BATON ROUGE, La. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will get a big challenge right out of the gate this weekend when they open their 2024 season with four games at Baton Rouge, La.

The Bears will play Virginia Military Institute (VMI) twice and defending NCAA national champion LSU twice as well. UCA takes on VMI at 7 p.m. Friday at Alex Box Stadium. The Bears will play twice on Saturday, facing LSU at 1 p.m. and VMI at 6 p.m. After an off day Sunday, UCA and LSU will hook up once more at 2 p.m. Monday.

The Bears then play at Memphis at 4 p.m. Wednesday before opening their home schedule at Bear Stadium next Friday against Southern Illinois.

"We try to be intentional about how we schedule,"said third-year UCA head coach Nick Harlan. "We have four non-conference weekends, and of course mid-weeks. We have three non-conference weekends at home and then one on the road, where we open up this year in Baton Rouge.

"Of course you have LSU, but you also have VMI, and VMI I think led the country in several offensive categories last season. We respect everyone on our schedule. The objective is to play teams that force you to play at a very high level, to be very fundamental, that expose some of your weaknesses and challenge you. 

"And also playing in environments that are conducive to growth. where players can experience adversity, play in front of big crowds that mirror a (NCAA) regional experience. So we've done that with the schedule with Mississippi State and Arkansas, Missouri State, LSU, some of those schools. And we're excited about that."  

UCA has never faced the VMI Keydets, a team that had a .322 batting average with 74 home runs and 134 doubles last season. The average was the fifth-best in the NCAA a year ago, while the doubles total ranked 21st.

The Bears, coming off a 23-31 season, played LSU for the first time last March, losing 10-4 at Alex Box Stadium. UCA was held to five hits and committed three errors against the Tigers, who would eventually finish 54-17 with its seventh national championship. The Tigers had 13 players chosen in the 2023 MLB Draft, tying the Southeastern Conference record.

Harlan and LSU head coach Jay Johnson were childhood friends in California, helping set up the meetings between the Bears and Tigers.

UCA returns it's Friday ace in graduate Jesse Barker, who was a first-team All-ASUN selection last season as well as the ASUN Baseball Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year. UCA also returns five key position players in infielders A.J. Mendolia, Tanner Leonard, Mason King and Reid Bowman, along with center fielder Drew Sturgeon.

Bowman, a junior shortstop from Little Rock Christian, is the top returning hitter for the Bears with a .297 average. Sturgeon, a junior from Farmington, Ark., was not far behind at .296, followed by Mendolia, a senior from Fort Worth, Texas, at 295. King, a senior from Hughson, Calif., hit .286 and stole a team-high 21 bases. Leonard had a .276 batting average and added 17 more stolen bases to the Bears' total of 94, which is fourth-best in school history.

UCA's 56 home runs last season was a school record but 30 of those are no longer on the roster. The leading returners is Sturgeon with seven and King with six.

The Bears are expected to start Barker on Friday against VMI, sophomore righthander Coleman MacRae on Saturday against LSU and sophomore righthander Charlie Christensen against VMI on Saturday night. A starter for Monday's game vs. LSU has not been named.

The LSU games will be carried live on SECNetwork+. The two VMI games will have live stats only at ucasports.com.

FRIDAY:
   vs. VMI - 7:00
SATURDAY:
   vs. LSU - 1:00
   vs. VMI - 6:00
MONDAY:
   vs. LSU - 2:00