LIVE AUDIO
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS

DELAND, Fla. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will make their first appearance in the ASUN Championship on Wednesday when they take on the Lipscomb Bisons.

No. 6 seed UCA and No. 7 seed Lipscomb will square off at 1:30 (CST) in Pool B play at Melching Field at Conrad Park. The winner will play at 1:30 (CST) Thursday against the Jacksonville Dolphins. The loser will have to turn around and play again at 6 p.m. (CST) Wednesday against Eastern Kentucky.

Pool B utilizes an NCAA Regional format, with just one team advancing to the ASUN semifinals. Pool A, featuring the Nos. 1-4 seeds, plays a round-robin with three of the four advancing to the semifinals, which begin Saturday.

No. 5 seed Jacksonville knocked off No. 8 seed EKU 6-2 on Tuesday night in the third game of the tournament.

The Bisons (21-32, 15-15) were the preseason favorite to win the ASUN title after winning the championship in 2023. Lipscomb took two of three games from UCA earlier this month, winning 7-3 in Game 1 and 8-7 in Game 3. The Bears (23-29, 12-18) took the middle game _ and first game of a Saturday doubleheader _ 7-5 at Bear Stadium.

Lipscomb leads the overall series 6-5.

In the earlier series, the Bears had a .265 batting average and a 5.67 earned-run average. Lipscomb hit .286 and had a 5.54 ERA. UCA had 13 extra-base hits to Lipscomb's nine. UCA had 13 extra-base hits, including home runs from senior centerfielder Drew Sturgeon and junior catcher Casey Shipley. The Bears also had three triples, by Sturgeon, Mason King and Zeb Allen.

UCA sophomore Charlie Christensen earned the victory on the mound for the Bears, going six innings and striking out four and allowing five hits and two runs. For the weekend, UCA's pitching staff recorded 29 strikeouts while Lipscomb's had just 12.

Graduate right-hander Jesse Barker is expected to get the start for the Bears. Earlier this week, Barker was named the ASUN Pitcher of the Year after leading the league in strikeouts (110) and innings pitched (97.2), with three complete games. His strikeout total ranks in the Top 20 in the nation in NCAA Division I. 

  Both the Bears and Bisons enter the tournament after losing all three games in their final regular-season ASUN series. UCA dropped three games at Stetson on the same field that will host the ASUN Tournament, while UNA lost three straight at Kennesaw State last weekend.