Trojans Open "Last Trip Around The Sun" at Georgia State This Weekend

GAMES 16-18 | GEORGIA STATE
Dates/Times	Friday, Mar. 18 - 5 p.m. CT Saturday, Mar. 19 - 3 p.m. CT Sunday, Mar. 20 - 11 a.m. CT
Location	Atlanta, Ga.
Field	GSU Baseball Complex
Records	Little Rock (10-5, 0-0 SBC) Georgia State (11-6, 0-0 SBC)
Watch	ESPN+ Saturday | Sunday
Live Stats	StatBroadcast Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Series	Little Rock leads, 13-6

LITTLE ROCK – After a home-heavy schedule to start the season, Little Rock heads away from Gary Hogan Field for the first road weekend series of the year, opening up Sun Belt play at Georgia State. The Trojans will face the Panthers in a three-game series in Atlanta, beginning Friday at 5 p.m. CT, followed by a 3 p.m. CT first pitch Saturday and an 11 a.m. CT start Sunday in the series finale.
 
Last Time Out
Little Rock gave Oral Roberts too many free passes, combining for 13 walks and four hit batters, and the Golden Eagle bats made the Trojans pay in an 18-3 loss at Gary Hogan Field. Little Rock managed just five hits on the afternoon, tied for a season-low, with two of those hits home runs from Noah Dickerson and Miguel Soto, as well as a triple from Tyler Williams.
 
Leading the League
Entering this week's games, Little Rock boasts a team batting average of .322, tops in the Sun Belt Conference and ninth nationally. The Trojans have registered 37 doubles on the season, ranking 26th nationally, with a .500 slugging percentage, sitting at 36th in the nation. Five of Little Rock's starters are batting .352 or better, led by Jorden Hussein's .396 average, a .375 from Nathan Lyons and a .370 from Noah Dickerson.
 
Noah Comes Out Swinging
Noah Dickerson has been an offensive force for the Trojans in the early going, belting his sixth home run of the season against Oral Roberts Wednesday. Heading into the weekend, he ranks second in the conference in slugging percentage (.852), trailing Georgia State's Griffin Cheney. He is third in the Sun Belt in both RBI (19) and tied for third in home runs (six) and is tied for second in doubles (six).
 
Turning Two
Little Rock has made a name for itself defensively turning double plays, entering the week ranking 11th nationally with 16 this season and sixth in double plays per game, averaging 1.07. Canyon McWilliams has taken part in 14 of those twin killings, along with 11 for Jorden Hussein and 10 for Eldrige Figueroa. Coupled with the Sun Belt-best 43 in 2021, the Trojans have turned 59 double plays in the last 66 games, averaging 0.89 per game.
 
Swipe Right
Little Rock has also made its mark on the base path this season as the Trojans have stolen 37 bases on the season, entering the week first in the Sun Belt and ninth nationally. The Trojans rank eighth in the country with 2.47 stolen bases per game, paced by 11 from Tyler Williams (15th nationally), 10 from Eldrige Figueroa (20th nationally) and nine from Miguel Soto (48th nationally) as the trio rank first, second and fourth in the Sun Belt.
 
Arnold Record Watch
Fifth year senior Hayden Arnold heads into the weekend series with Georgia State looking to continue to make his mark on the Trojan record books. He currently ranks among the top-eight in program history in eight different statistical categories as he looks to make his 36th appearance Friday, which would move him into sole possession of sixth all-time. He enters the weekend five strikeouts behind former teammate Chandler Fidel (2017-19), which would give him 253 to move into a tie for fourth all-time while his .607 winning percentage ranks third in program history.
 
Scouting the Panthers
Georgia State enters the weekend at 11-6 overall, including a 9-2 mark at home this season. The Panthers are coming off a 6-1 win at Clemson Tuesday night, including series wins over Presbyterian, Villanova and Fort Wayne. As a team, the Panthers are hitting .308, ranking second in the league behind the Trojans, led by a .458 from reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week Griffin Cheney, who has hit eight home runs on the year. Max Ryerson has also hit six home runs on the year and is one of five Panthers batting .300 or better. On the mound, Georgia State has a 4.65 team ERA with a combined 170 strikeouts with the opposition batting .247.
 
Series History
Little Rock and Georgia State have met 19 times previously with the Trojans holding a 13-6 lead in the series. Little Rock had won 10-straight last season before the Panthers won the last two in Atlanta, taking the series. This week marks just the third time Little Rock has made the trek to Atlanta as the Trojans are 2-4 all-time in Georgia.
 
Pitching Probables
The pitching probables for this weekend are as follows:
 
• Friday, March 18: RHP Hayden Arnold (LR) vs. LHP Brandon Kaminer (GSU)
• Saturday, March 19: RHP Hoss Brewer (LR) vs. RHP Chandler Dawson (GSU)
• Sunday, March 20: RHP Erik McKnight (LR) vs. RHP Dylan Matela (GSU)
 
Five Things to Know
 
• This weekend begins Little Rock's 31st, and final, season in the Sun Belt Conference as the Trojans begin their "Last Trip Around the Sun." Little Rock has an all-time record of 289-496 (.368) in Sun Belt play, winning the conference tournament title in 2011.
 
• Tyler Williams will make his Georgia homecoming this weekend as the Lilburn, Georgia native played his high school ball just 11 miles from the Georgia State baseball complex. Williams enters the weekend having reached base in all 15 games this season while Nathan Lyons and Canyon McWilliams have done so in 14.
 
• Little Rock's starting lineup has been consistent through the majority of the season as seven players have started all 15 games this season while Jake Wright has started 14. Eldrige Figueroa continues to close in as one of the most all-time experienced Trojans, playing in 140 games with 130 starts, on the verge of cracking the top-10 in both categories.
 
• Hoss Brewer enters the weekend rotation and is slated to start Little Rock's game Saturday against Georgia State. Brewer earned the win in his first start in a Trojan uniform Sunday against North Alabama, throwing a complete game against the Lions. It marked the first complete game thrown by a Little Rock pitcher since Aaron Funk did it twice during the 2020 season.
 
• Little Rock heads to Atlanta seeking its first road victory of the season. The Trojans' last win away from Gary Hogan Field came on Georgia State's field back on May 20, 2021 – a 7-3 victory over Georgia State. The Trojans have lost five-straight away from Little Rock, losing the final two games of the series to the Panthers, two games at the Sun Belt tournament in Montgomery, Alabama, and a 3-1 loss to Central Arkansas in Conway on March 8.
 
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