Trojans, Red Wolves Clash in Season's Final Weekend

Little Rock vs. Arkansas State
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Venue	Gary Hogan Field
First Pitch	Thursday, May 17 - 6 p.m. Friday, May 18 - 6 p.m. Saturday, May 19 - 1 p.m.
Records	Little Rock (26-24, 14-12 SBC) Arkansas State (18-29, 9-18 SBC)
Watch	Little Rock All-Access
Stats	TrojanStats.com
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock closes out its regular season against in-state rivals Arkansas State for a three game series at Gary Hogan Field beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. for Military Appreciation Night.
 
The series will continue on Friday at 6 p.m. and then the season will wrap up with a 1 p.m. game Saturday while celebrating the seniors and giving appreciation to Gary Hogan and all other Alumni.
 
Conference Tournament Implications:
Little Rock is currently sitting at 14-12 in the Western division of the Sun Belt, which is a half game back from Louisiana who is 15-12.
 
Coastal Carolina has secured the No 1 overall seed for the tournament claiming the Eastern division and best overall record at 21-6. The two through seven seeds are what is up for grabs. The second seed will automatically go to the winner of the Western Division, regardless of any better records teams in the Eastern division have. From there, the holder of the best records and tie-breakers will fill the rest of the seeds.
 
Little Rock and Louisiana are jostling for the two position along with the very slim chance of Texas State getting it. The Bobcats would need the Trojans to get swept by the Red Wolves and the Ragin' Cajuns to get swept by the Warhawks this weekend all while sweeping UTA themselves.
 
South Alabama is sitting in second place in the Eastern division at 17-9 with Troy right on their heels at 17-10 and both of them play each other this weekend for what will probably be the three seed overall. The good thing is Little Rock does hold the tie-breaker over South Alabama and Troy after taking the series against them.
 
Georgia Southern, who has the tie-breaker over Little Rock, plays Georgia State this weekend and the Panthers are fighting to get one of the final spots into the tournament.
 
Arkansas State and Appalachian State both sit last place in their respective divisions, but neither team is out of the tournament yet.
 
Sun Belt Conference Standings (As of May 16)

West Division	Conf.	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Louisiana	15-12	.556	30-23	.566
Little Rock	14-12	.538	27-23	.540
Texas State	13-14	.481	25-26-1	.490
UT-Arlington	11-16	.407	21-30	.412
ULM	10-17	.370	23-28	.451
Arkansas State	9-18	.333	18-29	.383
East Division	Conf.	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Coastal Carolina	21-6	.778	36-16	.692
South Alabama	17-9	.654	29-21	.580
Troy	17-10	.630	36-17	.679
Georgia Southern	16-10	.615	27-23	.540
Georgia State	9-17	.346	25-26	.490
Appalachian State	8-19	.296	17-34	.333

 
Scouting Arkansas State:
Arkansas State enters this weekend's series at 9-18 in the West Division, sitting sixth overall, and 18-29 on the season. Currently the Red Wolves occupies the number 11 seed, which would have them on the outside looking in, making the next three games crucial for them.
 
The Red Wolves hold a collective 6.31 ERA in the Sun Belt while having the highest opposing batting average at .285, allowing the most hits with 265 and, allowing in the most runs in with 190. Their fielding has struggled as well with the league low of a .961 fielding percentage with the league most 40 errors in the conference.
 
What Arkansas State can do is put runs on the board, scoring the fourth most runs in the conference with 157. Back on March 24, against ULM, the Red Wolves won game two of the series 31-7.
 
Their hitting is led behind Jeremy Brown and Kyle MacDonald who are hitting the fifth and sixth best in the conference at .356 and .355 batting averages.
 
MacDonald is leading the league in slugging percentage at .697 while batting in the most runs with 36 against Sun Belt pitchers. His long ball is potent hitting eight in Sun Belt games which is tied for the second most in the conference.
 
Series Against Arkansas State:
This year marks the 12th year in-a-row the pair have faced off to close out the regular season with the rivalry, dating back to 2007. In that span Little Rock is 13-19 and have only won the series four of the years. Under the three year of the Chris Curry era, the Trojans have yet to win the series.
 
Last season's matchup in Jonesboro ended in heartbreak after game one of the series took an intense record setting 18-innings to separate the two with the Red Wolves claiming an 9-8 victory. The game had lasted six hours and 10 minutes, making it the longest lasting game in both time and total innings. Little Rock dropped game two of the series with game three being cancelled due to rain.
 
The last time the two faced off at Gary Hogan Field was in 2016 and the Trojans were able to muscle out a game one victory 9-4. Games two and three of the series were offensive explosions for both teams though, but Arkansas State had a little more in both outings winnings 12-10 and 15-11 to claim the series.
 
The Trojans did win back-to-back series in 2013-14 and last got a sweep back in 2008. Overall Little Rock holds a 45-76 record against Arkansas State.
 
Promotions:
Little Rock will honor the country's brave with Military Appreciation Night on Thursday, May 17, by giving free admission to any military member with valid ID.
 
The final game of the season on Saturday, May 19, will feature three celebrations in Gary Hogan appreciation, Alumni appreciation and also honor the seniors in their dedication to the program.
 
SBC Tournament Dates:
Little Rock will travel down Lafayette, Louisiana, the host site of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament which begins on Tuesday, May 22 and continues through Sunday, May 27 for the Championship game.
 
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