Little Rock Takes On UAPB in Midweek Action

Game 20: Little Rock vs. UAPB
March 22
Little Rock, Ark. • Gary Hogan Field
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

LITTLE ROCK – Coming off a great weekend in Lafayette, La., Little Rock baseball (8-11) returns to non-conference action as it faces UAPB (4-14) in midweek action on Tuesday night at 6 p.m., at Gary Hogan Field.
 
FIRST PITCH

• Little Rock leads the all-time series with UAPB 20-4.
• Jarrid Garcia will make his second start of the season on Tuesday.
• Ryan Scott earned his second Sun Belt Student-Athlete of the Week award on Monday.
• Scott continues to lead the nation with a .493 batting average and leads the Sun Belt in eight different categories.
• Little Rock's series win over No. 16 Louisiana was its first back-to-back series win against the Cajuns since the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
• The last time Little Rock had back-to-back wins against a ranked opponent was in 2013 against No. 10 Oklahoma.
• Little Rock's overall batting average jumped from .290 to .295 over the weekend.
• Dalton Thomas extended his hitting streak to 15 games over the weekend while Ty Gunter moved his reached base streak to 11.
• A win would give Little Rock its longest winning streak of the season at three games.
• Scott's next base will be his 200th at Little Rock, and he is two doubles away from cracking the top 10 for most-career doubles.

 
SCOUTING UAPB
The Golden Lions are coming off a SWAC sweep against Prairie View A&M at home this past weekend. UAPB nearly pulled off an upset at Memphis in midweek action last week.
 
UAPB is led on offense by Aderly Perez, who is hitting .419 this season with 19 runs, 18 hits, six doubles, two home runs, a .698 slugging percentage and a .480 on-base percentage. Just as dangerous are Jaqueese Moore and Jordan Knox as both are hitting at .357 and .329, respectively.
 
The Golden Lions' pitching staff has struggled in the early going with a collective ERA of 6.92 and an opposing batting average of .278.
 
SERIES AGAINST UAPB
Little Rock leads the all-time series 20-4. The two teams last played in 2014 and split the season series at one game each. The Trojans have won five of the last six meetings with the Golden Lions.
 
ON THE MOUND FOR LITTLE ROCK
Left-hander Jarrid Garcia will make his second start of the season for Little Rock on Tuesday. Garcia's only start of the year came in the first game of the season against Indiana State as he pitched just two innings with two strikeouts while giving up five hits, five runs, and three walks. Since then, Garcia has made six relief appearances for a total of 8.0 innings. This will be Garica's 12th-career start after starting in 10 games last season.
 
NATION'S BEST HITTER
Senior outfielder Ryan Scott earned his second Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Week award on Monday as he continues to lead Division I with a .493 batting average. He went 9 for 16 with three home runs, three doubles, a triple, 10 RBIs, six runs, two walks, a stolen base and was hit by a pitch in four games last week. Scott slugged 1.438 and had an on-base percentage of .632 with 23 total bases.
 
Scott started the week 3 for 4 against Central Arkansas as he came up a single shy of the cycle. After going 1 for 4 in the first game of the weekend series at No. 16 Louisiana, Scott went 4 for 5 with two home runs, a double, three runs and seven RBIs in the second game of the series. Scott's seven RBIs tied for the third-most in a single game in program history. Scott concluded the weekend with a double, two RBIs and two intentional walks. When all was said and done, Scott had increased his reached base streak to 15 games.
 
Scott leads the conference with 37 hits, 25 runs, 27 RBIs, seven home runs, 68 total bases, a .568 on-base percentage and a .907 slugging percentage. Nationally, Scott ranks second in slugging percentage, second in total bases, third in hits, fourth in on-base percentage, 13th in home runs, 16th in RBIs and 17th in runs.
 
BIG WEEKEND WINS
For the second straight season, Little Rock baseball won the season series against No. 16 Louisiana as it picked up a 7-1 victory on Sunday at M.L. Tigue Moore Field.
 
Sunday's series win marked the first back-to-back series victory against Louisiana since the 2000 and 2001 seasons. This was also the Cajuns' first series loss of the season.
 
The last time Little Rock had won back-to-back games against a ranked opponent was in 2013 against No. 10 Oklahoma.
 
The Trojans now find themselves tied for seventh place in the Sun Belt Conference standings and are just a game behind this weekend's opponent, Troy.
 
STREAKS IN PROGRESS
Junior Dalton Thomas continued his hit parade as he increased his hitting streak to 15 games over the weekend. Thomas' .408 batting average ranks third in the Sun Belt and 64th in Division I while his 31 hits rank second in the conference and 53rd in the nation. His eight doubles rank second in the Sun Belt and 44th in the country.
 
If all the numbers Scott has weren't already impressive enough, he has also reached base in 15 consecutive games.
 
Also with a double-digit reached base streak is Ty Gunter at 11 games. Gunter has at least one hit in four of the last five games.
 
A WIN AGAINST UAPB WOULD…
…give Little Rock its longest winning streak of the season at three games, and it would match the Trojans' longest winning streak of 2015. A win would also give Little Rock its ninth victory in the 20th game of the season. After 20 games last year, the Trojans had an overall record of 7-13.
 
UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Cody Daylor is four strikeouts away from his 20th in a Trojan uniform.
• Seven strikeouts by Jarrid Garcia on Tuesday would give him 70 in his two-year career at Little Rock. He's also just 1.1 innings away from 70 innings pitched.
• Nik Gifford's next RBI will be his 15th.
• Kyle Kirk is one RBI away from 30.
• Hayden Martin's next run will be his 30th.
• Hunter Owens next run will be his 20th.
• Ryan Scott's next base will be his 200th, and he is four runs away from 80. Scott is also two doubles away from cracking the top 10 at Little Rock.
• Dylan Slayton's next strikeout will be his 15th.
• Dalton Thomas next RBI will be his 15th.

 
ON DECK
Little Rock returns to conference action beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m., as it hosts Troy in a three-game series at Gary Hogan Field.