Trojans look to continue 'Hogan Magic' during weekend series with Murray State

Riding the emotional high of Wednesday's 10-inning, walk-off home victory over Memphis, the Little Rock Trojans will be looking for a little extra 'Hogan Magic' when they host Murray State for a three-game series at Gary Hogan Field, starting with Friday's opener at 3:05 pm. The series continues Saturday (2:05 pm) and concludes Sunday (1:05 pm) with all three contests available to stream live on ESPN+.
 
On Wednesday, Little Rock (5-3) erased an early 5-0 deficit to take an 8-5 lead, then saw the game go into extra innings where Ryan Geck treated the fans to a game-winning single in the 10^th to end the game after three hours and 31 minutes. The Trojans are 4-0 at home this season, with a pair of walk-off wins to their credit.
 

"It goes back to our Sun Belt [Conference] days, but the number of walk-offs is starting to pile up. Believing that at our field, the game is never over and there's a magic that happens when we have a chance to win a ballgame. We started saying that in the dugout as a psychological thing that something magical is going to happen to somebody, and 'is it going to be you in that moment?' We try to plant that seed in the dugout that it's time for some 'Hogan magic'." — Little Rock head coach Chris Curry

 
SCOUTING THE RACERS
Murray State (4-0) comes into the weekend red-hot, averaging 11.5 runs in the Racers' first four games while hitting .331 as a team. The Racers also have a team earned run average of just 2.31 while outscoring their opponents 46-13. Murray State has scored 10 or more runs in three of its first four contests, including wins of 16-0 over Western Illinois and 18-7 over UT Martin. The Racers have hit six home runs and piled up 12 doubles in their 46 hits. Murray State has four players hitting above .400, including Luke Mistone (.500, HR, 8 RBI), Jonathan Hogart (.462, 5 2B, 4 RBI), Will Vierling (.438, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B), and Dan Tauken (.412, HR, 8 RBI). Murray State will send out a weekend rotation of Ethan Lyke (1-0, 0.00 ERA), Isaac Silva (1-0, 0.00 ERA), and Nic Schutte (1-0, 0.00 ERA).
 
TROJAN TRENDS
Little Rock is 4-0 this season when leading after six innings and 5-0 when leading after seven frames … The Trojans have hit into just one double play thru eight games … Little Rock pitchers walked eight batters against Memphis and hit four, both season-highs … The Trojans turned a season-high three double plays defensively vs Memphis … Little Rock has not allowed an opponent to accumulate more than seven hits in a game … The Trojans rank 14^th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (5.87).
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Next week will be a busy one for the Trojans, who will play five games in six days. The week begins with a two-day road trip to face Arkansas State on Tuesday and Memphis on Wednesday. Following an off day on Thursday, Little Rock returns home for a weekend series against Belmont on March 7-9.