LR To Face USA in SBC Tournament Showdown on ESPN3

Game 54: No. 3 Little Rock vs. No. 2 South Alabama
May 25
San Marcos, Texas • Bobcat Ballpark
Live Video | Live Stats | Game Notes

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Looking to avoid elimination in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, No. 3 Little Rock baseball (26-27) will face No. 2 South Alabama (38-19) on Thursday at 9 a.m., at Bobcat Ballpark on the campus of Texas State. Thursday's game will air live on ESPN3.
 
FIRST PITCH

• The Trojans will look to avoid elimination from the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
• Little Rock will face two-time SBC Pitcher of the Year Kevin Hill.
• The Trojans are looking for their first win against the Jags this season.
• Little Rock last beat South Alabama in the SBC Tournament in 2001.
• Cory Malcom will be looking for his sixth win of the season.
• Ryan Scott took home Sun Belt Student-Athlete of the Year honors.
• Head coach Chris Curry earned Sun Belt Coach of the Year in just his second season as a Division I head coach.
• Dalton Thomas earned All-Sun Belt First Team honors.
• Hayden Martin earned All-Sun Belt Second Team honors.
• A win would keep the Trojans' season alive and knock South Alabama out of the tournament.

 
SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA
No. 2 South Alabama took a 4-2 loss to No. 7 UT Arlington in the first day of Sun Belt Conference Tournament action. Wednesday's loss gave the Jaguars losses in five of their last six games.
 
Offensively, the Jags hit .265 in the regular season. Jared Barnes and Cole Billingsley led South Alabama with averages above .300. Billingsley ended the regular season with a team-highs for hits (69) and stolen bases (30) while Barnes led the team with a .320 batting average and a .509 slugging percentage.
 
On the mound, South Alabama will throw two-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year Kevin Hill (8-1). In 109.2 innings during the regular season, Hill had a 2.38 ERA with 117 strikeouts. Opponents hit just .214 off the right hander. The pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 3.46.
 
SERIES AGAINST SOUTH ALABAMA
The Trojans came up short in all three games against the Jaguars during the regular season. The series was supposed to have been played in Little Rock, but drenching rain forced the move to Mobile were Little Rock acted as the home team.
 
Little Rock is 1-2 when facing South Alabama in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The two last faced each other in 2013 as the Jags picked up the win. The Trojans' lone win came in 2001. South Alabama owns the all-time series lead at 68-13.
 
ON THE MOUND FOR LITTLE ROCK
Right-hander Cory Malcom (5-4) will get the start for Little Rock. Malcom leads the Trojans with 62 strikeouts this season. He earned the no-decision while throwing seven strikeouts last Saturday against Arkansas State. A win would gain Malcom his sixth of the year, setting a new season-high.
 
SUN BELT STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Ryan Scott was named Sun Belt Student-Athlete of the Year and to the All-Sun Belt First Team after a record-breaking regular season for the Trojans. Scott is just the second Trojan ever to garner SBC Student-Athlete of the Year honors with the first being Greg Taylor in 1996. Scott finished the regular season with the second-best batting average in the nation at .433 while also leading the Sun Belt in seven different offensive categories including runs (54), total bases (146), slugging percentage (.702), hits (90), on-base percentage (.514) and RBIs (63). Scott is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, the Gregg Olson Award and is on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List. Scott broke the Little Rock single-season record for hits and the program's all-time doubles record.
 
SUN BELT COACH OF THE YEAR
Head coach Chris Curry was named the Ron Maestri Coach of the Year in just his second season as a Division I coach with the Trojans. Curry became the second Little Rock coach in program history to earn Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors after Brian Rhees in 2000. Curry led Little Rock to a new program record for conference wins (17). He also helped the Trojans earn their best regular-season Sun Belt finish in program history as Little Rock placed third after being picked ninth in the preseason poll.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE NODS
Along with Scott, Dalton Thomas and Hayden Martin each earned All-Sun Belt honors. Thomas was picked for the First Team after finishing the regular season with the second-best batting average behind Scott at .386. In conference play, he led the league with 51 hits, 88 total bases, 134 at-bats, tied for the most RBIs with 38 and tied for the most home runs with eight. For the year, Thomas tallied 86 hits, 52 RBIs, 19 doubles, 134 total bases, 46 runs, a .601 slugging percentage, a .426 on-base percentage and nine home runs.
 
Martin earned Second Team honors as he ended the regular-season with the ninth-best batting average in the conference at .324. He led the Sun Belt and broke a program record for sacrifice bunts with 15 while also breaking the Little Rock all-time record with 26. Martin was the best fielding second baseman in conference play as he recorded a near-perfect fielding percentage of .990.
 
A WIN AGAINST SOUTH ALABAMA WOULD…
…keep the Trojans' season alive as they would face the winner of No. 6 Georgia Southern and No. 7 UT Arlington on Friday. A win would also knock the nationally-ranked Jags out of the conference tournament.
 
UPCOMING CAREER MILESTONES

• Zach Baker is three hits short of 50.
• Ty Gunter's next hit will be his 40th and his next RBI will be 30th.
• Cory Malcom is four strikeouts away from 160 for his career.
• Hayden Martin is three RBIs shy of 40.
• Ryan Scott is just three RBIs from breaking the Little Rock single-season record of 65.
• Dalton Thomas is three hits away from 90.

 
ON DECK
Depending on the result of Thursday's game, the Trojans would play Georgia Southern or UT Arlington on Friday if they pulled out a win.