LR To Host UCA in First Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry Game

Game 16: Little Rock vs. Central Arkansas
March 16
Little Rock, Ark. • Gary Hogan Field
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LITTLE ROCK – Prior to this weekend's Sun Belt series at Louisiana, Little Rock baseball (5-10) will welcome in-state rival Central Arkansas (9-6) to Gary Hogan Field on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. This will also be the first installment of the Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry between the two schools.
 
FIRST PITCH

• UCA holds the all-time series lead at 39-28-1.
• Wednesday will be the first game in the new Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry.
• Little Rock will look to snap a four-game skid.
• Matt McDowell will make his second-career start on Wednesday.
• Ryan Scott's .475 batting average ranks fifth in the nation.
• Scott leads the Sun Belt in seven different categories.
• Little Rock has the 17th best fielding percentage in the country at .982.
• The Trojans rank 54th nationally in sacrifice bunts and 55th in base on balls.
• Dalton Thomas has the longest hitting streak this season at 11 games.
• Nik Gifford has reached base in every game this season.
• Little Rock's hitters have the second-fewest strikeouts (93) and second-most walks (73).
• In just 15 games, Little Rock's 148 hits are 36 percent of last year's 416.

 
SCOUTING UCA
The Bears are coming off a three-game Southland Conference sweep of Stephen F. Austin this past weekend.
 
Leading UCA on offense is Logan Preston, who is hitting .373 with 19 hits, 10 RBIs, eight runs and three doubles.
 
The Bears starting pitcher is to be determined, but the pitching staff as a whole has a 4.36 ERA this season and has an opposing batting average of .258.
 
SERIES AGAINST UCA
Central Arkansas holds the all-time series lead at 39-28-1 with the Bears winning both meetings last year against the Trojans.
 
ON THE MOUND FOR LITTLE ROCK
Junior right-hander Matt McDowell will make his second start and fifth appearance on Wednesday against Central Arkansas. His last appearance came on Saturday at South Alabama as he went 4.0 innings with four strikeouts and only allowed a hit and walk.
 
GREAT SCOTT!
Ryan Scott continues his hot play entering the fifth week of competition. Scott's league-leading batting average of .475 ranks fifth in the nation. His fantastic rankings don't stop there as he ranks 13th in hits (28), 19th in slugging percentage (.763) and total bases (45), 24th in on-base percentage (.551), 28th in runs per game (1.27) and 30th in runs (19).
 
Along with batting average, Scott leads the Sun Belt in seven different categories including hits, runs, home runs (4), total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
 
FIELDING WITH THE BEST
Little Rock's .982 fielding percentage ranks second in the Sun Belt behind South Alabama and 17th in the nation.
 
LAYING DOWN THE BUNT
With 12 sacrifice bunts this season, Little Rock ranks 54th in the nation. Scott, Dalton Thomas, Cameron Knight and Hayden Martin are each tied for the most on the team with two.
 
TAKE YOUR BASE
Little Rock's batters have walked 73 times this season, enough to rank third in the Sun Belt and 55th nationally. Among the Trojan hitters, Hunter Owens has been walked the most at 12, fifth-most in the conference.
 
STREAKS IN PROGRESS
Dalton Thomas owns the longest hitting streak this season at 11 games and has at least one hit in 13 of the Trojans' 15 games this season. Thomas has the third-most multiple hit games for Little Rock with seven. Thomas' 23 hits tie for sixth in the Sun Belt and his .377 batting average ranks eighth overall. His six doubles are tied for the third-most in the conference and rank 79th.
 
After a slow start to the season, Nik Gifford has been anything but cold as of late with a 10-game hitting streak. Gifford has reached base in all 15 games this season and has the second-most multiple hit game with eight. Gifford has the sixth-most RBIs in the Sun Belt with 14 and has the 15th-best batting average in the conference at .339.
 
GETTING HITS
The Trojans have had no problem getting hits this season as they rank fifth in the conference with 148 so far. That's nearly 36 percent of the Trojans' 416 hits from 2015 in just 15 games. Little Rock has had no fewer than seven hits in a game this season and is averaging 9.87 hits per game this season.
 
As a team, Little Rock ranks fourth in the Sun Belt for hitting at .290. The team's 28 doubles rank third in the conference.
 
The key to Little Rock's successful plate appearances lie in its strikeout and walk numbers. Trojan hitters have the second-fewest strikeouts (93) and second-most walks (73) in the Sun Belt.
 
A WIN AGAINST UCA WOULD…
...snap the Trojans' two-game skid against the Bears and would give them their 29th win in the series.
 
UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Nik Gifford's next RBI will be his 15th in a Trojan uniform.
• Kyle Kirk is two RBIs away from 30.
• Hayden Martin is two runs away from 30.
• Ryan Scott is two walks away from 50. With 121 hits, he is 20 away from cracking the top eight in program history.
• Dalton Thomas next RBI will be his 10th.

 
ON DECK
After Wednesday night's rivalry game, Little Rock will return to Sun Belt play as it travels to Lafayette, La., to face No. 16 Louisiana in a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.