FLORENCE, Ala. -- The University of North Alabama will open the home portion of its 2022 baseball schedule on Friday at 3:00 p.m., as the Lions host the University of Cincinnati in the first of a four-game series.

Friday will also be Military Appreciation Day. All active duty military and veterans will receive free admission with a military ID. Former UNA baseball catcher and retired military Colonel Riley Brewer will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Brewer played for the Lions from 1979-82. He then went on to a 36-year career in military service that included 23 years of Active Federal Service.

UNA enters the series 0-3 after facing a nationally prominent Southern Mississippi team in Hattiesburg. Cincinnati is 2-2, having won the first two games of a four-game series at Florida Gulf Coast before losing the final two.

This wil be first-ever meeting between North Alabama and Cincinnati in baseball, or any sports.

UNA will start right-handed sophomore Jacob Bradshaw on Friday, while the Bearcats will counter with left-hander Tristan Weaver.

North Alabama has an impressive 770-268-5 record at home at Mike Lane Field since 1984. The Lions had a 571-156-4 record at home under Mike Lane and are 199-112-1 under Mike Keehn.

UNA has only played 40 of its 123 Division I games at home since 2019, and the Lions are 15-25 in those home contests.  

Following Friday's contest, the Lions and Bearcats will play a double-header on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m., and a single game Sunday at noon.