Red-Hot Trojans Entertain Western Illinois in OVC Series Starting Thursday

Fresh off one of the bigger upsets in NCAA Division I baseball in 2025, the Trojans play host to Western Illinois in a Ohio Valley Conference weekend series at Gary Hogan Field. Because of the Easter holiday Sunday, the series begins at 6 p.m., Thursday. Friday's game starts at 4 p.m., with a first pitch slated for 1 p.m. Saturday for the series finale. All games can be streamed on ESPN+ with Max Coltrane on the call.

The Trojans (16-19, 5-6 OVC) are riding a six-game winning streak and after shocking No. 11 Ole Miss, 7-3, at Oxford, Miss., on Tuesday afternoon. Little Rock preceded that big nonconference matchup with a three-game road sweep of OVC foe Morehead State. The team made the long trip to Kentucky, and then stopped off in Mississippi for the game with the Rebels before getting home Tuesday evening.

The Leathernecks (10-22, 4-8) sit in ninth place in league play and have won three straight games after an 18-8 victory Tuesday over NAIA program St. Ambrose (Iowa) University. After dropping the first game of last weekend's OVC series at U T Martin, WIU salvaged the series with two consecutive victories. 
The wins came after the Leathernecks had lost 15 of 18 games but included in that stretch were nonconference games with the University of Illinois and Illinois State along with OVC series with Southern Indiana, Southeast Missouri State and Tenneessee Tech. TTU leads the OVC, and USI and SEMO are tied for second. The Leathernecks beat Tech and USI once in each series but were swept by SEMO.

Western Illinois owns a .276 team batting average which ranks No. 7 in the OVC. Canadian senior outfielder Liam Bushey leads the team with a .388 average. He also owns the team lead in doubles (9) and RBI (26). Senior catcher Kayton Morse hits .325 and freshman infielder Kenneth Perez owns a .322 average.

The Leathernecks are No. 9 in the OVC in overall pitching with a 7.36 ERA. WIU is ninth in the OVC in the OVC in overall pitching with a 7.36 ERA. Junior Max Tripure is WIU's top pitcher. In nine starts, he is 3-4 with a 5.45 ERA. Junior Eric Rawlings has worked exclusively out of the bullpen with 13 appearances and a 3.32 ERA.

Ryan Geck has paced the Trojans' offensive attack most of the season. The 6-foot-5 Long Beach, Calf., native banged out a key bases-loaded double early in the Ole Miss win and added another base hit later. He is currently hitting .341 and has a team-leading 34 RBI. Cooper Chaplain, a Jackson, Miss., native, torched the Rebels for three hits and three RBI in the win. He is now second in the team in hitting with a .338 average.

Senior Jackson Wells continues as the Friday starter for Little Rock. His outing last week at Morehead State was cut short due to a blister, but he is healthy. Senior Jack Cline started the season as the Sunday starter but has moved up in the rotation. The Joe T. Robinson alum is 6-2 with a 3.53 ERA. 

Blake Van Cleve has been a key bullpen contributor and did it again at Oxford, as he cleaned up a late bases-loaded jam with a strikeout, and picked up the win.
Little Rock leads the series with WIU 14-5 and has won seven of the past eight meetings. That one loss has occurred in the past two seasons that Little Rock joined the OVC. The Trojans enjoy a 12-4 all-time home record against the Leathernecks since the series began in 2003.

The Trojans will turn to a familiar SEC foe for a midweek series. No. 2-ranked Arkansas will host Little Rock on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The two teams will meet on Wednesday at 5 p.m.