Little Rock Back at Home Against UT Martin on Easter Weekend

GAMES 26-28 | UT Martin
Dates/Times	Thursday, Apr. 6 - 6 p.m. Friday, Apr. 7 - 4 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 8 - 1 p.m.
Location	Little Rock, Ark.
Field	Gary Hogan Field
Records	Little Rock (14-11, 3-3 OVC) UT Martin (9-21, 4-2 OVC)
Watch	Thursday
Live Stats	StatBroadcast Thursday | Friday | Saturday
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Series	Little Rock leads, 24-8

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Trojans will return home following a four game road trip spanning 10 days to play in an Ohio Valley Conference series against UT Martin. Games will be shifted up a day this weekend as the series begins on Thursday at Gary Hogan Field and continues through Saturday. First pitch of game one will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
 
Last Time Out
The Trojans got back on track on Tuesday at ULM with a 12-7 victory over the Warhawks at Lou St. Amant Field. Little Rock raced out to a large lead after falling behind in the first inning, scoring seven runs in the second and two in the third to build an eight run cushion. ULM had a large inning of its own, striking for six in the bottom of the fourth to bring the game within two runs. The Trojans continued the strong offensive performance with two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh, finishing the game with 17 hits as a team. Tyler Williams hit two homeruns in the game and collected five RBI, going 4-for-5 and Hoss Brewer pitched five shutout innings out of the bullpen, allowing just two hits and striking out five.
 
Scouting the Skyhawks
The Skyhawks enter the weekend with an overall record of 9-21 but have seen some success in conference play so far with an OVC record of 4-2. UT Martin is coming off of a midweek loss to former Ohio Valley Conference member Austin Peay in a high scoring affair, dropping an 18-17 decision. Last weekend the Skyhawks took two of three from SIUE in a home series, losing game one of Saturday's doubleheader before winning game two as well as the rubber match on Sunday. Several Skyhawks have been impressive so far at the plate, but junior Andrew Fernandez stands out among the rest. Fernandez is hitting .330 through 29 games played and leads the team in both doubles (10) and homeruns (4) while showing off good plate discipline, walking 13 times to 21 strikeouts. Caleb Hobson is another player to watch, though he is hitting just .238, the junior reaches base at a clip of .381 and has been successful on 19 of 20 stolen base attempts this season. The Skyhawks pitching staff has been susceptible to the long ball this year as they have allowed opponents to knock 36 balls out of the yard. Opponents are hitting .309 off of UT Martin pitchers and the team WHIP sits at 1.81, creating a stressful pitching environment. Eric Steensma will be an arm to watch this weekend, the junior righty has shown impressive command with 23 strikeouts to just nine walks and is holding opponents to a batting average of just .261 in 29.2 innings pitched. Steensma has been bit by the homerun this season as he has allowed a team high eight, carrying an ERA of 5.76 into the weekend.
 
Series History
Little Rock has dominated the all-time series against UT Martin with a record of 24-8 against the Skyhawks. The Trojans are riding a five game win streak that dates back to 2010 although the two programs haven't met on the diamond since 2012. Little Rock won the most recent matchup by a score of 12-11 on March 4, 2012, which completed a weekend sweep for the Trojans playing in Martin, Tennessee. In this game the Trojans battled back from an 11-5 deficit after four innings and Sean Bignall plated what would become the game winning run in the top of the 10^th with a solo homerun, his second homer of the game.
 
Three Things to Know

• The Trojan pitching staff currently leads the OVC in team ERA at a mark of 4.53. Sophomores Preston Davis and Jackson Wells make up two of the top three pitchers in the conference in ERA both in conference play and in the season overall. Davis has not allowed an earned run in conference play and has a 2.78 ERA overall while Wells boasts a 2.25 OVC earned run average and a 1.23 overall ERA.
• Senior Tyler Williams continued his impressive multi-hit game streak with a 4-for-5 performance on Tuesday at ULM, hitting two homeruns in the process. Williams has now hit four homers in his past three games and has a batting average of .500 in conference play, leading the OVC in total hits.
• Right handed pitcher Hoss Brewer gave the Trojans five quality innings out of the bullpen on Tuesday in his most impressive outing so far this season. The Canton, Texas native struck out five and walked none in his midweek appearance, allowing just two hits and no runs en route to earning the win.

 
Projected Starters
The expected pitching rotation for this weekend's series is as follows:
 
Thursday, April 6: RHP Jackson Wells (LR) vs. RHP Seth Petry (UTM)
Friday, April 7: RHP Noah Burkey (LR) vs. RHP Jordan Armstrong (UTM)
Saturday, April 8: RHP Preston Davis (LR) vs. RHP Eric Steensma (UTM)
 
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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