody Davenport (Fayetteville, Ark.) on Saturday and junior righty Mark Moyer  (Russellville, Ark.) on Sunday. 

    "We're excited to get going,' said eighth-year head coach Allen Gum, who became the winningest baseball coach in UCA history last May. "We've got a lot of guys coming back and it starts with those three starters on the mound. We feel like that has a chance to be our strength, our starting pitching, because they have all pitched a lot and have a lot of experience.

    "And we have some returners coming back who have played a lot as well. Hunter Strong, Justin McCarty, Will Hancock, Michael Haun, Keaton Presley, (Eddie) Sanchez, Rigo (Aguilar)... I feel like we have a balanced team with all those guys back. Kind of the same type team as we always have. The same look, tough kids who play hard. If we play fundamental baseball, we'll be all right.' 

    The Bears were picked fourth (of 13 teams) in the preseason Southland Conference poll and had three players named to the preseason All-SLC team, including Gray, senior outfielder Keaton Presley and junior first baseman/outfielder Hunter Strong. UCA is coming off a runnerup finish at the 2017 SLC Tournament, its third appearance in the championship game in the past five seasons. The Bears finished 34-26 a year ago and tied their best finish in conference play with 17 league victories. They also won at least 30 games for the third time in five seasons.

   UCA returns seven of its top eight hitters from last season, including Strong at .351 with a school-record 24 doubles, and Presley at .284 with 21 stolen bases. Presley also had a team-high 55 RBI while infielder Rigo Aguilar had a team-high six home runs. Strong led the Bears with 86 hits and team highs of .514 slugging percentage and .433 on-base percentage
    
    The Huskies finished 17-38 overall and 11-13 in the Mid-American Conference last season. 

    "We're just looking for consistency, sticking to what we do really well,' said Gum about the opening series. "What we do, the style of play, we hope we see that shine through. Really just great effort is what we're after more than anything. And we need some guys that have been here and played a little bit in the past to step up, especially in the bullpen. Guys that have played a role, but we need them to play a more significant role this year.

    "Especially when you look at some of the biggest losses we had from last year were Hags (relief pitcher Brandon Hagerla), (Ty) Tice as our closer and Brooks (Balisterri) at short. We hope we can fill those holes.'

    Playing at home 36 times would seem like a recipe for success. The Bears have gone 41-15 at home over the past two seasons.

    "We're excited to get to play that many home games,' said Gum. "We've looked at that a lot and decided it really benefits us a lot. In conference, our road trips are so long, so we felt like we needed to get a few more home games. Coach (Nick) Harlan did a great job of putting this schedule together. That's what we're after, trying to get more home games.'

    The Bears host Little Rock in Round 1 of their three-game series next Tuesday, followed by a weekend series with perennial power Missouri State on Feb. 23-25. Creighton comes to town for a March 2-4 series, with two games against Mississippi Valley State on March 6-7 to close out the 12-game homestand. UCA then opens Southland Conference play at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., on Feb. 9

2018 SCHEDULE