Trojans Return to OVC Play with Trip to Southern Indiana

GAMES 43-45 | Southern Indiana
Dates/Times	Friday, May 5 - 6 p.m. Saturday, May 6 - 2 p.m. Sunday, May 7 - Noon
Location	Evansville, Ind.
Field	USI Baseball Field
Records	Little Rock (25-17, 10-5 OVC) Southern Indiana (15-30, 6-12 OVC)
Watch	N/A
Live Stats	StatBroadcast Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Twitter	@LittleRockBSB
Series	N/A

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Trojans will resume the Ohio Valley Conference schedule this weekend after a weekend series against New Orleans and midweek game at Ole Miss over the past week. Little Rock will be in Evansville, Indiana taking on the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana in a three game set beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
On Tuesday the Trojans were narrowly defeated by the 2022 National Champion Ole Miss in a midweek matchup in Oxford. Little Rock led for a vast majority of the game and didn't allow the Rebels to have a lead in the game until the bottom of the eighth inning, ultimately falling by a score of 12-10. Outfielders Luke Pectol and Tyler Williams put on a show with the bats as the two combined for eight hits and seven RBI in the contest. Pectol had three extra base hits in his first three at bats which included two doubles and a homerun in the top of the first to kick off the scoring, he ended up driving in five runs on the day. Williams improves his team best average of .358 up eleven points on the day to .369 with a 4-for-6 performance, this included a double as he came around to score twice while driving in a pair of runners.
 
Scouting the Screaming Eagles
Southern Indiana enters the weekend with an overall record of 15-30 to go along with an OVC record of 6-12, the Screaming Eagles are currently on a three game losing streak. Last weekend USI traveled to SIUE to take on the Cougars in a weekend series. Southern Indiana lost on Friday before taking he Saturday game to even the series, and eventually lost the rubber match on Sunday by a score of 14-4. The Screaming Eagles played a pair of midweek games one on the road and one at home against Southern Illinois and Miami Ohio respectively. Both of the matchups ended in a loss by double digits as the Screaming Eagles have been outscored 40-9 over their last three matchups. Tucker Ebest has been the leader on the offensive side of things, leading the team with 11 homeruns and a batting average of .331. The Austin, Texas native has walked more than he has struck out this season and has an OPS of 1.068.
 
Series History
This weekend will be the first ever meetings between Little Rock and Southern Indiana as the Screaming Eagles are brand new to the Division I level, joining the Ohio Valley Conference along with former conference member Lindenwood back in July of 2022. Both Southern Indiana and Lindenwood come from the Great Lakes Valley Conference at the NCAA Division II level.
 
Three Things to Know

• Senior Tyler Williams leads the OVC in total hits with 62 on the season. On Tuesday, Williams picked up four hits in six at bats and improved his team best batting average eleven points. The Lilburn, Georgia native has broken both the triples and total base career records at Little Rock this season and is closing in on the top three in many other offensive categories.
• With his single in the eighth inning of the Ole Miss game, Nico Baumbach continued hit hitting streak which now stands at 19 games, the longest by a Trojan this season. In addition, Baumbach has reached base in every game that he has played in this season as the mark has reached 40 games.
• Head Coach Chris Curry is still on the brink of his 200^th win after a nailbiter in Oxford ended with Little Rock on the wrong side of the scoreboard. The next chance will be tomorrow night against Southern Indiana with Jackson Wells on the bump for the Trojans.

Projected Starters
The expected pitching rotation for this weekend's series is as follows.
 
Friday, May 5: RHP Jackson Wells (LR) vs. Trent Robinson (USI)
Saturday, May 6: RHP Noah Burkey (LR) vs. Gavin Morris (USI)
Sunday, May 7: RHP Camden Sargent (LR) vs. Blake Ciuffetelli (USI)
 
Game times are subject to change with weekend with potential of storms entering the Evansville area. Any updates to game times and schedule updates will be made known via social media along with on the LRTrojans website.
 
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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