Little Rock Faces Louisiana Tech in Midweek Contest

Game 28: Little Rock vs. Louisiana Tech
April 6
Little Rock, Ark. • Gary Hogan Field
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock baseball (13-14) returns to Gary Hogan Field for a midweek contest against Louisiana Tech (15-9) on Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
 
FIRST PITCH

• Junior Will Hazen will make his second straight midweek start on Wednesday.
• Ryan Scott's career totals for hits and games played are making their way into Little Rock record book.
• Scott has fallen to second in the country with a .495 batting average after being on top for nearly three weeks.
• Scott still leads the Sun Belt in seven different categories.
• Scott has the longest reached base streak on the team at 23 games.
• Nik Gifford has the longest active hitting streak at eight games.
• The Trojans have the second-best batting average in the Sun Belt at .301.
• In 15 of the Trojans' 27 games, Little Rock has earned at least 10 hits.
• Hayden Martin ranks sixth in the nation for sacrifice bunts while the team ranks 14th.
• A win would move Little Rock back to .500 for the year.
• Little Rock is 12-5 when outhitting opponents this season.

 
SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH
In the midst of an eight-game road trip, the Bulldogs began the weekend by losing two out of three at Marshall.
 
Louisiana Tech currently has six players hitting .300 or better for the season. Making the largest impact for the Bulldogs is Cody Daigle, who is hitting .326 and leads the team with 28 hits, four home runs and 22 RBIs.
 
Louisiana Tech's starter has yet to be announced, but the pitching staff as whole has a 4.15 earned run average for the year.
 
SERIES AGAINST LOUISIANA TECH
Louisiana Tech leads the all-time series with Little Rock by a 51-24 margin. The Trojans were swept in two games in Ruston last season after sweeping the Bulldogs in a home-and-home series in 2014.
 
ON THE MOUND FOR LITTLE ROCK
Junior left-hander Will Hazen (1-3) will make his second straight midweek start on Wednesday night. Hazen had a short outing last week against Oklahoma as he threw just 36 pitches in 2.2 innings on the mound.
 
MOVING INTO THE RECORD BOOK
This past weekend, Ryan Scot moved to eighth in the Little Rock baseball record book for hits in career with 144. He's now three hits away from passing former Trojan Derin McMains' 146 hits.
 
With three starts this past weekend, Scott has now played the fifth-most games in program history at 148.
 
GREAT SCOTT!
After leading the nation in hitting since March 16, Scott has moved back to second place with a scorching .495 batting average, still higher than the .492 average he initially led the nation with. Scott is nationally ranked in other categories such as second in on-base percentage (.586), second in total bases (86), third in hits (51), sixth in slugging (.835), 11th in runs (34) and 15th in RBIs (36).
 
STREAKS IN PROGRESS
Scott comes into Wednesday's game with a 23-game reached base streak, the longest by a Little Rock player this season. Cameron Knight has the second-longest streak at 13 games.
 
When it comes to hitting, Nik Gifford currently has a hit in each of the last eight games. Gifford had a streak of 10 games earlier this season. Zach Baker currently has the second-longest active streak at six games.
 
SWING AWAY
Little Rock's offense continues to produce great at-bats with a .301 batting average for the season, second-best in the Sun Belt. The Trojans rank third in doubles (52), third in walks (117), fourth in RBIs (158), fourth in slugging (.411), fourth in hits (278), and fourth in total bases (379). All of this culminates into the second-best on-base percentage in the Sun Belt at .387.
 
Little Rock has continued the trend of getting at least seven hits in every game this season. In 15 of the Trojans' 27 games, Little Rock has earned at least 10 hits.
 
GETTING DOWN THE BUNT
With 29 sacrifice bunts this season, Little Rock ranks 14th in the nation and fourth in the Sun Belt. No other Trojan has more sacrifice bunts than Hayden Martin as his nine rank sixth in the nation and third in the Sun Belt.
 
LITTLE ROCK'S RECORD WHEN…
The Trojans are 12-5 this season when outhitting opponents. When playing on Wednesdays, Little Rock 2-0 this season. When leading after eight innings, the Trojans are 13-1 and are 12-1 when leading after seven innings.
 
A WIN AGAINST LOUISIANA TECH WOULD…
…move Little Rock back to .500 at 14-14 for the year. It would also give the Trojans a win in three of the last five meetings with the Bulldogs.
 
UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Zach Baker is one hit away from his 20th.
• Jarrid Garcia is three strikeouts away from 70.
• Cameron Knight is two hits away from 30.
• Cody McGill's next save will be his fifth.
• Hunter Owens is two runs away from 30.
• Dylan Slayton's next strikeout will be his 20th.
• Reed Willenborg is three strikeouts away from 40.

 
ON DECK
Little Rock returns to Sun Belt action with a three-game series against Georgia State beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.