Little Rock to Visit Memphis for Final Game Before Conference Schedule Begins

GAMES 18 | Memphis
Dates/Times	Tuesday, Mar. 21 - 6 p.m.
Location	Memphis, Tenn.
Field	FedExPark Avron Fogelman Field
Records	Little Rock (10-7, 0-0 OVC) Memphis (11-9, 0-0 AAC)
Watch	N/A
Live Stats	StatBroadcast Tuesday
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Series	Memphis leads, 41-13
Game Notes	N/A

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – After snapping a three game losing streak with a win on Sunday at Northwestern State, the Trojans will now complete a home and home midweek series with Memphis on Tuesday at FedEx Park with a 6 p.m. first pitch.
 
Last Time Out
Following a heartbreaking one run loss to Memphis last Tuesday at Gary Hogan Field, the Trojans hit the road for the first time in 2023 with a trip to Northwestern State. Little Rock found themselves on the wrong side of the Friday and Saturday matchups, being defeated by scores of 4-9 and 0-5 respectively. Sunday told a different story, after the Demons jumped out in front 1-0 after the first inning the Trojan bats came live. The Trojans would score three runs in the third with two coming on one swing off the bat of Luke Pectol, which gave Little Rock its first lead of the weekend. There was no going back from there as the Trojans added five more runs in the fifth as Nico Baumbach and Skyler Trevino each had two run homers in the inning. Little Rock scored all of its runs in the game with two outs in the inning and come out on top 8-6 after denying an attempted comeback from NSU in the ninth. The win improved the Trojans record to 10-7 on the year with just one game remaining before the first Ohio Valley Conference schedule for Little Rock begins on Friday.
 
Scouting the Tigers
Memphis is entering the Tuesday game with a record of 11-9 after winning two of three games this past weekend at Southeastern Louisiana. Last week the Tigers defeated Little Rock by a score of 3-2, breaking a six game losing streak in the process. In that game, junior Austin Baskin collected three hits in four at bats, leading the way for Memphis. Baskin is the team leader in batting average so far this season at a mark of .356. Shortstop Tyler Heckert had two of the three RBI for Memphis last Tuesday and is 8-9 on stolen base attempts this season, the only time he has been caught was by Jake Wright last week. Dalton Kendrick leads the team in ER at 2.80, last week he pitched the final 1.2 innings against the Trojans, picking up his fourth save in the process. Kendrick picked up two more saves over the weekend against Southeastern Louisiana and now leads the team with six total.
 
Series History
Little Rock and Memphis have a series history that dates back to 1978 as the Tigers soundly defeated the Trojans in their first ever meeting by a score of 13-0 on April 25 in Memphis. Although the Tigers have dominated the series as a whole, leading 41 wins to 13 losses, a majority of those games took place nearly 40 years ago in the 80's. In the eight most recent matchups which are the only games to take place in the 21^st century, the series is tied at four wins apiece. Last Tuesday was the most recent matchup between the two programs and the winner of tomorrow's game will be in the lead of the series history that covers the past 20 some odd years.
 
Three Things to Know

• After over three decades of being a member of the Sun Belt Conference, Little Rock made the move to the OVC this past July and will play its first conference schedule beginning with a weekend series against Lindenwood starting this Friday. Lindenwood is not just a new member to the OVC, but also to Division I, making the transition this season.
• Baumbach and Trevino continue their friendly homerun battle as the two lead the team in long balls so far this season with eight and seven respectively. Trevino gained some ground this weekend as he sent two over the wall in the series against Northwestern State. Both homered on Sunday, playing big roles in the Trojans win as they combined for five RBI in the game.
• Senior Austin Stubber set a career high in strikeouts on Sunday with six in just 3.1 innings of work. The Hope, Arkansas native now leads the team in strikeouts with 21 on the season and has played a key role out of the bullpen for the Trojans.

Noah Burkey is expected to toe the rubber to start for Little Rock and he will be facing off against JT Durham for the Tigers.
 
For the latest information on Little Rock Baseball, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockBSB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
Get the latest Trojan news – including the weekly Trojan Report – delivered to you direct to your inbox by signing up for Little Rock Trojan E-News here.
 
#LittleRocksTeam