Trojans Look to Match Best SBC Start This Weekend

Games 29-31: Little Rock vs. Georgia State
April 8-10
Little Rock, Ark. • Gary Hogan Field
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LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock baseball (13-15, 6-6 Sun Belt) will look to return to its winning ways in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Georgia State (14-15, 3-6) beginning on Friday at 6 p.m., at Gary Hogan Field. The second game of the series will take place at 2 p.m., on Saturday, and the series finale will take place at noon on Sunday.
 
Friday night will also be the next #TrojanTailgate at Gary Hogan Field. Free food and refreshments will be provided by Arvest Bank and tailgating is welcome. The tailgate will officially start at 5:30 p.m.
 
FIRST PITCH

• The all-time series between Little Rock and Georgia State is knotted at 3-3.
• Right-handers Matt McDowell, Cory Malcom and Joe Corbett have been tabbed as this weekend's starters.
• Through 12 games in conference play, Little Rock is tied for the second-best start in program history.
• Ryan Scott has a reached-base streak of 24 games, the ninth-longest since at least 1998.
• Little Rock has recorded at least seven hits in every game this season.
• The Trojans' have the second-best batting average in the conference at .299.
• Ryan Scott has the nation's second-best batting average at .486.
• Hayden Martin ranks eighth in the nation with nine sacrifice bunts.
• A series win would give Little Rock its third of the season, matching last year's total.
• A sweep would match last's year program-best start in Sun Belt play.

 
SCOUTING GEORGIA STATE
The Panthers come into the weekend series with only two wins in their last eight games. Georgia State lost at Auburn on Tuesday night after losing two of three to UT Arlington over the weekend. They earned a win at Mercer in last week's midweek contest after being swept by Louisiana on the road.
 
Georgia State's offense is hitting .296 for the season, fourth-best in the Sun Belt. They are led by Jarrett Hood, whose .410 batting average ranks second in the conference to the Trojans' Ryan Scott at .486. Hood is one of six Panthers hitting over the .300 mark.
 
On the mound, Georgia State's pitching staff ranks just ahead of Little Rock with a 5.13 ERA, eighth-best in the Sun Belt. The Panthers will go with lefty Wayne Wages (1-3) on Friday night, who has a 6.47 ERA and an opposing batting average of .269.
 
Right-hander Marc-Andre Habeck (1-1) will take the mound on Saturday as he makes his seventh start of the year. In a team-high 33.1 innings, Habeck has a 4.05 ERA, a .316 opposing batting average and has given up just five walks this season.
 
Righty Bryan White (1-1) will make his seventh start in the series finale on Sunday. White has a 4.91 ERA in 33.0 innings and has given up the second-most walks with 21.
 
SERIES AGAINST GEORGIA STATE
Since their first meeting in 2014, Little Rock and Georgia State are 3-3 in the all-time series. The Trojans won two of three at Gary Hogan Field in 2014 while the Panthers took two of three last year in Atlanta.
 
ON THE MOUND FOR LITTLE ROCK
The Trojans will go with their three-week old rotation of right-handers Matt McDowell (1-0), Cory Malcom (1-3) and Joe Corbett (3-0). McDowell earned his first Division I win in his fourth start last Friday at Appalachian State. Malcom continues to look for his second win of the year after earning a no-decision in each of last two starts. Corbett is in a similar drought as Malcom as he too has earned a no-decision in his last two starts.
 
SECOND-BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
At 6-6 in Sun Belt play, Little Rock is tied for the second-best start in program history. The last time the Trojans went 6-6 through the first 12 games was in 2011.
 
Last year, Little Rock went 7-5 to begin the Sun Belt schedule, marking the best start to conference play in program history.
 
STREAKS IN PROGRESS
Ryan Scott comes into Wednesday's game with a 24-game reached base streak, the longest by a Little Rock player this season and tied for the ninth-longest since at least 1998.
 
When it comes to hitting, Zach Baker currently has the longest-active hitting streak at seven games.
 
Little Rock has continued its streak of getting at least seven hits in every game this season. In 15 of the Trojans' 28 games, Little Rock has earned at least 10 hits.
 
SWING AWAY
Little Rock's offense continues to produce great at-bats with a .299 batting average for the season, second-best in the Sun Belt. The Trojans rank third in doubles (52), fourth in walks (119), fourth in slugging (.407), fourth in hits (286), fifth in RBIs (162), and fifth in total bases (389). All of this culminates into the third-best on-base percentage in the Sun Belt at .384.
 
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. With a hit on Wednesday bringing him to 145, he's now two hits away from passing former Trojan Derin McMains' 146 hits.
 
Being the only four-year player for Little Rock, Scott has now played the fifth-most games in program history at 149. If he plays in every game for the rest of the regular season, he'll have played 175 games, ranking third in program history.
 
GREAT SCOTT!
After leading the nation in hitting since March 16, Scott has moved back to second place with a scorching .486 batting average. Scott is nationally ranked in other categories such as third in on-base percentage (.576), third in total bases (87), third in hits (52), sixth in slugging (.813), 14th in RBIs (39) and 18th in runs (34).
 
GETTING DOWN THE BUNT
With 29 sacrifice bunts this season, Little Rock ranks 15th in the nation and fifth in the Sun Belt. No other Trojan has more sacrifice bunts than Hayden Martin as his nine rank eighth in the nation and third in the Sun Belt.
 
A WIN AGAINST GEORGIA STATE ON FRIDAY WOULD…
…put Little Rock back over .500 in Sun Belt play, and it would be the Trojans' second straight victory against the Panthers.
 
TWO WINS THIS WEEKEND WOULD…
…give Little Rock its third Sun Belt series win of the season, matching last year's total. It would also be the Trojans' second series win against the Panthers. With an 8-7 record, the Trojans would have the second-best Sun Belt record through 15 games in program history.
 
A SWEEP OF GEORGIA STATE WOULD…
…would move Little Rock to 9-6 in the Sun Belt, matching the program's best start through 15 conference games.
 
A sweep would also match Little Rock's overall win total from last year at 16, and it would put the Trojans back over the .500 mark.
 
UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Cody Daylor is two strikeouts away from 25.
• Jarrid Garcia is three strikeouts away from 70.
• Kyle Kirk is four hits away from 70.
• Cameron Knight is two hits away from 30.
• Cory Malcom is 5.1 innings shy of 150.
• Hayden Martin is three runs short of 40.
• Ryan Scott is two RBIs away from 75 and is five hits away from 150.
• Dylan Slayton's next strikeout will be his 20th.
• Dalton Thomas is three RBIs away from 30 and four hits shy of 50.
• Reed Willenborg is three strikeouts from 40.

 
ON DECK
Little Rock will make the 30-mile trip to Conway to take on Central Arkansas in the second game of the Rock 'n' Roar Rivalry on Wednesday before traveling to San Marcos, Texas, for a three-game series with Texas State.