Final Road Trip Takes Trojans To Coastal Carolina

Little Rock at Coastal Carolina
Location	Conway, S.C.
Venue	Springs Brooks Stadium
First Pitch	Friday, May 11 - 1 p.m. CT Saturday, May 12 - 1 p.m. CT Sunday, May 13 - 11 a.m. CT
Records	Little Rock (26-20, 14-9 SBC) Coastal Carolina (33-16, 18-6 SBC)
Watch	Chant Vision
Stats	TrojanStats.com
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Chanticleer Preview	GoCCUSports.com

LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock makes its final road trip of the season to Conway, South Carolina, to play Coastal Carolina in three game series beginning Friday, May 11 at 1 p.m. CT. Game two will continue the series on Saturday for another 1 p.m. CT first pitch and then conclude with game three on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
 
The Trojans claimed a 12-6 win at home over in-state opponent UAPB Tuesday to improve their record to 26-20. Over the previous weekend, the Trojans won its sixth conference series of the year, taking two of three over a South Alabama team that is second in the Sun Belt Eastern Division.
 
Little Rock had been trading spots with Louisiana for the top spot in the Western Division, entering the weekend with a half-game lead on the Ragin' Cajuns at 14-9 in the conference.

Coastal Carolina enters the weekend atop the Sun Belt East, sitting at 18-6 in conference play and 33-16. Ranked #19 in this week's poll, the Chanticleers defeated third-ranked North Carolina 5-2 Wednesday evening at Springs Brooks Stadium.
 
On the Mound for Little Rock:
Penciled in for the first game against the Chanticleers is regular Friday starter Chandler Fidel, scheduled to make his 13th start of the season. No other Trojan has started more than seven games this season.
 
Fidel has struggled giving up runs the last couple outing giving up 11 earned runs, but Little Rock has still picked up the win in both of those games. His ability to go deeper in the games has been a staple as he averages going 6.1 including two complete games and one relief appearance.
 
He sits with a 4.24 ERA while being 6-3 on the year and is tied for third in the Sun Belt in strikeouts against conference opponents with 51.
 
Game two's scheduled starter is Cole Townsend, who has made his way back into the starting lineup after battling a nagging arm injury. Last weekend, he made his first start in over a month against South Alabama and threw phenomenally.
 
In the five and two-thirds innings he threw, he retired 15 batters in-a-row before giving a home run in his final batter faced in the sixth.
 
On the year, Townsend has a 3-1 record with a 3.89 ERA.
 
Offensive Might:
Little Rock continues to put runs on the board averaging just under nine runs a game in the last nine games.
 
The bulk of those runs driven in has been from Marcus Ragan, Matt Merino and Nick Perez who all have double digit RBIs in that span. Chase Coker and Kale Emshoff each have eight of their own as well.
 
Christian Reyes has has some astonishing numbers in those nine games leading the way hitting a .500 average and having an on-base percentage of .714.
 
Ragan is on an eleven game hitting streak that is the longest of the year by any Trojan. The second longest is nine which he did earlier in the year and Merino did as well.
 
Ryan Benavidez is the conference's leader in batting average against Sun Belt pitchers, hitting .400 in 50 at-bats.
 
Catching Coastal:
Attempting to overtaking the Chanticleers for first-place overall in the Sun Belt will be tough challenge for the Trojans. It starts with Little Rock having to win the series over the Chanticleers, whether it be two games or a sweep.
 
A sweep over the weekend would be ideal, leaving the Trojans only a half game back going into a series against Arkansas State, who sits last in the Western division.
 
If the Trojans take two games this weekend, they will need to sweep Arkansas State next weekend and have Coastal lose at least two at Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina.
 
Scouting Coastal Carolina:
The Chanticleers are second in both the batting average (.285) and pitching ERA (4.07) as a team against Sun Belt opponents and are lead by head coach Gary Gilmore in his 23rd season at the helm.
 
Coastal hadn't lost a conference series all season until last weekend when Louisiana took two of three from the Chanticleers. They began conference play winning their first eight games, which included sweeps of Arkansas State and Texas State and taking the first two against Georgia Southern.
 
The Chanticleers sit one or two in nearly every statistical batting category against conference opponents and for pitching sit atop the numbers in opposing batting average, strikeouts, wins, hits allowed, and earned runs allowed.
 
History Begins:
This marks the first ever meeting between Little Rock and Coastal Carolina. It's only the second year of the Chanticleers being a member of the Sun Belt, joining in 2017 fresh off their 2016 College World Series title, and the two teams did not play each other in 2017.
 
Rock 'n' Roar:
After the trip to South Carolina, Little Rock returns home for the final four games of the 2018 regular season, facing a pair of in-state rivals. The first of those four is the final game of the Rock 'N Roar rivalry against Central Arkansas and the Trojans' yearly visit to Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. First pitch against the Bears is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15.
 
Following the game at Dickey-Stephens, Little Rock closes out the regular season in the friendly confines of Gary Hogan Field, facing rival Arkansas State in a three-game series May 17-19.
 
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