Chappell’s entire coaching staff has also been let go by athletic director Brad Teague. 

The Bears finished the season on Saturday with a 76-72 win over the McNeese State Cowboys in Lake Charles, La. However, the win for the Bears Saturday was just their third Southland Conference win of the season and their ninth win overall this season. The Bears finished the season with a 9-21 overall record and a 3-13 record in Southland Conference play. 

In his seven years at UCA, Chappell’s win-loss record was exactly .500 at 104-104. His overall career coaching record is 302-166. Chappell previously coached at Henderson State, Phillips University in Enid, Okla. and Labette Community College in Parsons, Kan. 

Coach Rand Chappell

 Chappell only had three winning seasons in his seven with the team. The three winning season came from the 2003-2004 season through the 2005-2006, in his first three years as coach. He hadn’t had a winning season as coach of the Bears since the team moved up to Division I play four years ago. In fact, the Bears have never won more than four games in Southland Conference play during those four years. 

Chappell had three more years remaining on his contract, which will be paid from private funds, according to Teague. 

The athletic program’s transition to full DI status will be complete this year and the team will be eligible for postseason tournament play starting in the fall. 

UCA will begin the process of searching for their next basketball coach immediately.

Coach Doug Clark said that the Southland Conference is a very tough conference. “Recently, Texas State has been really good and so has Sam Houston State,” Clark said. “UTSA is always tough, especially at their field, but fortunately we are playing them here this year.”

Clark said he felt the team has played well and hung in during some tough losses last season but thinks things will be different this year. “I feel with our pitching and our mental toughness we are going to compete this year,” he said.

For the Bears, pitching is going to be a key aspect to the team’s game plan, Clark said. “Our first year of Division 1 play, we maybe had three arms. Now, we have a whole arsenal,” Clark said. “We just have a lot more options now, especially a lot of left-handed pitchers.”

For this season, Clark said that there are five different players that are competing for the top pitching spots in the rotation: Sophomore Logan Ariola, senior Bobby Pritchett, junior Chase Huchingson, senior Michael Wild and junior Reece Cross.

“We will be as good as our bull pen,” Clark said. “Just like any other college team, or any team for that matter, we will be just as good as our bull pen.”

Along with focusing on developing a better offense and pitching, Clark said that he has been building up the team’s toughness as well. “Since the fall, we have started doing more early morning exercises, and we have started doing more conditioning, weight lifting and toughness training.”

Clark said that the team has had to make a lot of sacrifices this year. “To be honest I thought someone would have quit by now, but no one has,” he said. One of the reasons for building up the team’s overall toughness is because of last season’s 11 one-run losses, Clark said. “In baseball, there are reasons why you lose those closer games which is why we have tried to become a tougher team.”

The Bear's full schedule can be found here. The player roster is here.

2010 UCA Baseball Team

The Sugar Bears started the day strong by sweeping the doubles matches. Senior Petra Keilova and junior Lisa Mainz won their match 8-0. Junior Kati Anderson and freshman Kazumi Otani won their match 8-3 and senior Jordan Short and junior Alex Rios won their match 8-4.

Coach Rebecca Miller summed up the game in one word, "awesome." Miller said it wasn’t an easy win with multiple players injured, and one who couldn’t play. The players fought for every win, she said.

The Sugar Bears also won five of the six single matches. Keilova won both of her matches, 6-0 and 6-2. In the second match, she was down 0-2 before going on a 6-0 run to win the set.

“We haven’t won in a long time so we really needed this win," Keilova said. "It was more of a mental game. Hopefully, this match will help our self confidence and we will keep winning.”

Sugar Bears tennis team

Anderson won both of her sets, 6-2. Short won her set, 6-2 and 6-0. Rios won her set, 6-0 and 6-4. Otani, who was playing injured, won her set, 6-1 and 6-2. Mainz lost to Lady Reddy Rebecca Staton, 7-5 and 6-2.

Sophomore Allison Hartman did not play because of an injured arm that she suffered during her match on Saturday.

The Sugar Bears are now 1-2 for the season with a 0-1 record in Southland Conference play. The Henderson State Lady Reddies are 0-2.

The Sugar Bears will be going up against McNeese State next week. The match is set for Saturday, Feb 27, in Conway. You can learn more about the team here.