Trojans Return To Gary Hogan Field Hosting Jaguars

Little Rock vs. South Alabama
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Venue	Gary Hogan Field
First Pitch	Friday, May 4 - 6 p.m. CT Saturday,May 5 - 2 p.m. CT Sunday, May 6 - 1 p.m. CT
Records	Little Rock (23-19, 12-8 SBC) South Alabama (25-17, 13-7 SBC)
Watch	Little Rock All-Access
Stats	TrojanStats.com
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Jaguar Preview	USAJaguars.com

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock returns to Gary Hogan Field after an eight-game road stretch to play South Alabama in a three-game series starting on Friday at 6 p.m. Game two will continue the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. and game three rounding it out on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
The Trojans look to hold onto their lead in the Sun Belt West Division, holding a half game edge over Louisiana with a 12-8 conference record and 23-19 overall.
 
Five Games of Offense:
Little Rock have found a scoring groove getting 41 runs on the board in the past five games. This is after the Trojans were held to three runs or less in seven of the 10 games previous to that.
 
Kale Emshoff is currently on a six-game hitting streak. In this five-game offensive explosion for the Trojans, he has gotten nine hits, three doubles, scored five times and brought in two RBI's. He is tied for the most doubles against Sun Belt Opponents with 10.
 
Marcus Ragan has been connecting with the ball getting a hit in nine of his last 10 games while being on an eight game hitting streak. Through the last five games, he has scored four times and knocked in six RBI's.
 
Christian Reyes got his chance in the starting lineup and was a menace in the box for pitchers, taking them deep into counts. In the span of the last five games he has reached base 14 times in 15 plate appearances which includes four walks and two hit-by-pitches. His speed brought him around to score five times while he also knocking two doubles and an RBI.
 
Like Reyes, Ryan Benavidez has been in out of the starting lineup, but his production has been high when he makes his appearance. He had a .667 batting average in the five games while scoring six times and hit three doubles.
 
Chase Coker has led the way in the past five games with eight runs and four runs-batted-in. He also hit .391 in that stretch with three doubles, a triple to break the single-season record, and hit his third home run of the year.
 
Pitching Dominance:
Little Rock's pitching is sitting second in ERA against Sun Belt opponents and holds three of the top four spots in earned-run average against the conference.
 
Donavin Buck leads the way for the Trojans and has been lights out on the mound holding a conference best 1.82 ERA against conference opponents while going 3-0 coming out of the bullpen.
 
Overall on the season he remains unbeaten going 5-0 in his 22 appearances and 44 innings pitched. He has struck 35 batters while only walking 11 and has an overall ERA of 2.45.
 
Freshman Hayden Arnold is third in ERA against the Sun Belt with a 2.28 average while Chandler Fidel is right behind him with a 2.31 ERA.
 
Fidel is also 5-1 in the six starts while having the third most strikeouts against the Sun Belt with 46, tied with Georgia State's Hunter Gaddis.
 
Scouting South Alabama:
The Jaguars began their year taking on three ranked opponents in their first five games and knocked off two of them, including Oklahoma who Little Rock struggled against. They currently sit second in the Sun Belt Eastern division at 13-7 while going 25-17 overall.
 
They began their Sun-Belt play in Louisiana taking those first two series against the Ragin' Cajuns and ULM 2-1 before sweeping Appalachian State to start out 7-2.
 
They were able to take game one against the Sun Belt's best Coastal Carolina, but fell in the next two for their first conference series loss in early April. It did not phase them as they hosted Georgia Southern the next weekend and swept them and then went to San Marcos to take two of three games against Texas State.
 
Last weekend though, the Jaguars were stunned at home losing two of three against a pesky Arkansas State team who is last in the Sun Belt West.

Series Against South Alabama:
This series will be the first time South Alabama plays at Gary Hogan Field and only the second time they have faced off since head Coach Chris Curry took over at the helm. Last season the Trojans traveled to Mobile, Alabama, where the Jaguars took two of the three games. Overall Little Rock is only 14-71 against South Alabama and the last time the Trojans claimed a series was in 2012.
 
Bark in the Park:
On Friday, the Trojans will host a Bark in the Park day where everyone is invited to bring their furry four-legged friends to Gary Hogan Field for a fun day cheering on the Trojans
 
On Deck:
Little Rock will close out its home-and-home series hosting UAPB at Gary Hogan Field on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
 
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