Trojans Visit Demons in First Leg of Louisiana Tour

Little Rock at Northwestern State
Location	Natchitoches, La.
Stadium	Brown-Stroud Field
First Pitch	Wednesday, Apr. 18 - 6 p.m.
Records	Little Rock (20-14, 9-5 SBC) Northwestern State (19-16, 8-7 SLC)
Watch	DemonTV
Stats	NSUDemons.com
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Demon Preview	NSUDemons.com

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock begins a challenging eight-game road trip, beginning with a four-game swing through Louisiana. The first leg of the trek takes the Trojans to Northwestern State to try and even the season series at Brown-Stroud Field in Natchitoches on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
 
The Season Series:
The Trojans (20-14, 9-5) and Demons (19-16, 8-7) squared off at the beginning of March in a three-game series at Gary Hogan Field with the Demons taking two of three. In game one, the Trojans were down early 4-0 and clawed their way back to take a one run lead in the sixth. But Northwestern State rallied for two runs in the eighth to hand the Trojans the 6-5 loss.
 
Game two needed more than just nine innings to try and separate the two as Little Rock rallied in the eighth to force extra innings. Northwestern State, however, came out on top, scoring four runs in the top of the 13th to claim a 7-4 win. Little Rock bounced back in the series finale, racing out to a 5-0 lead after five innings to claim the 5-2 victory.
 
Northwestern State is coming into this game winners in six of their last nine games while outscoring their opponents 55-26 over that span, including a 16-2 win over Stephen F. Austin and a 15-3 victory over Lamar.
 
The Trojans have gone 18-25 against the Demons in the all-time series as the teams met once in 2017 with Little Rock handily claiming the 16-1 victory. That game ended an 11-year break as the two teams had not met on the diamond since 2006.
 
Back on Track:
After dropping four of five, Little Rock notched a much-needed three game sweep over ULM this past weekend at Gary Hogan Field. The Trojans took a Saturday doubleheader, defeating the Warhawks 7-4 and 3-2, before outlasting ULM for a 6-5 victory Sunday. The sweep helped Little Rock reclaim first place in the Sun Belt West Division, leading UT Arlington by a half game.
 
Hometown Hero:
One of the stars of the weekend for Little Rock was the play of North Little Rock native Danny Mitchell Jr. Mitchell started his first three games of the season for the Trojans, scoring the first run of the weekend in the bottom of the first in game one. He really made his mark in game three, however, going 3-for-4 from the plate. He notched his first collegiate home run in the bottom of the fifth, putting Little Rock up 4-3, then put the Trojans on top for good in the sixth with a two-RBI single, giving Little Rock the 6-4 advantage.
 
In for Relief:
The bullpen for the Trojans continues to take the storylines after another dominating performance over the weekend.
 
Donavin Buck leads the bullpen in ERA at 2.72 which is fourth best in the conference. He added his fourth win on Sunday which keeps him unbeaten on the year after throwing 3.0 innings and striking out six. His season strikeout total is now up to 30 while only walking nine.
 
Justin Garcia added another save to his totals this weekend which moved him up to second in the programs history for saves in a single season with nine. That puts him tied with Jim Trammell (2003) and Jim Webber (1980), and puts him just four away from Darek Braunecker who threw 13 in 1991.
 
Garcia remains in the top-10 in strikeouts per-nine-innings sitting at eighth with a 13.74 average. In his 38.0 innings of work he has thrown 58 strikeouts which is the fourth best in conference. He has appeared in 23 games this season which is tied for third in the country and holds the conference's seventh best ERA at 3.08.
 
Hayden Arnold improved his record to 1-2 on Saturday night after throwing four and a third hitless innings to shutout the rest of the game while striking out seven. That improved his ERA to 3.45 on the year while he holds opponents to just a 2.12 batting average.

Welcome Back:
Wednesday's game will serve as a homecoming of sorts for Trojan head coach Chris Curry, who served as an assistant coach at Northwestern State for two seasons. Curry will make his first trip back to Natchitoches as the Trojans' head man as he helped guide the Demons to 49 wins in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
 
On Deck:
Little Rock will head to the grounds of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Lafayette, Louisiana to take on the Ragin' Cajuns for a three-game series at Russo Park. They will play two night games at 6 p.m., one on Friday and one on Saturday with game three wrapping up the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
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