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LYNCHBURG, Va. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will play their first and possibly last series at Liberty this weekend, beginning at 5 p.m. (CT) Thursday at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium.

The Bears (13-15, 5-4) will take on the Flames (12-16, 4-5) for the final time as ASUN Conference members, with Liberty moving to Conference USA next year. The teams did not meet last season under the ASUN divisional schedule.

UCA is coming off a 2-1 series victory over Queens last weekend at Bear Stadium. UCA out-hit Queens  .370 to .298 and had 13 extra-base hits, including three home runs and nine doubles. The Bears' pitching staff struck out 23 batters and walked 10 while Queens' staff struck out 12 and walked eight.

The Flames lost two of three at Lipscomb last weekend, dropping the first two games 2-1 and 8-7 before winning the finale 9-4. They also had a mid-week game vs. No. 7 Virginia, losing 4-1. Liberty is playing just its second home ASUN series after taking two of three from Austin Peay on March 24-26. Since 2019, Liberty is 86-22 at home under head coach Scott Jackson, but is just 6-5 there this season. 

The Flames are expected to start a pair of lefthanders on the mound in the first two games, sophomore Garrett Horn and junior Garrett Gainey, followed by righthander Mikey Tepper on Saturday. Horn is 3-2 with a 2.01 earned-run average. Gainey is 3-1 with a 7.84, while Tepper is 1-3 with a 6.10. 

Liberty has just two seniors in its projected starting lineup, along with two freshmen. Their leading hitter is first baseman Brayden Horton at .314. Sophomore third baseman Cameron Foster has a team-high five home runs but is hitting just .213. As a team, Liberty is hitting .239 and has a team ERA of 5.47.

UCA counters with a .285 batting average and a 5.34 ERA. UCA's leading hitter is sophomore shortstop Reid Bowman at .358, followed by junior first baseman A.J. Mendolia at .352 and sophomore second baseman Tanner Leonard at .313. UCA has hit 36 home runs and has a slugging percentage of .464, led by sophomore Connor Flagg at .565.

Junior righthanderJesse Barker (4-1, 2.57) will get the Thursday start, followed by junior lefthander Payton Windham on Friday. Saturday's starter has not been announced.

Friday's game is set for 3 p.m. (CT), with Saturday's moved up to 9 a.m. (CT) to accommodate the Bears' travel.