Last week, Little Rock upset a ranked SEC opponent. They'll have a shot again this week. Actually, two as the Trojans face in-state rival Arkansas at Baum-Walker Stadium on consecutive days. The first game is slated for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday and can be streamed on SEC+. The teams meet again at 5 p.m., Wednesday on SEC Network.
The Razorbacks lead the all-time series 5-2. Little Rock won the initial meeting 17-7 in 2019. Arkansas won the next four meetings, but the Trojans took an 11-4 victory in 2023 against an Arkansas team that was ranked No. 5 nationally.
This year's Hogs club may be one of the more talented in school history. On April 7, they were ranked No. 1 by all of the major collegiate baseball rankings. After dropping a pair of games to SEC foes Georgia and Texas A&M, respectively, in back-to-back weeks. This week, Arkansas was No. 4 in one ranking, No. 5 in another, No. 6 in two and No. 7 in another this week.
The Hogs' bats have been hot since the onset. They currently hit .328 as a team. Kuhio Aloy leads the way with a .386 average and 57 RBI. He also has smacked 12 home runs. Wehiwa Aloy, Kuhio's older brother, has team-leading 15 homers with a .379 average.
Arkansas is No. 5 in home runs nationally. Ole Miss is No. 8. The Trojans held them to just one extra-base hit and no homers in the 7-3 upset at Oxford, Miss.
Four different Little Rock pitchers took the mound against the Rebels and only surrendered a combined seven hits. Blake Van Cleave finished the game and took the win with 3.1 innings pitched. He entered the game in the sixth inning with the bases loaded but escaped with a strikeout, and proceeded to finish the game giving up one hit and striking out four more Rebels.
The victory over Ole Miss was one in a string of eight consecutive wins that tied a 35-year-old school record. The streak was snapped with an 8-6 loss to Western Illinois, but that didn't happen before the Trojans won the series, the second straight week they clinched a series win.
Cooper Chaplain, a junior Jackson, Miss., native, had a nice homecoming and his hot play continued as he earned OVC Player of the Week honors. He was 3-for-5 with 3 RBI at Ole Miss and drove in the winning run. Then, he hit home runs in back-to-back games against WIU. He had at least two hits in all four games last week. Chaplain currently leads the team in average, walks (21), slugging (.503), runs scored (35) and stolen bases (10).
After the trip to Northwest Arkansas, the Trojans play host to SIUE, who is tied for first in the OVC standings. That series begins Friday and runs through Sunday.
