Little Rock to Open Sun Belt Play at Home vs. Troy

Game 18: Little Rock vs. Troy
Date	Friday, March 17, 2017
Time	3 p.m.
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Stadium	Gary Hogan Field
Stats	StatBroadcast
Video	Little Rock All-Access
Full Notes	Little Rock | Troy

LITTLE ROCK – Sun Belt Conference play begins this weekend as Little Rock baseball (7-10) welcomes Troy (9-6) to Gary Hogan Field for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. The second game of the series will occur on Saturday at 2 p.m., and Sunday's series finale will begin at 1 p.m.
 
Little Rock is coming off a record 2016 Sun Belt schedule in which the team recorded 17 wins and finished third in the regular season — both program records.
 
Against Troy, Little Rock is 14-18 since the beginning of the

Game 19: Little Rock vs. Troy
Date	Saturday, March 18, 2017
Time	2 p.m.
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Stadium	Gary Hogan Field
Stats	StatBroadcast
Video	Little Rock All-Access
Full Notes	Little Rock | Troy

series in 2006 and holds a 10-6 record when playing at Gary Hogan Field. Little Rock has won four of the past five games and swept last year's series at home.
 
Little Rock will throw right-hander Cory Malcom (1-0) on Friday, lefty Cole Townsend (2-0) on Saturday and lefty Chandler Fidel (1-2) on Sunday. Troy will start right-hander Daren Osby (3-1) on Friday, lefty Austin Crook (2-0) on Saturday and right-hander Houston Mabray (1-0) on Sunday.
 

• Cory Malcom is one strikeout away from becoming the fifth

  Game 20: Little Rock vs. Troy
  Date	Sunday, March 17, 2017
  Time	1 p.m.
  Location	Little Rock, Ark.
  Stadium	Gary Hogan Field
  Stats	StatBroadcast
  Video	Little Rock All-Access
  Full Notes	Little Rock | Troy

  Trojan in program history with 200 career strikeouts.
• Malcom leads the Sun Belt in strikeouts with 35 and has the 24th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in in the nation at 11.67.
• Little Rock's fielding percentage of .982 ranks 18th nationally and second in the Sun Belt.
• Little Rock's pitchers are throwing 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings — 36th nationally.
• Little Rock's 35 doubles for the season rank second in the league and 40th nationally.
• Little Rock's batting average of .279 ranks fourth in Sun Belt.
• Dalton Thomas has reached base in all 17 games this season and has a nine-game hitting streak.
• Hunter Owens ranks third in the Sun Belt with a .422 batting average.
• Head coach Chris Curry is one win shy of his 50th career victory.
• Malcom and Cole Townsend rank in the top 10 of the league for ERA at 2.08 and 2.53, respectively.
• Little Rock's .411 slugging percentage ranks fourth in the Sun Belt.
• Little Rock hasn't allowed a home run in nine consecutive games.
• A series win would give Little Rock its third consecutive at Gary Hogan Field and would be Little Rock's second straight over Troy.
• A sweep would be Little Rock's first-ever in a conference series opener — Sun Belt and TAAC included.
• A series win would be Little Rock's first in the opening Sun Belt series of the season since 2011.