| GAME 36 | LOUISIANA TECH |
| Date/Time |
Wednesday, Apr. 27 - 6 p.m. |
| Location |
Little Rock, Ark. |
| Field |
Gary Hogan Field |
| Records |
Little Rock (16-19, 6-11 SBC)
Louisiana Tech (28-13, 12-6 CUSA) |
| Watch |
None |
| Live Stats |
TrojanStats.com |
| Twitter |
@LittleRockBSB |
| Series |
Louisiana Tech leads, 60-25 |
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock begins a five-game home stand with the return trip of the home-and-home series with Louisiana Tech Wednesday, April 27. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field.
Home Sweet Home
Little Rock returns to Gary Hogan Field where it has been tough this season, posting a 14-9 overall record. The five game home stand marks a stretch where Little Rock will play eight of the next 11 as the Trojans make a push for the Sun Belt Tournament in Montgomery, Alabama. Little Rock is 101-80 (.558) at home under head coach
Chris Curry.
Big Bat Noah
Noah Dickerson continues to be a force at the plate for Little Rock as the junior either leads or shares the lead in 12 offensive categories. Dickerson is seventh in the Sun Belt in batting average (.358), slugging percentage (.628) and on base + slugging (1.060), tied for first in doubles (14) and tied for seventh in hits (49).
Going For Two
Little Rock is among the Sun Belt leaders in a "double" of double categories, ranking second in the league in both doubles (77) and double plays (32), ranking 33rd nationally. Little Rock is averaging 0.91 double plays per game, good enough for 18th nationally, while the Trojans' 2.20 doubles per game is also good enough for 33rd nationally.
Bash Brothers
With his three-run shot in the eighth inning Saturday, freshman
Andrew Pickering became the seventh different Trojan to hit a home run this season, belting his first career shot against Texas State. Four different Trojans have hit at least five round-trippers this season, led
Noah Dickerson's seven and followed by five each from
Canyon McWilliams,
Jack Stroth and
Jake Wright.
Rough Weekend
The Trojans hit a bump during its weekend trip in Texas, losing all three games to 17th-ranked Texas State and dropping a series against the Bobcats for the first time in program history. Little Rock is looking to snap a seven-game losing skid, dating back to the April 12 loss to Central Arkansas at home.
Scouting the Bulldogs
Louisiana Tech enters Wednesday's game at 28-13 overall and 12-6 in Conference USA, currently sitting tied for second in the league standings, and are 9-7 in road games this year. The Bulldogs are batting .267 as a team with a .448 slugging percentage and a .377 on base percentage, hitting 52 home runs, led by 10 from Steele Netterville and eight from Jorge Corona. On the mound, Louisiana Tech has a team ERA of 3.90, holding the opposition to a .240 batting average with a combined 409 strikeouts.
Series History
Wednesday's game marks the 86th meeting between the Trojans and Bulldogs, the most in program history against a non-conference opponent. Louisiana Tech has the upper hand, holding a 60-25 lead in the all-time series and comes to Gary Hogan Field riding a four-game winning streak between the two. The Trojans are 14-20 against the Bulldogs at Gary Hogan Field, the last win coming on Kale Emshoff's walk-off hit in the 12th inning for a 2-1 win in 2018, as head coach
Chris Curry is 2-8 all-time against Louisiana Tech.
Last We Met
Little Rock couldn't overcome an early deficit and didn't take advantage of leadoff hits as the Trojans dropped a 10-0 decision to Louisiana Tech in Ruston on April 19. The Trojans managed just three hits on the evening, two of which came from
Tyler Williams, as Louisiana Tech scored three times in both the second and sixth innings and two more in the eighth to pull away for the win.
Five Things To Know
• Little Rock is still seeking its first midweek victory of the year, sitting at 0-5 on the year with three of the five games coming on the road.
•
Eldrige Figueroa continues to move up the Trojan record book as the fifth year senior has now played in 159 games in a Little Rock uniform, tied for sixth all-time in program history with assistant coach
Christian Reyes, starting 147 of those games. Figueroa is also tied for fourth all-time in hit by pitches, taking 30 free bases in his career.
•
Sawyer Smallwood continues to impress, ranking second in the Sun Belt with a 2.29 ERA and is seventh in opposing batting average at .212. Smallwood has allowed the fewest runs (10) and earned runs (nine) among qualifying Sun Belt pitchers, ranking second in fewest runs allowed (seven) and is tied for second in fewest doubles allowed (three).
• The trio of
Tyler Williams,
Eldrige Figueroa and
Miguel Soto continue to be threats on the base path as they rank second (Williams – 16), fifth (Figueroa – 13) and ninth (Soto -11) in stolen bases in the Sun Belt. The trio have combined to steal 40 bases in 47 attempts, led by Soto going a perfect 11-for-11 thus far.
•
Erik McKnight is slated to get the start for the Trojans Wednesday, making his team-high 11th start of the season. McKnight is 2-1 on the year with a 6.43 ERA in 35.0 innings pitched, striking out 23 with the opposition batting .310.
#LittleRocksTeam
