LITTLE ROCK – Looking for its second consecutive conference series win at home, Little Rock baseball (14-23, 6-9 Sun Belt) will face Sun Belt West Division leader Louisiana (23-14-1, 10-4-1) in a three-game series beginning on Friday night at 6 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday at 2 p.m., before concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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Friday will be Youth Baseball Day at
Gary Hogan Field. Any youth baseball player that comes to the game wearing their team's jersey will receive free admission. Coaches and parents may purchase a ticket for as low as $6.
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On Saturday, Little Rock's Student-Athlete Advisory Council will collect non-perishable food items for UA Little Rock's Trojan Food Pantry. Any fan who brings a non-perishable food item will receive discounted admission.
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The Trojans will head into this weekend's series with two consecutive series wins against the defending Sun Belt champs. Last year, Little Rock stunned Louisiana by taking two of three games in Lafayette. In a rain-shortened series in 2015, the Trojans swept a doubleheader with two walk-off
wins at
Gary Hogan Field. Little Rock has won three of the last five series and four of the last five games against Louisiana, but the Cajuns own the all-time series lead at 52-20 and have a 22-13 record in Little Rock.
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The Ragin' Cajuns come into the weekend with a five-game winning streak in tow after sweeping Arkansas State last weekend and picking up victories against Tulane and Southeastern Louisiana in midweek games. Louisiana has yet to lose a Sun Belt series this season as they have four series wins and one tie against Coastal Carolina.
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The Trojans will go with their usual weekend rotation of right-hander
Cory Malcom (2-3) on Friday, right-hander
Ryan LeMoine (1-3) on Saturday and lefty
Chandler Fidel (2-5) on Sunday.
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The Ragin' Cajuns will throw lefty Gunner Leger (7-1) on Friday, righty Nick Lee (4-3) on Saturday and lefty Hogan Harris (3-0) on Sunday.
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- Little Rock has won the past two series and four of the last five games against Louisiana.
- This will be the Trojans' third straight weekend in which they've faced the leader of the Sun Belt's West Division.
- Cory Malcom owns the Sun Belt's fifth-best ERA at 2.58 and has the third-most strikeouts with 69.
- Three consecutive series wins against the Cajuns would be a first for the program.
- A three-game sweep would be Little Rock's first against Louisiana since 2000.
- The Trojans are allowing the third-fewest hits per nine innings in the Sun Belt at 8.45.
- Little Rock's pitching staff has allowed just 17 home runs this season — tied for the fewest in the Sun Belt.
- Little Rock's .976 fielding percentage ranks 45th nationally and is third in the Sun Belt Conference.
- Little Rock is averaging two doubles per game — the most in the Sun Belt.
- Hunter Owens has the most doubles in the Sun Belt and ranks 40th nationally with 14.
- Zach Baker has made 91 consecutive starts — every game since joining the team last season.
- Nik Gifford has reached base in 14 consecutive games.
- Trojan reliever Dylan Slayton has made 23 appearances this season — fourth most in Division I and the most in the Sun Belt Conference.
- Currently with 233 strikeouts, Malcom is eight away from tying Brad Cherry for the third-most strikeouts in program history.
- Dalton Thomas is currently tied for the 10th-most doubles in program history with 32.
