Trojans Travel to SEMO for First OVC Road Series

GAMES 22-24 | Southeast Missouri
Dates/Times	Saturday, Apr. 1 - 1 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 1 - 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 2 - 1 p.m.
Location	Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Field	Capaha Field
Records	Little Rock (13-8, 3-0 OVC) SEMO (13-14, 2-1 OVC)
Watch	Saturday 1 | Saturday 2 | Sunday
Live Stats	StatBroadcast Saturday 1 | Saturday 2 | Sunday
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Series	SEMO leads, 6-3
Game Notes	N/A

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Following a weekend that saw the Trojans sweep Lindenwood in the opening series of Ohio valley Conference play, Little Rock will now hit the road to face off against the defending OVC tournament champions in Southeast Missouri. First pitch of game one of the weekend series will be Saturday at 1 p.m. against the Redhawks.
 
Last Time Out
Last weekend the Trojans began their inaugural conference season in the OVC as Lindenwood University paid a visit to Gary Hogan Field for a three game set. Stormy weather caused the Friday matchup to be delayed and the teams played a doubleheader on Saturday to kick things off. Little Rock won a tight game one by a score of 4-3 before winning handily in the second game 9-3. The Trojans got solid starts from both Jackson Wells and Preston Davis in the doubleheader and timely hitting allowed the Maroon and Silver to come out on top. Sunday's game was very similar to game two as the Trojans jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first inning which included homeruns from Tyler Williams and Skyler Trevino. Little Rock would go on to run rule the Lions in seven innings which was capped off with another Trevino homerun that brought the score to 10-0 and secured the sweep. These three wins improved the Trojans record to 13-8 on the year to go along with a 3-0 record in the OVC.
 
Scouting the Redhawks
Southeast Missouri enters the weekend with an overall record of 13-14 and is coming off of a weekend where the team won two of three at SIUE to begin OVC play at 2-1. SEMO then traveled to Evansville on Wednesday where the Redhawks came out victorious in the midweek action. In Cape Girardeau this year, SEMO holds a record of 8-5 thus far after a dominating 2022 campaign that was them lose just two games at home compared to 23 wins. The Redhawks currently rank towards the bottom of the OVC in offense with a team batting average of .244 but find ways to get on base in other ways as they lead the conference in hit by pitches with 51. Once on base the Redhawks are not shy to try and run and have done it quite well, being successful on 31 of 39 stolen base attempts. On the mound SEMO holds a team ERA of 5.21, this is second best in the OVC trailing only the Trojans who boast a 4.28 team ERA. Southeast Missouri does a good job at limiting free passes with just 88 through 27 games compared to 210 strikeouts. Junior Josh Cameron has arguably been the Redhawks strongest offensive threat so far this season. The Pflugerville, Texas native leads the team in OPS and slugging percentage while also being a speed threat, stealing eight bases on nine attempts and collecting two triples already. Noah Niznik leads the SEMO pitching staff in several categories including ERA (3.48), WHIP (0.98), innings pitched (33.2) and strikeouts (38). Perhaps his most impressive feat so far is limiting the base on balls, Niznik has walked just four batters in six starts so far, although he does lead the team with four hit batters.
 
Series History
Saturday's doubleheader will be the first time that Little Rock and SEMO have met on the diamond since 2014 when the Redhawks paid a visit to Gary Hogan Field for a midweek matchup. In that game the Trojans won by a score of 1-0 on February 18 to extend a winning streak to start that 2014 season. The overall series history has the Redhawks leading with six wins and three losses. However, in the past four matchups the Trojans have found themselves on the right side of things with three wins in those four games. This will be the first time that the two programs will face off as conference opponents with this being Little Rocks first season in the Ohio valley Conference.
 
Three Things to Know

• Senior Tyler Williams has set a program record for the number of career triples with 12 total over his four years. The Lilburn, Georgia native already has four in this season alone as he continues to impress with his speed and ability to drive the ball into the gap. His four triples currently rank him at first in the OVC and sixth nationally.
• Among qualified pitchers, senior Austin Stubber sits alone at the top of the OVC in hits (16) and runs (6) allowed this season. The Hope, Arkansas native has thrown 23 innings over nine appearances thus far and has served in a key role out of the Little Rock bullpen. In addition, he ranks third in the Ohio Valley in both ERA (2.35) as well as opponent batting average (.193).
• Skyler Trevino continued his offensive tear this past weekend against Lindenwood, hitting two homeruns in the Sunday finale and notching five RBI during the game. The two homeruns put him in the top spot on both the team and in the OVC with nine now on the season. 

Projected Starters
The expected pitching rotation for this weekend's series is as follows:

• Saturday, April 1 (Game 1): RHP Jackson Wells (LR) vs. LHP Noah Niznik (SEMO)
• Saturday, April 1 (Game 2): RHP Preston Davis (LR) vs. RHP Payton Lawrence (SEMO)
• Sunday, April 2: RHP Noah Burkey (LR) vs. LHP Haden Dow (SEMO)

 
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