The Ohio Valley Conference season is winding down, and the Trojans are trying get back to their winning ways. They make the long trek to Charleston, Ill., to tangle with Eastern Illinois, who sits in third place in the league standings, for another pivotal series.
Because of rain forecast for the area, the series has been changed from the typical Friday-Saturday-Sunday format. The teams are now playing a Friday doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m., with the second game starting 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first. The series finale is scheduled for 11 a.m., Saturday.
Little Rock leads the series, 9-8, between the two teams that dates back to 1979. They didn't play regularly until the Trojans joined the OVC two years ago. EIU (23-18, 11-6 OVC) is 4-3 in OVC games and is 2-1 in home conference games against Little Rock.
Little Rock (18-26, 7-10 OVC) is trying to halt a four-game OVC skid and move up the standings from the seventh-place tie they currently sit in. It won't be easy as the Panthers have won five conference series this season.
The Trojans' pitching staff will have to deal with a potent EIU offense. The Panthers own a .284 team batting average with a .404 on-base percentage. EIU leads the OVC in runs scored (330), RBI (297), batters hit by pitch (74), and sacrifice bunts (59), which also leads the nation. Seven Eastern hitters are batting over .3000. Joe Hagen leads the Panthers with a .345 mark. In a series win against Southern Indiana, he was 5-for-10 with a double, homer, and led the team with eight RBI.
Mike O'Connor, who hits .325, has reached base 25 consecutive games. He is also the team leader in home runs (9) and RBI (33). His nine multi-RBI games leads the team and his .640 slugging percentage is No. 3 in the OVC.
The Panthers' pitching staff is also solid. Their 5.08 team ERA is No. 2 in the OVC, and the staff has allowed just 205 earned runs, which is the fewest in the league, and the second-fewest hits (390) in the OVC.
Tyler Kapraun (4-4) leads the team in strikeouts (50) and has an ERA of 4.53. Bryce Riggs leads the team in ERA with a 2.04 mark. In two outings last week, he gave up just three hits with seven strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work.
Little Rock will have one day to rest before playing Central Arkansas in the final leg of the Governor's I-40 Showdown Tuesday night at Gary Hogan Field. The Trojans have won the first two games. The Trojans' final OVC home series of the year will be next Friday against UT Martin.
