EDWARDSVILLE, ILL. – Major Ohio Valley Conference stakes are on the line when the Trojans and SIUE meet on the diamond this weekend.
Little Rock (19-13, 7-2, OVC) meets SIUE (16-16, 8-1) Friday night at 6 p.m., with a 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. starts scheduled for, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
SIUE sits alone in first place while Little Rock is tied for second with Eastern Illinois.
All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
GAME INFORMATION
Who: Little Rock (19-14, 7-2) at SIUE (17-15, 8-1)
When: April 10-12 (6 p.m., 2 p.m., 1 p.m.)
Where: Roy E. Lee Field, Edwardsville, Ill.
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: lrtrojans.com
SERIES HISTORY
The Trojans lead the series 12-6.
COACH SPEAK
"We're really looking forward to the opportunity," Little Rock head coach
Chris Curry said. "With both teams off to a good starting conference play, it should be a very competitive series. SIUE is well-coached and has a great offensive approach. And I know our team will be tested. I'm excited to see how we step up to this challenge."
TROJAN TIDBITS
•Little Rock is 5-1 in OVC road games.
•
Kade Smith is No. 3 in hitting in the OVC with a .374 batting average.
•Redshirt junior pitcher
Nic Bronzini gets the nod as the Sunday starter in this series. The California native has been solid in his past three outings, including at Ole Miss and Arkansas. He started both of those games and gave up a combined two hits and one earned run.
•The Trojans are at the tail end of a nine-game road stand. They play at Louisiana Tech Tuesday and night and return home next weekend for another key OVC series against Eastern Illinois.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• SIUE opened OVC play with an 8-0 run, the best start in program history, surpassing its previous 6-0 mark from 2015.
• Little Rock holds a 12-6 edge in the all-time series, including an 11-game winning streak, though SIUE has claimed three straight and five of the last six meetings.
• Terrick Thompson-Allen earned OVC Player of the Week honors March 23 and was named National Co-Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA the following day; Josh Heyder (March 16) and Ryan Niedzwiedz (March 2) also collected weekly honors, with Niedzwiedz landing on Baseball America's Team of the Week.
• SIUE continues to power its offense with 56 home runs, leading the OVC and ranking among the nation's top 20; the Cougars average 1.75 homers per game, placing them among the national leaders.
• Niedzwiedz paces the league and ranks among the nation's top 10 with 14 home runs, while Thompson-Allen and Mack Mitchell are tied for fourth in the conference with nine each.
• Niedzwiedz has climbed into a tie for third in program history with 33 career home runs, while Mitchell ranks sixth with 31; the SIUE career record of 35 is held by Brady Bunten and Brock Weimer.
• The Cougars rank second in the OVC and among the nation's top 25 in slugging percentage (.519), led by Niedzwiedz (.742) and Thompson-Allen (.686), both among the conference's top performers
