LITTLE ROCK – With a three-game winning streak in tow, Little Rock baseball (13-20, 5-7 Sun Belt) will face Sun Belt West Division leader UT Arlington (17-16, 8-4) in a three-game series beginning on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. The series will continue on Friday at 6:30 p.m., before concluding on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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Little Rock has an all-time record of 4-12 against UT Arlington since 1980 and has never won a series against the Mavericks. The Trojans lost two out of three last year at home against the Mavericks. In Arlington, the Trojans are 1-8
with their lone win occurring in 2004.
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The Trojans will go with their usual weekend rotation of right-hander
Cory Malcom (2-2) on Thursday, right-hander
Ryan LeMoine (1-3) on Friday and lefty
Chandler Fidel (2-3) on Saturday.
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UT Arlington will start right-hander Kadon Simmons (4-2) on Thursday, right-hander Trae Patterson (3-2) on Friday and lefty Jakob Hernandez (3-1) on Saturday.
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- Little Rock will be looking for its first-ever series win
against UT Arlington.
- The Trojans' lone win in Arlington occurred in 2004.
- Little Rock's three-game winning streak is its longest since the first week of March when it won four straight against Fort Wayne.
- The Trojans have an all-time record of 1-8 at Clay Gould Ballpark and trail in the all-timer series at 4-12.
- A win would snap the Trojans' streak of three straight losses on the road.
- A series win would give Little Rock its first on the road this season.
- Little Rock's .291 batting average in conference play ranks third, and its 3.99 ERA ranks fourth in Sun Belt play.
- Trojan pitchers have the third-most strikeouts in Sun Belt play with 95 this season.
- The Trojans are allowing the second-fewest hits per nine innings in the Sun Belt at 8.27.
- Trojan pitchers have the second-lowest opposing batting average in the Sun Belt at .244.
- Hunter Owens' .374 batting average ranks third in the Sun Belt.
- Dalton Thomas' 13 doubles lead the Sun Belt and rank 31st nationally.
- Nik Gifford has reached base safely in 10 consecutive games.
- Little Rock has 65 doubles as a team this year — second most in the Sun Belt and 46th nationally.
- Dylan Slayton's 20 appearances lead the Sun Belt and rank 5th nationally.
- With a win on Thursday, Cory Malcom will have tallied his 14th career win — tying with Brad Cherry and Chance Cleveland for the fifth-most in program history.
