CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will play their final three home games of the season this weekend at Bear Stadium when they host the Abilene Christian Wildcats for "Senior Weekend."

    UCA (24-23) sits fourth in the Southland Conference standings at 14-10 with six games remaining. A sweep of the Wildcats would assure the Bears their eighth consecutive berth in the Southland Conference Tournament, set for May 22-25 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.

    Six seniors will be playing in front of the home crowd for the final time this weekend, including second baseman Jay Anderson (Humble, Texas), pitcher Cody Davenport (Fayetteville, Ark.), first baseman Tyler Smith (Deer Park, Texas), outfielder Brett D'Amico (Rogers, Ark.), pitcher Taylor Anders (Van Buren, Ark.) and pitcher Tanner Wiley (Fort Smith, Ark.).

    That group of seniors has won 119 games over the past four years and has made three consecutive trips to the SLC Tournament, finishing as runnerup in 2017.

    Two of UCA's seniors, along with 10 from ACU, will have their graduation ceremony prior to Friday's 6 p.m. game at Bear Stadium, conducted by UCA President Houston Davis, UCA Provost Dr. Patricia Poulter and Dr. Brad Teague, UCA athletic director. Traditional Senior Day ceremonies will be held prior to Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.

    Two more UCA players, junior infielder Christian Brasher (Fort Smith, Ark.) and senior pitcher Conner Williams (Conway, Ark.) are also graduating this weekend but both have a year of eligibility remaining.

    The Bears, who have won six of eight SLC series this season, have never lost to the Wildcats in seven previous matchups. UCA has the No. 2 ranked pitching staff in the conference with a 3.69 earned-run average. The Bears allowed a season-high 26 earned runs last weekend (9.36 ERA) in losing two of three games at Incarnate Word, the top offensive team in the league. Prior to that, UCA sported a 3.33 overall ERA, and a league-best 1.98 in league games.

    Davenport, a record-setting righthander and Friday starter, is 4-4 with a 2.26 ERA this season, with a team-best 79.2 innings and 65 strikeouts. No. 2 starter Noah Cameron, a freshman lefthander, is 5-1 with a 2.60 ERA and a team-high 68 strikeouts and was named the SLC Pitcher of the Week on March 18. Relievers Conner Williams (16 appearances) and Gavin Stone (15) are the top arms out of the bullpen. Stone has a 3-2 record with z team-high five saves and a 1.80 ERA. Williams is 2-1 with a 4.66 ERA (2.63 in SLC games).

    Brad Verel, a junior lefty from Broken Arrow, Okla., has been both a reliable starter and reliever this season and earned SLC Pitcher of the Week honors in April.

    Wiley, a righthander who has strictly pitched in his two seasons at UCA, stepped into the designated hitter role last weekend and got his first career home run on his first career hit against the Cardinals. Smith, who has started all 104 games since arriving at UCA from Alvin Community College, is hitting .259 this season with four home runs and 28 RBI and has 102 career hits and 10 career home runs at UCA.

    Anderson, with 40 starts this season, is hitting .243 with two home runs and seven doubles with 25 walks. D'Amico, a transfer from Northeast Oklahoma A&M, has played in 25 career games as a Bear. Anders, who transferred from Eastern Oklahoma State College, has a 1.96 ERA this season in seven appearances and has 36 strikeouts in 33.1 career innings pitched.

    The Bears finish up their regular season next weekend in Beaumont, Texas, against the Lamar Cardinals.