LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock baseball is back at
Gary Hogan Field on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for game two of the home-and-home series versus UAPB.
The Trojans are coming off a big series win over South Alabama this past weekend as they officially clinched a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Little Rock sits atop the Sun Belt West Division at 14-9 with 25-20 overall record.
Trojans to Watch For:
Ryan Benavidez has had a major impact at the plate against Sun Belt opponents as he holds the highest batting average in the conference at .400.
Matt Merino is coming off a huge weekend at the plate as he had six hits to drive in six RBIs while scoring four times himself. He is now the second Trojan to reach 30 RBIs this season with the other being
Troy Alexander.
Kale Emshoff was right there with Merino on impressive stats over the weekend. He was able to knock in five RBIs while getting four hits and scoring once. He added another double to the tally to give him a team-high 16 on the year and 11 against Sun Belt opponents — the most in the conference.
Marcus Ragan extended his hitting streak to 10 games over the weekend which is now the longest of the season by any Trojan.
Earlier This Season:
The two met a couple weeks ago in Pine Bluff where the Golden Lions edged out the Trojans 7-4. Little Rock struggled to put runs on the board as it was held to just two runs through eight innings before getting a couple more in the ninth.
The Trojans did jump out to an early 1-0 lead, but a third-inning flurry of three runs for the Golden Lions gave them a lead that they never surrendered.
The Battle Between:
That loss on April 24th made it the third loss for the Trojans in the last five meetings. Little Rock still holds a significant edge in the series record at 21-6 over UAPB.
Last season, UAPB came to Little Rock to play in their only meeting last year where the Golden Lions claimed a 2-1 victory over the Trojans.
On Deck:
Little Rock will make the long journey to Conway, South Carolina, to take on Sun Belt-leading Coastal Carolina in a three-game series starting on Friday. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Trojans and Chanticleers.
