Trojans Look to Earn Sun Belt Tournament Berth at ULM

Games 46-48: Little Rock at ULM
May 13-15
Monroe, La. • Warhawk Field
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LITTLE ROCK – With six Sun Belt games remaining, Little Rock baseball (23-22, 14-10 Sun Belt) has the opportunity to clinch a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and to pick up the most conference wins in program history as it plays a three-game series at ULM (19-30, 9-15 Sun Belt) beginning on Friday at 6 p.m., in Monroe, La.
 
FIRST PITCH

• Little Rock will go with its usual Friday and Saturday starters in Matt McDowell and Cory Malcom.
• A Trojan win and a loss by Arkansas State or Georgia State clinches Little Rock a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
• Two wins automatically clinches the Trojans a spot in the SBC Tournament.
• A sweep would give Little Rock its most conference wins in program history at 17.
• Ryan Scott is once again the nation's leading hitter with a .452 batting average.
• Scott is just seven hits from breaking the Little Rock single-season record and is three doubles shy of breaking the all-time record.
• The Trojans have the top offensive club in the Sun Belt with a .299 batting average.
• Little Rock is the best fielding team in the Sun Belt with a .976 fielding percentage.
• The Trojans have turned the second-most double plays in the Sun Belt this season with 43.
• In Sun Belt games, Little Rock leads the conference in five different offensive categories.

 
SCOUTING ULM
ULM took two of three at Troy last weekend.  The Warhawks lost the series opener before taking the final two games of the series.
 
ULM comes in hitting .233 for the year, ranking 10th in the Sun Belt. Jacob Stockton is the Warhawks' leading hitter with a .293 batting average, 30 runs scored and 28 RBIs. He's tied with teammate Nathan Pugh for the most hits with 48.
 
On the mound, ULM will be throwing right-handers Keegan Curtis (1-2) and Brayden Bouchey (5-2) on Friday and Saturday with a pitcher to be named for Sunday's series finale. The Warhawks have a team ERA of 5.47, ranking ninth in the Sun Belt.
 
SERIES AGAINST ULM
The Warhawks lead the all-times series with the Trojans by a 44-27 margin. ULM has won the past two series with Little Rock as it took two of three last year at Gary Hogan Field and swept the Trojans in Monroe in 2014. Little Rock swept ULM at home in 2013.
 
ON THE MOUND
The Trojans will go with their usual Friday and Saturday starters in right-handers Matt McDowell (3-1) and Cory Malcom (4-4). McDowell picked up his second straight win last Friday against UT Arlington after throwing 7.0 innings and striking out four on a season-high 107 pitches.
 
A WIN AGAINST ULM WOULD…
...possibly give the Trojans a Sun Belt Conference Tournament berth if Arkansas State or Georgia State also lost a game this weekend.
 
A SERIES WIN AGAINST ULM WOULD…
…clinch a spot for Little Rock in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the first time since 2013. The Trojans would 16 wins in conference play and could finish no worse than 16-14 while the bottom three teams in the standing have already lost at 15 games.
 
A win would also the tie the program record for conference wins in a season at 16. Little Rock set the program mark in 2000 by going 16-13.
 
A SWEEP OF ULM WOULD…
…give the Trojans their most conference wins in program history at 17 games. It would also give Little Rock 26 overall wins, the most since 2013.
 
ON TOP AGAIN
Ryan Scott is once again the nation's leading hitter with a .452 batting average after hitting .500 this past weekend against UT Arlington. Scott has led Division I in hitting for nearly a month out of the entire season. Including batting average, he still leads the Sun Belt in six different categories with a .746 slugging percentage, a .533 on-base percentage, 80 hits, 55 RBIs and 132 total bases.
 
CHASING HISTORY
With a breakout season comes potential records. At 80 hits for the season, Scott is just seven hits away from breaking the Little Rock single-season record. Former Trojan Greg Taylor set the mark with 86 hits in 1996. Scott also has his sights on the Trojans' all-times doubles record of 41 set by John Gragg from 2000-02. With 39 career-doubles, Scott just needs three more to take the record.
 
MAKING SACRIFICES
Senior infielder Hayden Martin has become an expert with the sacrifice bunt in his three years with Little Rock as he now owns the program's all-time record with 24. This season, Martin has produced 13 sac bunts, the 12th most in Division I and second-most in the Sun Belt.
 
As a team, Little Rock has put down 45 sacrifice bunts this season, ranking 26th in the nation.
 
MAKING PLAYS
Little Rock's continues to field the ball consistently as it has the highest fielding percentage in the Sun Belt at .976, ranking 24th in the nation. The Trojans have also made their fair share of double plays this season with 43, ranking second in the Sun Belt and 44th nationally.
 
OFFENSIVE POWERHOUSE
As a team, Little Rock is hitting .299 for the season, ranking first in the Sun Belt and 41st in the nation. In Sun Belt play, the Trojans are even better with a .305 batting average, and they also lead in slugging (.428), on-base percentage (.393), runs scored (176) and RBIs (156).
 
UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Zach Baker's next RBI will be his 20th, and he is three hits away from 40.
• Jarrid Garcia's next strikeout will be his 70th.
• Kyle Kirk's next hit will be his 75th.
• Cameron Knight is two RBIs shy of 30.
• Hayden Martin's next run will be his 50th.
• Matt McDowell's next strikeout will be his 30th.
• Preston Oberling is three strikeouts away from 40.
• Ryan Scott's next RBI will be his 90th.
• Dalton Thomas' next run will be his 40th.

 
ON DECK
Little Rock will play its final non-conference game of the regular season against Central Arkansas on Tuesday at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.