| GAME 26 | UA-PINE BLUFF |
| Date/Time |
Tuesday, Apr. 5 - 3 p.m. |
| Location |
Pine Bluff, Ark. |
| Field |
Torii Hunter Baseball Complex |
| Records |
Little Rock (13-12, 3-6 SBC)
UA Pine Bluff (6-17-1, 3-6 SWAC) |
| Watch |
None |
| Live Stats |
UAPBLionsRoar.com |
| Twitter |
@LittleRockBSB |
| Series |
Little Rock leads, 24-6 |
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock concludes its five-game road trip with the short trip to Pine Bluff, taking UA-Pine Bluff Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex.
Battle of Trojans
Little Rock emerged victorious in the final Battle of Trojans over the weekend, taking two of three from Troy at Riddle-Pace Field. The Trojans jumped out to an early lead in game one, but fell 5-4 in a heartbreaking bottom of the ninth walk-off. Little Rock trailed 3-0 in game two, but rallied for a 4-3 win behind a pair of home runs from
Jack Stroth, then had three big innings Sunday to earn the 10-6 victory and complete the series win.
Big Bat Jack
Jack Stroth made his presence felt in the final two games of the series at Troy, hitting a pair of home runs Saturday to start the Little Rock comeback, then hit a two-run shot in the top of the ninth Sunday to add some insurance runs. Stroth is now tied for fourth on the team with four home runs on the year, boasting a .630 slugging percentage with 15 RBI in nearly 40 fewer plate appearances than the leaders.
Canyon Powering Through
Canyon McWilliams had a productive week for Little Rock in the four road games last week, batting .444 and going 8-for-18 from the plate with a double, a triple and a pair of home runs. McWilliams drove in five runs and had a slugging percentage of .944, stealing a base as well. For the season, the graduate student is tied for second with four home runs and is second on the team with a .375 batting average.
Leading the League
Little Rock continues to lead the Sun Belt Conference in batting average and ranking 22nd nationally with a .304 average on the year. The Trojans are second in the league in slugging percentage at .465 with a Sun Belt-best 59 doubles on the year, ranking 39th nationally and 20th in doubles per game at 2.36.
Scouting the Golden Lions
UAPB enters the week at 6-17-1 overall and 3-6 in SWAC play, dropping all three games of a weekend series to Prairie View A&M in Pine Bluff over the weekend. The Golden Lions are 5-10-1 at home this season and boast a team batting average of .283 with a .412 slugging percentage as four qualifying players are hitting .300 or better. On the mound, UAPB has a team ERA of 7.31 with the opposition batting .294 and a combined 161 strikeouts.
Series History
Little Rock and Pine Bluff have met 30 times previously with the Trojans holding a 24-6 edge in the all-time series, taking a three-game winning streak into Tuesday's game. The two teams met once in 2021, a 7-2 Little Rock win at Gary Hogan Field on March 31, as the Trojans are 4-5 in games played in Pine Bluff, losing the last two and are looking for their first win in Pine Bluff since 2011. This is the first of two games between the two this season as UAPB will make the return trip to Gary Hogan Field on May 3.
Five Things To Know
• Tuesday's game will be Little Rock's 20th game in the state of Arkansas out of 25 games this season and the first eight-straight in the Natural State as the Trojans begin a seven-game home stand this weekend.
• Little Rock is seeking its first win over an in-state opponent since the 7-2 win over UA-Pine Bluff on March 31, 2021, seeking to end an eight-game losing skid against Natural State foes.
• Little Rock still remains one of the nation's top teams in both double plays and stolen bases. The Trojans are 35th nationally in double plays (22) and 30th in double plays per game (0.88), ranking second in the Sun Belt in both categories. On the base path, the Trojans are 44th nationally in stolen bases (44) and 36th in stolen bases per game (1.76) as
Tyler Williams (13),
Eldrige Figueroa (12) and
Miguel Soto (11) rank second, third and fourth, respectively, in the conference.
•
Nathan Lyons continues to lead the Trojans in batting average at .378, followed closely behind by
Canyon McWilliams at .375 as the duo rank fourth and tied for fifth, respectively, in the Sun Belt.
Noah Dickerson continues to rank among the top-10 in slugging percentage, sitting seventh at .642, followed by
Jack Stroth at eighth with a .630 mark.
• On the year, 88 of Little Rock's 264 hits have been for extra bases, accounting for 33.3% of its offense. Over the past week, 17 of Little Rock's 41 hits went for extra bases, 41.5% of its offensive production, as the Trojans had nine doubles, two triples and six home runs.
#LittleRocksTeam
