UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS - 2016 BASEBALL SID Contact: Steve East • Phone: (501) 450-5743 • Cell: (501) 339-8215 E-mail: [email protected] • www.ucasports.com 2016 BEARS BASEBALL SCHEDULE UCA BEARS (9-7, 3-0) DATE OPPONENT TIME/RES GAMES 2/19 vs. Missouri State L, 1-12 @ Lamar Cardinals (10-7, 1-2) 2/20 vs. Missouri State (DH) L, 5-10, 5-6 2/23 vs. Tennessee Tech L, 6-10 17-19 Friday 6:00 • Saturday 2:00 • Sunday 1:00 2/24 vs. Tennessee Tech W, 14-6 Vincent-Beck Stadium • Beaumont, Texas 2/26 vs. Eastern Illinois W, 4-2 2/27 vs. Eastern Illinois (DH) W, 9-1, 4-3 2/28 vs. Eastern Illinois W, 6-5 BEAR TRACKS... 3/1 @ Oklahoma L, 0-3 • LAST SEASON 3/4 @ Southeast Missouri L, 0-6 The Bears finished 29-24 overall and 16-14 in the Southland Conference in 2015. 3/5 @ Southeast Missouri W, 1-0 The Bears earned the sixth seed in the SLC postseason tournament at Constellation 3/6 @ Southeast Missouri L, 2-6 Field in Sugar Land, Texas. 3/12 vs. Stephen F. Austin* W, 9-7 UCA beat No. 3 seed Nicholls State 7-6 in the tournament opener, then lost to 3/13 vs. Stephen F. Austin* W, 3-2, 5-4 eventual champion Houston Baptist 6-1 on Day 2. UCA came back and beat No. 3/16 @ Little Rock L, 5-6 4 Northwestern State 5-4 before being eliminated by HBU in a 1-0 loss. 3/18 @ Lamar University* 6:00 Freshman outfielder Ty Tice was one of three outfielders named to the All- 3/19 @ Lamar University* 2:00 Tournament team. 3/20 @ Lamar University* 1:00 During the regular season, the Bears beat Wichita State 12-1 in Wichita, fell 3-1 3/24 vs. Houston Baptist* 6:00 at #19 Oklahoma State, swept in-state rival Little Rock in a two-game series (home/ 3/25 vs. Houston Baptist* 6:00 away) and swept three conference series (Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, New Orleans), 3/26 vs. Houston Baptist* 1:00 as well as a non-conference series sweep of Southern Illinois. 3/29 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff 6:00 4/1 @ Sam Houston State* 6:00 • ALL-SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE 4/2 @ Sam Houston State* 4:00 UCA center fielder Tyler Langley (SR, Conway, Ark.) was named a preseason second-team All-Southland Conference selection. Righthanded pitcher Connor 4/3 @ Sam Houston State* 1:00 Gilmore (SR, Little Rock, Ark.) was named to the third team. 4/5 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff 6:00 Langley was a third-team selection after the 2015 season, while Gilmore was a 4/8 @ Oregon State 7:30 two-time SLC Pitcher of the Week a year ago. 4/9 @ Oregon State 3:30 4/10 @ Oregon State 3:05 • SERIES HISTORY 4/13 vs. Little Rock 6:00 The Bears lead the overall series 14-10. UCA swept the series last year in Conway 4/15 @ Nicholls State* 6:00 and has now won 8 of the last 9 meetings. The Bears are 12-6 in Conway and 2-4 in 4/16 @ Nicholls State* 6:00 Beaumont. 4/17 @ Nicholls State* 1:00 4/19 @ Vanderbilt 5:30 • LAST WEEKEND 4/22 vs. Northwestern State* 6:0 The Bears came from behind in all three games of a Southland Conference 4/23 vs. Northwestern State* 4:00 sweep of Stephen F. Austin last weekend at Bear Stadium, winning 9-7 on Saturday, 4/24 vs. Northwestern State* 1:00 and winning 3-2 and 5-4 in Sunday’s doubleheader. 4/29 @ New Orleans* 6:30 In Saturday’s opener, the Bears came back from a 7-0 deficit with three runs in 4/30 @ New Orleans* 2:00 the fifth inning and six more in the seventh to win 9-7. Tyler Gray got the win with 2.0 5/1 @ New Orleans* 1:00 innings of relief, while Jacob Murray went 2.0 for the save, striking out four. Logan 5/6 vs. Incarnate Word* 6:00 Preston had 3 RBI, including a two-run single in the seventh. Chris Townsend and 5/7 vs. Incarnate Word* 4:00 Brandon Montalvo had 2 hits each. 5/8 vs. Incarnate Word* 1:00 In Sunday’s first game of the DH, freshman Cody Davenport went 7.0 innings, 5/10 @ Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3:00 striking out 5 and allowing 2 earned runs. The Bears came from behind again, trail- 5/11 vs. Mississippi Valley 3:00 ing 2-1 after eight innings. An RBI double by Brandon Montalvo in the ninth tied it 5/13 @ McNeese State* 6:00 at 2-2 before Preston’s walk-off base hit scored Montalvo with the game winner at 5/14 @ McNeese State* 3:00 3-2. Derek Beier (2-0) got the win in relief, while Jasob Richardson went 2 for 2. In the 5/15 @ McNeese State* 1:00 nightcap, another big late inning gave the Bears a 5-4 victory. UCA scored four runs 5/17 vs. Little Rock (NLR) 6:00 in the seventh inning, with Tyler Langley, Preston (2) and Justin McCarty picking up 5/19 vs. SE Louisiana* 6:00 RBIs. Murray got his fifth save, striking out three of the four batters he faced in teh 5/20 vs. SE Louisiana* 6:00 ninth. 5/21 vs. SE Louisiana* 1:00 For the weekend, UCA hit .322 and allowed just a .260 average by SFA. UCA’s 5/25-28 SOUTHLAND TOURNAMENT pitchers, with just a 4.33 ERA, struck out 26 battesr and walked 7. SFA struck out 20 Constellation Field - Sugar Land, TX and walked 19. • THE RETURNEES (Pitching) The UCA pitching staff returns senior ace Connor Gilmore, along with two other weekend starters (Andrew Kemmerer, Riley Echols), along with five relievers who combined for 56 appearances in 2015. Also, graduate student Connor McClain retrurns after a medical redshirt season and will see time in the bullpen as well. Gilmore, a 6-foot-5 junior from Little Rock (Ark.) Catholic, went 8-3 with a 2.42 earned-run average in 2015. Gilmore threw a team-high 5 complete games (sec- ond in the SLC) and tossed a team-high 108 innings. Opponents hit just .222 against him. Gilmore pitched the Bears to a 7-6 win over third-seed Nicholls State in the SLC Tournament opener. He threw at least 8 innings seven times, going 9 innings four ship in just their third season of eligibility. UCA shut out Southeastern Louisnana 4-0 in the championship game, its sixth game in four days, and second straight day of two games in the same day. True freshman righthander Connor Gilmore threw a complete-game two-hitter in just his fifth career start, allowing singles in the fourth and fifth innings before retiring the final 11 batters of the game. The Bears scored all the runs they would need in a three-run third inning and finished with just seven hits. Senior RF Forrestt Allday was 2 for 4, while junior 1B Scott Zimmerle had a pair of sacrifice flies. Senior C Michael Marietta had a bases-loaded walk in the third. The Bears, who entered the tournament with a 3-9 record over the final three weeks of the regular season, lost their opener 5-3 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. They knocked off Stephen F. Austin, the team that eliminated them from the 2012 SLC Tournament, 7-3 the next day. UCA then beat A&M-CC and Oral Roberts _ which had swept the Bears during the regular season _ on Friday. They returned Saturday morning for another semifinal matchup with the Golden Eagles, winning that one easily 11-3, setting up the title matchup with the Lions. • ALL-SLC TOURNAMENT TEAM Senior RF Forrest Allday was named the Most Valuable Player for the 2013 SLC Tournament after hitting a team-high .381 over six games. Senior C Michael Marietta, senior 3B Garrett Brown and freshman RHP Connor Gilmore also made the All-Tournament team. • ALL-SLC 2016 UCA BEARS BASEBALL • PAGE 2 times, and topped 100 pitches in 11 of his 15 starts. In 2014, Gilmore went 7-3 with a 2.98 earned-run average. He had four complete games and topped 100 pitches 11 times in his 14 starts. Gilmore struck out 53 batters in 102.2 innings. He won his final three starts of the season, including a win over McNeese State in the second round of the SLC Tournament. Riley Echols was a weekend starter who finished 3-4 with a 3.99 ERA in 11 starts (14 app). Andrew Kemmerer was a part- time starter who had a 1-1 record. Tyler Gray saw action on the mound late in the season and went 1-1 with a 2.11 ERA, with two complete games. Derek Beier had a 4-1 record in 23 appearances with a pair of saves for the Bears in 2015. He struck out 41 in 46.2 innings. Chris Durham went 2-1 with a save and had a 3.86 ERA. McClain is coming off surgery but was 4-2 with 4 saves and 41 strikeouts in 2014. • THE RETURNEES (Position) The Bears return several starters in the field, including senior center fielder Tyler Langley, senior third baseman Logan Preston (moving from shortstop), senior left fielder Chris Townsend (moving from 2B) and Ty Tice in right field.