Little Rock Travels to App State for Weekend Series

Games 25-27: Little Rock at Appalachian State
April 1-3
Boone, N.C. • Beaver Field
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LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock baseball (12-12, 5-4 Sun Belt) will look to win its third straight Sun Belt series when it travels to Appalachian State (6-19, 1-8) for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 5 p.m. (CT), in Boone, N.C.
 
FIRST PITCH

• Little Rock will look to win its third straight Sun Belt series for the first time since 2012.
• Little Rock has won all three meetings with Appalachian State.
• Ryan Scott continues to lead the nation with a .500 batting average.
• Dalton Thomas has the longest hitting streak by a Trojan since at least 1998 at 20 games.
• Little Rock is outhitting opponents .300 to .275 overall and .307 to .287 in Sun Belt play.
• A sweep of Appalachian State would give Little Rock back-to-back three-game series sweeps for the first time since 2006.
• The last time Little Rock swept back-to-back series against a conference opponent was in 1999.
• The Trojans will go with right-handers Matt McDowell, Cory Malcom and Joe Corbett this weekend.
• Little Rock has at least seven hits in every game this season and has at least nine hits in the last 10 games.

 
SCOUTING APPALACHIAN STATE
The Mountaineers come into the weekend fresh off a win over North Carolina Central after losing the weekend series at ULM.
 
App State is hitting just .211 as a team this season. They are led by Tanner Mann-Fix and Matt Vernon as both are hitting over .300.
 
On the mound, the Mountaineers will go with lefty Bobby Hampton, right-hander Breydan Gorham and lefty Colin Schmid. Combined, the three starters have a record of 2-12 this season with each sporting an ERA of 5.28 or higher.
 
SERIES AGAINST THE MOUNTAINEERS
Little Rock and Appalachian State met for the first time last season at Gary Hogan Field. The Trojans swept the series with walk-off hits in all three games.
 
ON THE MOUND FOR LITTLE ROCK
Junior right-hander Matt McDowell (0-0 will make his fourth start of the season on Friday for Little Rock. McDowell pitched last on Tuesday against Oklahoma as he threw for one inning, struck out one and allowed nothing on just 10 pitches.
 
Right-hander Cory Malcom (1-3) will make his sixth start on Saturday. Malcom had his longest outing of the season last Saturday against Troy in which he threw six innings with four strikeouts while giving up two runs on four hits and two walks on 96 pitches.
 
Freshman right-hander Joe Corbett (3-0) will look start the year at 4-0 on Sunday. Corbett had his shortest outing last Sunday as he threw just 1.2 innings against Troy.
 
GREAT SCOTT!
For the second straight week and third time this season, Little Rock baseball's Ryan Scott was named the Sun Belt Conference's Student-Athlete of the Week.
Scott still leads the nation with a .500 batting average. He is second in hits (47), fourth in total bases (79), fourth in on-base percentage (.580), fifth in slugging percentage (.840), 11th in RBIs (34) and 17th in runs scored (30).
With three weekly honors, Scott now has the most Student-Athlete of the Week awards in program history. The only other Trojan to earn three Sun Belt weekly awards during his career was former pitcher Brad Cherry, who earned three Pitcher of the Week awards during the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Scott is just the second Trojan to win back-to-back weekly honors in program history with the first being Sean Bignall in 2012. 
On a conference level, Scott is the first three-time Student-Athlete of the Week winner in a single season since Troy's Danny Collins in 2013.
 
STREAKS IN PROGRESS
In addition to Scott's 20-game reached base streak, some other Trojans have built impressive streaks of their own. Junior Dalton Thomas has the longest hitting streak since at least 1998 at 20 games. In Sun Belt rankings, Thomas ranks third for batting average (.394), second in hits (39), sixth in total bases (53), seventh in on-base percentage (.445), eighth in slugging percentage (.547) and 10th in RBIs (19).
Also coming in with a double-digit reached base streak is Cameron Knight. Knight extended his reached base streak to 11 games and advanced his hitting streak to six games against Oklahoma on Tuesday.
 
SWING AWAY
Little Rock has had no problems with offense this season as it is hitting .300 as team, ranking third in the Sun Belt. Compared to the Trojans, opponents are only hitting .275 overall. In Sun Belt play, Little Rock holds a .307 to .287 advantage at the plate.
 
Little Rock also has at least seven hits in every game this season. In the past 10 games, the Trojans have at least nine hits. Little Rock has at least 10 hits in 13 of 24 games this season.
 
LITTLE ROCK'S RECORD WHEN…
When Little Rock outhits opponents, its record is 11-4 for the season. When leading after seven innings, the Trojans are a perfect 11-0. The odds are in Little Rock's favor as well when leading after the sixth inning with a 10-2 record.
 
A SERIES WIN AGAINST APP STATE WOULD…
…give Little Rock its third straight Sun Belt series win for the first time since 2012.
 
A SWEEP OF APPALACHIAN STATE WOULD…
…give Little Rock back-to-back three-game series sweeps for the first time since 2006. It would also be just the second time that Little Rock has had consecutive sweeps against a Sun Belt opponent with the other happening in 1999.
 
UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Joe Corbett is two strikeouts away from 20.
• Jarrid Garcia is four strikeouts away from 70 and is just two outs away from recording his 75th inning on the mound.
• Nik Gifford is two hits away from 30.
• Cameron Knight is four hits away from 30.
• Hayden Martin is two hits away from 60.
• Cody McGill's next save will be his fifth.
• Preston Oberling's next strikeout will be his 25th.
• Ryan Scott is two RBIs away from 70.
• With three games this weekend, Scott will have played the fifth-most games in program history.
• Scott is just two hits away from the eighth-most hits in program history and
• Dylan Slayton is two strikeouts away from 20.
• Dalton Thomas' next hit will be his 40th while his next run and RBI will be his 20th.
• Reed Willenborg is three strikeouts away from 40.

 
ON DECK
Little Rock returns to action on Wednesday as it faces Louisiana Tech in the first game of a four-game homestand.