LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock gets set for its final series as a Sun Belt member, traveling south to Lafayette, Louisiana to take on the Ragin' Cajuns in a three game series. Game one is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, May 19, followed by game two Friday, May 20 at 6 p.m. and the season finale at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 21. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ from Tigue Moore Field in Lafayette.
Last Time Out
Little Rock jumped out to a 7-0 lead, thanks to a grand slam from
Noah Dickerson, then used its bullpen to hold off a late Central Arkansas charge to take the 9-6 win in Conway Tuesday night. Dickerson,
Tyler Williams and
Canyon McWilliams went a combined 9-for-14 with seven RBI and five runs scored.
Austin Smith earned the win, becoming the 10th different Trojan pitcher to earn a win this season.
Chase For Montgomery
Little Rock has secured a spot in the 2022 Sun Belt Tournament in Montgomery, Alabama, as the Trojans are locked into the 8-9 play-in game on Tuesday, May 25 at 6:30 p.m. The Trojans (10-16)Â are currently the number eight seed and hold a magic number of one - needing one win or one App State (9-18) loss to secure the number eight overall seed.
Big Hitters
Little Rock has a number of hitters among the league's best with
Canyon McWilliams (.382) fourth and
Noah Dickerson (.355) seventh in batting average. The duo is also among the league's top-10 in slugging percentage with Dickerson fifth (.651) and McWilliams sixth (.646). Dickerson is second in the Sun Belt with 17 doubles while McWilliams is sixth in hits (68) and RBI (48) with
Tyler Williams fifth in stolen bases (19).
Double Doubles
Little Rock remains one of the nation's top teams in a pair of "double" categories - doubles and double plays. The Trojans are second in the Sun Belt in total doubles (105), leading the league in doubles per game (2.23), ranking 24th nationally. Little Rock has also been solid defensively, turning 39 double plays this season, ranking fifth in the Sun Belt and 53rd nationally. The Trojans are averaging 0.83 double plays per game, 41st nationally, as combined with the 43 double plays turned in 2021, the Trojans have turned 82 in the last 98 games.
Arnold Record Watch
Fifth-year senior
Hayden Arnold heads into the weekend series looking to continue to make his mark on the Trojan record books. The reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year became Little Rock's all-time strikeout leader against ULM with 292, now aiming to become the first player in program history to reach 300. He currently sits second all-time in innings pitched (300.0) and is third in both appearances (74) and starts (44).
Starting Consistency
Heading into this weekend series in Lafayette, eight of Little Rock's starting nine position players have started at least 40 games this year.
Canyon McWilliams,
Miguel Soto,
Tyler Williams and Nate Lyons have each started all 47 games this year, followed by 46 from
Jorden Hussein, 44 from
Eldrige Figueroa and 42 each from
Noah Dickerson and
Jake Wright. Those eight players have combined for 362 of the Trojans' 376 starts this season, accounting for 96.3% of starts in the field.
Power at the Plate
Little Rock heads into this weekend's series with a .294 batting average, ranking third in the league and 61st nationally. The Trojans are also fourth in the league in slugging percentage (.453) and sixth in on base percentage (.372). The .294 average is the highest for the Trojans since Little Rock batted .302 as a team through 54 games in 2016.
Scouting the Ragin' Cajuns
Louisiana enters the final weekend of the regular season at 31-20 overall and 17-10 in the Sun Belt standings, currently sitting fourth after being swept at Texas State last weekend. The Ragin' Cajuns come into the weekend batting .283 as a team with a .451 slugging percentage, hitting 51 home runs with 288 RBI as a team. On the mound, Louisiana boasts a team ERA of 4.29, currently first in the Sun Belt, holding the opposition to a .251 batting average and a combined 459 strikeouts.
Series History
Little Rock and Louisiana have met 85 times previously, the fourth-longest active rivalry in program history behind Arkansas State (131), South Alabama (95) and ULM (88). This is the first series between the two in Lafayette since 2018, with the last meeting at Moore Field the 19-16 Sun Belt Tournament game won by the Ragin' Cajuns. Little Rock is 11-29 all-time in Lafayette as head coach
Chris Curry is 8-10 against Louisiana.
Projected Starters
The projected starting pitchers for this weekend's series are as follows:
•
Game One (Thursday, May 19) - RHP
Hayden Arnold (LR) vs. LHP Brandon Talley (LA)
•
Game Two (Friday, May 20) - RHP
Hoss Brewer (LR) vs. RHP Jacob Schultz (LA)
•
Game Three (Saturday, May 21) - TBA (LR) vs. RHP Jeff Wilson (LA)
Five Things To Know:
• Little Rock continues its "Last Trip Around the Sun," playing its 31st and final season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference with an overall record of 299-512.
• Little Rock has been solid at home this season, posting a 20-11 overall record and tying for the most wins at Gary Hogan Field since 2014. But the Trojans have struggled away from home, going just 3-13 in road games, comprised of the two wins at Troy April 2-3 and the victory at UCA Tuesday.
• Little Rock enters the weekend with a number of impressive steaks, including Canyon McWilliams riding a 12-game hitting streak, the longest on the team this season. Five different Trojans have reached base in at least 10-straight games, led by Jorden Hussein's 13-game streak.
• Sawyer Smallwood has made 27 appearances this season with a team-best 3.23 ERA, allowing the opposition to bat .238.Smallwood is tied with Brad Cherry (2002) and Todd Grief (1994) for 10th in appearances, one shy of Bubba Cooper (2012).
• Eldrige Figueroa has now played in 171 games in a Trojan uniform, ranking fifth all-time, with starts in 159 of those games. His 144 career hits is one away from matching Dalton Thomas' (2016-17) 145 for 10th all-time.
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