Trojans Prep for Pair of In-State Matchups

GAMES 7-9 | Valparaiso
Dates/Times	Tuesday, Mar. 7 - 3 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 8 - 2 p.m.
Location	Tues. - Little Rock, Ark. Wed - Pine Bluff, Ark.
Field	Tues. - Gary Hogan Field Wed. - Torii Hunter Baseball Complex
Records	Little Rock (5-4, 0-0 OVC) UCA (5-6, 0-0 ASUN) UAPB (4-7, 0-0 SWAC)
Watch	N/A
Live Stats	StatBroadcast Tuesday | Wednesday
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Series	Little Rock leads UCA, 31-23 Little Rock leads UAPB, 26-6
Game Notes	None

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Trojans are scheduled to play two midweek contests this week. The first is on Tuesday when the Bears of Central Arkansas pay a visit to the capital city for the first I-40 Showdown of the season, first pitch will be 3 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field. On Wednesday Little Rock will travel to Pine Bluff for a makeup game that was postponed due to severe weather earlier this season. First pitch will be at 2 p.m. at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex.
 
Last Time Out
Little Rock wrapped up a three game series versus Valparaiso on Sunday with an 18-8 victory, finishing the weekend going 1-2 after dropping both games of a doubleheader on Saturday. The starting pitching for the Trojans was strong over the course of the series, allowing just three earned runs over 13.1 innings of work. Nico Baumbach had an impressive three game stretch, hitting three homeruns between the two Saturday games and collecting five RBI in the series. With Sunday's win the Trojans got back over the .500 mark and will go into the midweek games with a record of 5-4.
 
Scouting the Bears
Central Arkansas enters the Tuesday game with a record of 5-6 and is coming off of a series win against Illinois State. The Bears, much like the Trojans, played in a high scoring affair on Sunday winning their contest by a score of 22-10. Notable wins for the program so far this season include a road victory over Vanderbilt as well as a series win against the predicted Ohio Valley Conference Champion Southeast Missouri to open the 2023 campaign. UCA was picked to finish tenth of fourteen teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference in a preseason poll after finishing fourth in the West Division a season ago. Newcomer Evan Hafley was named to ASUN Preseason All-Conference team after a successful season at Arkansas Tech in 2022. Hafley is hitting just .192 entering the game against Little Rock but is tied for first on the team with three homeruns this season.
 
UCA Series History
There is a long history between Little Rock and Central Arkansas that dates back to March 9, 1977, a game that UCA won 5-2. Overall, Little Rock holds the lead in the series at 31 wins to 23 losses. In 2022 the two programs met across the diamond on three occasions with the Bears winning two times. The last time the programs met however was a Trojan victory on May 17, 2022, a 9-6 win in Conway. When playing at home Little Rock holds a significant edge in the series with a 17-11 record.

Scouting the Golden Lions
UAPB enters Wednesday's matchup with a record of 4-7 and is coming off of a sweep of Arkansas Baptist in Pine Bluff. Senior right-handed pitcher Jacob Riordan has gotten off to an impressive start to the season. Through three starts he boasts a 1.13 ERA and a 1-0 record, Riordan is limiting batters to an average of just .148 and has 26 strikeouts to just seven walks. On the offensive side of things, the bats of JaKobi Jackson, Ben VanMaanen and Brad Mican seem to be big contributors. The three have a combined batting average of over .400 and Jackson is getting on base 57.5% of the time he steps up to the plate. The pitching staff as a whole is struggling for the Golden Lions with a team ERA of 7.50 and a batting average against at a .301 mark.
 
UAPB Series History
Little Rock and Pine Bluff have met 32 times previously with the Trojans holding a 26-6 edge in the all-time series, taking a five-game winning streak into Wednesday's game. The two teams met on February 21 earlier this season at Gary Hogan Field, with the Trojans getting an 8-3 victory over the Golden Lions. Little Rock will be looking for its first win in Pine Bluff since 2011 on Wednesday, the Trojans are 4-5 all-time in games played in Pine Bluff.
 
Runs to Spare
The 18 runs scored in Sunday's victory over Valparaiso were the most by a Little Rock team since March 2, 2016, when the Trojans defeated Mississippi Valley State by a score of 20-3. This is the first time that Little Rock has broken the 10-run ceiling so far in the 2023 season. The runs came courtesy of 22 hits by the Trojans, the most since a 16-1 win over Western Illinois on February 27, 2022.
 
Big Weekend for Baumbach
Little Rock third baseman Nico Baumbach hit three homeruns in two games on Saturday, taking the team lead with six total in the young season. The Euless, Texas native has a .353 batting average and leads the team in on base percentage and OPS among qualified hitters at marks of .450 and 1.391 respectively.
 
Three Things to Know:

• Wednesday's matchup at Pine Bluff will be the first game that Little Rock plays away from Gary Hogan Field in the 2023 season as the Trojans have begun the year with 10 straight home competitions.
• Jake Wright's grand slam in Sunday's game against Valpo was the second this season for Little Rock. Over 51 games in 2022 the Trojans hit three grand slams, one of which came off the bat of Wright in a game against Coastal Carolina on May 8.
• Tyler Williams became the first Trojan this season to collect four hits in a single game on Sunday against Valpo. The senior from Lilburn, Georgia had four singles in a 4-for-5 performance and also scored three times.

Noah Burkey is expected to get the start for Little Rock in Tuesday's matchup against UCA, he will be facing off against Cade Felton for the Bears.

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.
 
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