Trojans To Open Season Against Indiana State, Kansas

GM1: Little Rock vs. Indiana State 
Friday, Feb. 19 | 3:00 p.m.
Little Rock, Ark. | Gary Hogan Field (1,000)
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes

GM2: Little Rock vs. Kansas
Saturday, Feb. 20 | 3:00 p.m.
Little Rock, Ark. | Gary Hogan Field (1,000)
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes

GM3: Little Rock vs. Indiana State
Sunday, Feb. 21 | 1:00 p.m.
Little Rock, Ark. | Gary Hogan Field (1,000)
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes

LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock baseball kicks off its second season under head coach Chris Curry against Indiana State on Friday at 3 p.m., at Gary Hogan Field. The Trojans will welcome the Kansas Jayhawks to Little Rock on Saturday at 3 p.m., before concluding the opening weekend against Indiana State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
FIRST PITCH

• Head coach Chris Curry enters his second season at the helm of the Little Rock baseball program.
• Curry finished the 2015 season with best conference record among first-year coaches in program history at 12-17.
• The Trojans bring in 27 newcomers for the 2016 season with seven returnees.
• 16 of the newcomers previously played at junior colleges.
• This will be the fifth straight season that Little Rock has opened the season at home.
• The Trojans have won the season opener the past two seasons.
• Since 1979, the Trojans are 25-11 on opening day, 19-5 in home season openers and 27-9 in home openers.
• Little Rock is 1-3 all-time against Indiana State and 2-9 against Kansas.
• The Trojans last faced Kansas at home in 2012 with Kansas earning a 16-12 win.
• Both wins against the Jayhawks have come in Little Rock.
• Little Rock's lone victory over Indiana State came in 2005.
• Little Rock was picked to finish ninth in the Sun Belt.
• Jarrid Garcia, Will Hazen and Joe Corbett will take the mound for Little Rock.
• The Trojans bring back two of their three best hitters from 2015 in Ryan Scott and Kyle Kirk.

 
SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
The Sycamores ended 2015 with a 28-26 record after losing to No. 9 Dallas Baptist in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Indiana State took two games from the Trojans in a rain-shortened series in late April. This year, the Sycamores are picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley. Much like Little Rock, Indiana State brings in several newcomers, a total of 19.
 
Indiana State brings back four position starters and seven pitchers from the 2015 season. Leading the Sycamores on offense is All-MVC Honorable Mention Andy Young, who hit .296 with 60 hits, 31 runs, seven home runs and 42 RBIs last season.
 
Their most notable returning starting pitcher is lefty Ryan Keaffaber who finished 2015 with a 1-5 record, a 2.37 ERA and 53 strikeouts. Out of the bullpen is Austin Conway, who was 4-2 with a 2.26 ERA, 52 strikeouts and eight saves. 
 
SCOUTING KANSAS
Kansas enters 2016 after finishing last in the Big 12 at 23-32 overall and 8-15 in conference play last year. The Jayhawks return 27 players from last year's squad while adding 10 newcomers. Kansas' 27 returnees include 13 pitchers and four position starters. The Jayhawks' bullpen lost only two pitchers from the 2015 season. Kansas had the fourth-best hitting team in the Big 12 with a combined .276 average, but the Jayhawks were last in pitching with a combined 5.56 ERA.
 
 Junior Michael Tinsley returns as the Jayhawks' best bat after hitting .337 for the year, seventh-best in the Big 12. Tinsley's 39 RBIs and .407 on-base percentage ranked eighth in the conference.
 
Senior lefty Ben Krauth will get the start on Saturday after finishing 2015 with a 7-5 record, and a 3.65 ERA in 91.1 innings. Krauth's ERA and .256 opponent batting average were the best among the Jayhawk's starting pitchers. His 84 strikeouts were the fifth-most in the Big 12. He was voted as the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2015.
 
ON THE MOUND FOR LITTLE ROCK
Senior lefty Jarrid Garcia will take the mound for Little Rock on Friday against Indiana State. Garcia finished 1-3 last season with a 5.06 ERA, 54 strikeouts.
 
On Saturday, junior college transfer and lefty Will Hazen will make his Trojan debut against Kansas. Hazen recorded a 6-2 record in 10 starts and 11 appearances in 2015 while pitching 52.2 innings with a 3.42 ERA, 43 strikeouts, three complete games and two shutouts with Jones County Community College.
 
Wrapping up the weekend will be freshman Joe Corbett from Bishop McGuinness High School in Oklahoma City. Corbett was ranked as the fifth-best right-handed pitcher and 11th-best overall recruit in Oklahoma by Perfect Game.
 
SECOND TIME AROUND
Head coach Chris Curry enters his second season with Little Rock after going 16-33 in his rookie season with Trojans. Although it wasn't the desired result, Curry led Little Rock to some big wins in 2015. The Trojans first big break came as they swept a rain-shortened series with eventual-conference champion Louisiana with two walk-off wins at home. This was the first time since 2000 that the Trojans had swept a regular-season series against the Ragin' Cajuns. Little Rock continued its winning ways at home as it swept Appalachian State with three more walk-off wins, marking five consecutive walk-off wins at home. Curry and the Trojans got their biggest win of 2015 on the road against No. 14 Missouri.
 
With a 12-17 conference record, Curry finished with the best conference record among first-year coaches in program history.
 
WELCOME NEWCOMERS!
Little Rock brings in perhaps its largest class in program history as 27 newcomers join the Trojans for the 2016 season. Included in the group are 16 junior college transfers and 11 freshmen.
 
OPENING AT HOME
When Little Rock takes the field on Friday, it will be the fifth straight season opener for the Trojans at Gary Hogan Field. Last year, the Trojans opened 2015 with a 6-3 win over Evansville, giving head coach Chris Curry his first win as Little Rock's skipper.
 
Little Rock is 27-9 in home openers since 1979 and are an impressive 19-5 in home season openers. In season openers, the Trojans are 25-11 since 1979.
 
SERIES AGAINST INDIANA STATE
The Trojans are 1-3 against Indiana State all-time. Last year, Little Rock took two losses to the Sycamores in Terre Haute, Ind., in a rain-shortened series. Little Rock's only win over Indiana State took place in a neutral-site game in 2005 as the Trojans earned a 3-2 win.
 
SERIES AGAINST KANSAS
The Jayhawks have a 9-2 series lead over the Trojans with the last meeting occurring in 2012 at Gary Hogan Field. Little Rock's last win against Kansas took place in 2003 in Little Rock as the Trojans squeaked out a 5-4 victory. Both of Little Rock's win against Kansas have been at home. This is just the second time the Trojans and Jayhawks have faced each other in the opening weekend of play as the only other time was in 2003.
 
SUN BELT PRESEASON RANKING
After finishing ninth in 2015, Little Rock was picked to finish ninth once again this season. The Trojans barely missed their first Sun Belt Conference Tournament appearance since 2012 after giving up a 4-3 loss at Arkansas State in 14 innings.
 
A WIN AGAINST INDIANA STATE WOULD…
…be the Trojans third straight season with a win at home to begin the year.
 
A WIN AGAINST KANSAS WOULD…
...be the Trojans third overall win in the series.
 
A WEEKEND SWEEP OF INDIANA STATE AND KANSAS WOULD…
…be the third time since 2012 in which Little Rock has won all three games in the opening weekend of the season.
 
LEFTIES ON THE MOUND AND IN THE BOX
Little Rock brings six left-handed pitchers and 10 left-handed hitters to this season's roster. Last year, the Trojans had to make due with just one left-handed pitcher and four lefty hitters.
 
EXPERIENCED HITTERS
Two of Little Rock's three best hitters from 2015 make their return in 2016. Senior Ryan Scott led the Trojans with a .328 average last season and had the second-most doubles in the Sun Belt with 20. Scott also led Little Rock with 63 hits, 91 total bases, a .474 slugging percentage and a .398 on-base percentage. He recorded the team's longest hitting streak and second-longest reached base streak at 17 games. Scott is the only player on the current roster that will have played all four years of his career with Little Rock.
 
Senior Kyle Kirk was a welcomed addition to the Trojans' offense last season as he recorded the third-highest batting average on the team at .312. Kirk had the second-most RBIs with 26 and had 54 hits in 173 at-bats. Kirk will make the transition to playing third base this season after playing second in 2015.
 
ON DECK
After wrapping up the opening weekend at Gary Hogan Field, Little Rock will makes its first road trip of the season for a midweek contest at Louisiana Tech on Tuesday at 6 p.m.