Little Rock's Golden Eagle Road Swing Heads To Southern Miss

GAMES 15-17 | SOUTHERN MISS
Dates	Friday, Mar. 6 - Sunday, Mar. 8
Times	Friday - 6 p.m. Saturday - 2 p.m. Sunday - 1 p.m.
Location	Hattiesburg, Miss.
Field	Pete Taylor Park
Records	Little Rock (8-6, 0-0 SBC) Southern Miss (9-3, 0-0 C-USA)
Watch	CUSA.TV
Live Stats	SouthernMiss.com

Opening Pitch
Little Rock's busy start to the 2020 schedule continues with a trip to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for a three game series against Southern Miss at Pete Taylor Park. Game one is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch Friday, March 6, followed by a 2 p.m. first pitch Saturday, March 7 and concluding with a 1 p.m. start on Sunday, March 8.
 
Last Time Out
Solo home runs by Kale Emshoff and Tim Dixon helped Little Rock rally to force extra innings against Oral Roberts Tuesday night, but a walk-off walk by the Golden Eagles in the bottom of the 11th handed the Trojans a 4-3 loss at J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was the third-straight meeting between the two teams that ended in an extra inning walk-off. Emshoff continued his hot start to the year, going 3-for-6 with a home run.
 
We Got The Funk
Aaron Funk's performance against North Alabama Sunday was one for the record books, earning him Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week honors. His 17 strikeouts in the complete game win is a new Little Rock program record, besting the previous high of 14 set by Scott Madden vs. ULM in 1983, Brad Cherry vs. Western Illinois 2003 and David Klumpp vs. Houston Baptist in 2008. The 17 strikeouts is tied for the single game record in the Sun Belt Conference and is the most by any pitcher in the NCAA in 2020.
 
Scouting the Golden Eagles
Southern Miss enters the weekend series at 9-3 on the season as the Golden Eagles are 6-1 at home in 2020. Southern Miss is coming off a 3-1 weekend at the Lake Area Classic in Lake Charles, Louisiana, taking a pair against Valparaiso (5-1, 13-11) and splitting against host McNeese (10-0, 8-18). As a team, the Golden Eagles are batting .278, led by a .395 average from Charlie Fisher and a .359 mark from Matthew Guidry, both of which lead the team with a pair of home runs and 11 RBI. On the mound, Southern Miss has a 4.92 ERA while opponents are batting .233 against them.
 
Series History
Little Rock and Southern Miss have met 12 times previously with the Golden Eagles holding a 7-5 lead in the all-time series. This weekend's series marks the first meeting between the two teams since March 4-5, 1997, a two-game series in which the Golden Eagles won both games at Pete Taylor Park. Little Rock is 5-5 all-time against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, winning four-straight games spanning the 1988 and 1989 seasons.
 
Five Things To Know:
 
1. Kale Emshoff continues to have one of the hottest bats in the Sun Belt Conference early in the season. He went 3-for-6 with another home run against Oral Roberts Tuesday, upping his season batting average to .438, ranking third in the league in batting average. He is tied for the league lead with five home runs and is first in total bases (38), second in slugging percentage (.792), third in on base percentage (.550) and fifth in hits (21), holding an eight game hitting streak.
 
2. Aaron Funk's performance Sunday earned him not just Sun Belt Player of the Week honors but national recognition as well. Funk was named one of Baseball America's Weekend Standouts as well as one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week, earning the number two pitching performance from D1Baseball.com.
 
3. Little Rock will team up with Southern Miss as part of Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer Day Saturday. Both teams will be wearing gold shoelaces, the color of pediatric cancer awareness, and fans from both teams can donate to the cause at donate.go4thegoal.org.
 
4. A number of newcomers continue to impress early in the 2020 season. Houston Parker has come one strong after entering the starting lineup in the last week, batting .400 with a home run and three RBI with a .600 slugging percentage. Tucker Childers is batting .326 and has started 12 games for Little Rock with eight RBI, ranking third. Tim Dixon is tied with Emshoff for a team-high 10 RBI and has belted three home runs on the year.
 
5. Southern Miss is the fourth 2019 NCAA Tournament team Little Rock will have faced through the first month of the season as the Trojans have already squared off against Illinois State, McNeese and Oklahoma State. Two NCAA tournament teams remain on the Trojans schedule after this weekend as Little Rock travels to Arkansas on April 7 before a three game series at Coastal Carolina May 8-10.
 
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