LITTLE ROCK – A six-game road trip begins this weekend as Little Rock baseball (15-26, 6-12 Sun Belt) travels to Georgia Southern (28-14, 11-7) for a three-game series in Statesboro, Georgia. The action will begin on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. (CT) at J.I. Clements Stadium. The second game will occur on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (CT) before wrapping up on Sunday at noon (CT).
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The Trojans faced the Eagles last season in Statesboro and came away with a series win after winning the final two games by scores of 3-2 and 17-8. The two then met again in
the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and saw Georgia Southern take the win. The Trojans have an all-time record of 6-16 against the Eagles with the series dating back to 1981 when both were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference. In games played in Statesboro, Georgia Southern has a one-game advantage at 5-4.
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Little Rock will throw righty
Ryan LeMoine (1-4) on Friday, righty
Cory Malcom (2-4) on Saturday and lefty
Chandler Fidel (2-5) on Sunday. All three set career highs for strikeouts thrown last weekend.
Georgia Southern will throw right-hander Jacob Condra-Bogan (4-1) on Friday, lefty Evan Challenger (1-4) on Saturday and right-hander Chase Cohen (2-3) on Sunday.
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- Little Rock and Georgia Southern will meet in Statesboro for the second consecutive year.
- The Eagles have a slight series lead in Statesboro at 5-4.
- Last year's series win against Georgia Southern was Little Rock's first against the Eagles.
- A series win would be the Trojans' first on the road this season.
- Currently at 349 strikeouts for the year, Little Rock's pitchers are on pace to break the single-season record of 438.
- The Trojans' pitching staff averages 8.51 strikeouts per game.
- Hunter Owens and Dalton Thomas are tied for the most doubles in the Sun Belt with 14 each.
- Owens leads the team with 17 multiple-hit games and seven multiple-RBI games this season.
- Zach Baker has made 95 consecutive starts and has the team's longest active reached-base streak at 12 games.
- Little Rock leads the Sun Belt with 83 doubles this season — 38th in the nation.
- Dylan Slayton and Justin Garcia have appeared in 25 games this season — the most in the Sun Belt and sixth-most nationally.
- Cory Malcom's season total of 82 strikeouts are the most he's recorded in a single season during his four-year career.
- Malcom's strikeout total ranks second in the Sun Belt and 14th nationally.
- Malcom is averaging 11.07 strikeouts per nine innings this season — fourth-best in program history.
- All three of Little Rock's starting pitchers set a career high for strikeouts last weekend against Louisiana.
