Trojans to Begin 2017 Season at Oral Roberts

Game 1: Little Rock at Oral Roberts
Date	Friday, Feb. 17, 2017
Time	3 p.m.
Location	Tulsa, Okla.
Stadium	J.L. Johnson Stadium
Stats	PrestoSports
Audio	KASR 92.7 FM
Video	ORU Athletics (Free)
Full Notes	Little Rock | Oral Roberts

LITTLE ROCK – After a record-breaking 2016 season, Little Rock baseball will look to continue the trend as the Trojans open up the 2017 season at Oral Roberts on Friday at 3 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday at 2 p.m., before wrapping up on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
All three games will be streamed for free through ORUAthletics.com.
 
For the first time in program history, Little Rock baseball will broadcast live on the radio through the Creative Sports Network on KASR 92.7 FM in the

Game 2: Little Rock at Oral Roberts
Date	Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017
Time	2 p.m.
Location	Tulsa, Okla.
Stadium	J.L. Johnson Stadium
Stats	PrestoSports
Audio	KASR 92.7 FM
Video	ORU Athletics (Free)
Full Notes	Little Rock | Oral Roberts

Little Rock area and other stations throughout Arkansas. All radio broadcasts can be picked up online at KASRFM.com. Mike Harrison will be calling all the action this season for the Trojans.
 
Little Rock brings back 23 lettermen from 2016's squad including Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year Dalton Thomas. Thomas hit .375 with 87 hits, 46 runs, 19 doubles, nine home runs, 52 RBIs, a .415 on-base percentage and a .582 slugging percentage last season. He is the first Trojan to ever earn Preseason Player of the Year honors.
 

Game 3: Little Rock at Oral Roberts
Date	Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017
Time	1 p.m.
Location	Tulsa, Okla.
Stadium	J.L. Johnson Stadium
Stats	PrestoSports
Audio	KASR 92.7 FM
Video	ORU Athletics (Free)
Full Notes	Little Rock | Oral Roberts

 
Senior right-hander Matt McDowell will get the start in the season opener on Friday. McDowell went 4-3 with a 4.74 ERA in a team-high 74.0 innings last year. Senior right-hander Cory Malcom will make his 31st career start on Saturday, tying for eighth in program history. Malcom went 5-4 last season with a team-high 70 strikeouts. Freshman lefty Chandler Fidel will make his collegiate debut on Sunday. The Garland, Texas, native was a 2016 Perfect Game Texas Regional Honorable Mention, and he was an All-District First Team recipient in his final three years of high school.
 

• Little Rock is coming off a 26-28 record in 2017.
• The Trojans recorded 17 Sun Belt wins and finished third in the regular season last year — both program records.
• Little Rock was picked to finish third in the Sun Belt's West Division this season.
• Dalton Thomas comes into 2017 as the Sun Belt Conference's Preseason Player of the Year.
• Head coach Chris Curry was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year last season in just his second year as a Division I head coach.
• Little Rock is receiving votes in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll.
• The Trojans will field 14 seniors on this year's roster with 22 upperclassmen.
• Little Rock welcomed 10 newcomers in the offseason.
• Six of the Trojans' nine starting position players returned from last season.
• The Trojans will have plenty of depth on the mound with 19 pitchers this season.
• A series win over Oral Roberts would be Little Rock's first against the Golden Eagles.
• A win on Friday would be the Trojans first season-opening win on the road since defeating Jackson State in 2004.
• Friday will mark the first time Little Rock has started a season on the road since 2011.
• Two wins this weekend would give Little Rock 850 wins since joining Division I in 1979.