Little Rock Opens Alabama Road Swing With Weekend Series at North Alabama

GAMES 8-10 | NORTH ALABAMA
Dates	Friday, Mar. 5 - Sunday, Mar. 7
Times	Friday, Mar. 5 - 5 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 6 - 2 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 7 - 12 p.m.
Location	Florence, Ala.
Field	Mike D. Lane Stadium
Records	Little Rock (3-4, 0-0 SBC) North Alabama (0-6, 0-0 A-Sun)
Watch	ESPN+ (Friday only)
Live Stats	Friday | Saturday | Sunday

LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock begins a six game road trip in Florence, Alabama with a three-game weekend series at North Alabama. The Trojans will take on the Lions at Mike D. Lane Stadium, beginning Friday at 5 p.m. on ESPN+. Saturday's first pitch will be at 2 p.m., leading up to Sunday's 12 p.m. finale.
 
Last Time Out
A three-run home run by Nathan Lyons sparked a five-run fourth putting Little Rock on top for good in a 5-3 win over Central Arkansas at Gary Hogan Field Wednesday afternoon. Lyons went 2-for-4 on the day, adding a double, and the Trojan pitching staff combined for 13 strikeouts to close out the four-game home stand, led by seven for Cole Evans in the win.
 
Scouting the Lions
North Alabama is seeking its first win of 2021, sitting at 0-6 on the year and coming off a 7-2 loss at Tennessee Tech on Tuesday. As a team, the Lions are batting .193, led by Austin Thrasher's .444 average and a .333 mark from Harris Kain. On the mound, North Alabama is posting a 7.24 earned run average with the opposition batting .261 as the Lion pitching staff has combined for 52 strikeouts.
 
Series History
Little Rock is 3-1 all-time against North Alabama, taking two of three from the Lions in a weekend series at Gary Hogan Field in 2020. After dropping the opener 8-4, Little Rock rallied to win game two 7-3 before a 2-1 decision in game three, the game which saw Aaron Funk strike out a program-best 17 batters in the complete game decision. The only other meeting between the two was a 12-11 10 inning victory by Little Rock in 1982.
 
Weather Forecast
Weather shouldn't be a factor in the three game series in Florence this weekend. Friday and Saturday are calling for highs in the upper 50s with Sunday expected to be in the low 60s. There is less than a five percent chance of rain each of those days.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
 
1. Little Rock's pitching staff struck out a combined 13 batters in the win over Central Arkansas Wednesday, a new season high. It was the most for the Trojan pitching staff in a game since matching the 13 strikeouts in a 4-3 11-inning loss to Oral Roberts on March 3, 2020.
 
2. Nathan Lyons became the fifth different Trojan to hit a home run this season with his three-run blast in the fourth inning Wednesday. It was his second round-tripper of the season as he joins Tyler Williams, Canyon McWilliams, Noah Dickerson and Tim Dixon with a long ball this season.
 
3. John Michael Russ continues to pace Little Rock with a .417 average on the year, generating a team-high 10 hits in 24 at bats this season. He has hits in all but one of the games he has played in this season and has a four-game hitting streak, tied with Tyler Williams for the longest on the team.
 
4. Tyler Williams continues to be a force at the plate for Little Rock, having reached base safely in all seven games this season. He has two multi-RBI an multi-hit games, second only to Jorden Hussein's three, leading the team with seven RBI and a .625 slugging percentage while ranking second in batting average (.333) and doubles (two).
 
5. Cole Evans continues to rank as one of the highest strikeout per nine innings players in the Sun Belt, adding seven in 3.2 innings to up his season mark to 17.3. That mark would rank among the top-25 nationally had Evans met the minimum of 1.0 IP per team game. For his career, Evans has 30 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched for a 14.7 strikeouts per nine, which would rank first in program history should he meet the minimum innings pitched (60.0).
 
5A. Little Rock's schedule to begin the month of March is one that Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz would be proud of with back-to-back-to-back series against Lions (North Alabama, Mar. 5-7), Tigers (Auburn, Mar. 12-14) and Bears (Mar. 3).
 
#LittleRocksTeam