Trojans Baseball Resumes SBC Action with Weekend Series at Troy

Courtesy University of Arkansas at Little Rock Athletics Department

UALR TROJANS (18-18, 5-10 SBC)

AT

TROY TROJANS (26-11, 8-7 SBC)

Troy, Ala. (Riddle Pace Field)

Live stats & video available at TroyTrojans.com

 

Probable Pitching Matchups

 

GM1 – Friday, April 19 – 6 PM

UALR – #21 Chance Cleveland • RHP • Senior

4-5, 3.00 ERA, 63.0 IP, 61 K’s

vs.

Troy – #20 Tanner Hicks • RHP • Junior

4-2, 4.21 ERA, 38.2 IP, 43 K’s

 

GM2 – Saturday, April 20 – 1 PM

UALR – #24 Blake Huffman • RHP • Senior

4-2, 3.09 ERA, 55.1 IP, 46 K’s

vs.

Troy – #28 Shane McCain • LHP • Junior

6-0, 3.81 ERA, 54.1 IP, 56 K’s

 

GM3 – Sunday, April 21 – 1 PM

UALR – #42 Travis McDonald • LHP • Junior

1-1, 2.70 ERA, 20.0 IP, 14 K’s

vs.

Troy – #32 Ryan Sorce • LHP • Senior

4-0, 2.70 ERA, 26.2 IP, 25 K’s

LEADING OFF

UALR (18-18, 5-10 SBC) bounced back from its 2-1 series loss to Louisiana with a doubleheader sweep of No. 10 Oklahoma on Tuesday at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman, Okla. … The Trojans earned the sweep thanks to a couple of stellar pitching performances, as junior Travis McDonald worked 6.2 innings and held the Sooners to just two runs on six hits in game one, and junior Ethan Schlechte went 8.0 innings while giving up three runs on seven hits in game two … In game one, UALR out-hit the Sooners 8-6 and were able to build a 5-0 cushion before OU put its first run on the board … Senior Myles Parma led the UALR offense with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate to go along with an RBI and a run scored … Sophomore Sam Vogel hit his fourth homer of the season, a two-run shot in the top of the sixth that built a 5-0 lead for UALR … In game two, junior Austin Pfeiffer and senior John Clark totaled three hits apiece to lead a UALR offensive attack that put up 10 hits … The wins were the third and fourth road victories of the season for the Trojans, and the team will try to keep that momentum as it travels to Troy for a three-game series this weekend.

ABOUT TROY

The Trojans are 26-11 overall and sport an 8-7 mark in Sun Belt play … Troy currently ranks second in the SBC in hitting (.308) and leads the league in slugging (.477), on-base percentage (.402) and runs scored (287) … Troy’s lineup boasts three of the top-ten hitters in the conference in Logan Pierce (.404), Danny Collins (.393) and Tyler Vaughn (.360) … Collins (49), Trae Santos (46) and Pierce (38) rank first, second and third, respectively, in the conference in RBI … The Trojans dropped two of three last weekend at Western Kentucky but rebounded with back-to-back midweek victories over Alabama A&M … The Trojans currently boast a 19-4 record at home this season.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE TROJANS

Troy leads 12-8 in the all-time series with UALR … Last season, UALR took two of three from Troy at Gary Hogan Field … Senior Chance Cleveland helped UALR earn the 5-3 win in the series opener by striking out out a career-best 12 batters and surrendering just two runs on three hits in 8.0 innings … Ethan Schlechte carried a no-hitter through 6.2 innings in the Trojans’ 7-3 win in game three, while the offense was helped by a pair of hits from Blake Johnson and a three-run homer off the bat of David Guarno.

TOP THIEVES

UALR leads the conference and ranks 30th nationally with 62 stolen bases … Juniors Ben Crumpton (19) and Austin Pfeiffer (15) rank first and second, respectively, in the league … Crumpton is 18-of-19 and hasn’t been thrown out since Feb. 23 against SIU Edwardsville … Crumpton’s 18 stolen bases rank 25th nationally … Crumpton also ranks in the league’s top ten in doubles (15 – 2nd), runs scored (40 – 5th) and total bases (72 – 8th).

SUNDAY STARTER

Junior Travis McDonald limited No. 10 Oklahoma to just two runs on six hits in 6.2 innings in UALR’s 5-2 win in game one of a doubleheader on Tuesday … The start was the first of McDonald’s UALR career … The Sydney, Australia-native has surrendered just two earned runs over his last six appearances (12.2 IP) … On the season, McDonald boasts a 2.70 ERA with 14 K’s in 20.0 IP.

.300 HITTERS

The UALR lineup currently features five players hitting .300 or better … Blake Johnson (.325) and Austin Pfeiffer (.324) lead the pack, followed by John Clark (.318) and Chris Burk (.315), who is hitting .485 with six doubles and two triples over the last nine games … Ben Crumpton (.309) rounds out the group and leads the Trojans with 46 hits on the season.

PFEIFFER NAMED SBC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Junior shortstop Austin Pfeiffer was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on Monday, April 1 … Pfeiffer helped lead the Trojans to a perfect 4-0 record over the week of play, hitting .500 (7-for-14) with six RBI and a home run … Pfeiffer’s week was highlighted by his 3-for-4 effort with three runs scored and a homer in the Trojans 11-3 victory over ULM on Saturday (March 30) … Pfeiffer was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts and boasted a .786 slugging percentage and .650 on-base percentage over the four-game span … Currently, Pfeiffer ranks second in the league in stolen bases (15) and eighth in runs scored (31).

JOHNNY BENCH AWARD WATCH LIST

Senior catcher Blake Johnson was one of 41 NCAA Division I catchers named to the initial Johnny Bench Award watch list on March 11 … Johnson was a First Team All-Sun Belt and First Team ABCA All-South Central Region selection in 2012 … The Sachse, Texas-native started all 43 games he appeared in, ranked third on the team with a .315 batting average and finished second on the Trojans with 14 doubles and a .533 slugging percentage … Through 36 games this season, Johnson leads the team in hitting (.325), slugging (.567), on-base percentage (.432), RBI (29) and is tied for the team lead in home runs (6).

ACE IN THE HOLE

Senior Chance Cleveland was named the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year in a vote of the league’s coaches on Feb. 11 … A First Team All-Sun Belt and Second Team ABCA All-South Central Region selection as a junior, Cleveland compiled a 9-4 record over 14 starts, acting as the foundation for the Trojans’ pitching staff … His nine wins tied the school record for single-season victories, while his 98 strikeouts were good enough for second place on UALR’s all-time single-season list … Through nine starts this season, Cleveland is 4-5 with 61 strikeouts – good enough for third-most in the Sun Belt and 35th nationally – and is holding opposing hitters to a .239 batting average.

MOVING UP THE RANKS

In his short time at UALR, Chance Cleveland is leaving his mark on the Trojans’ record book… With his five strikeouts against Louisiana last Friday (April 12), Cleveland now ranks eighth all-time in the career strikeout list at UALR (159) … Cleveland is four strikeouts away from tying Adam Champion (2007-10) and Jacob Anderson (1999-00) for sixth place on UALR’s all-time strikeouts list.

RECENT TRENDS

Chris Burk is hitting .485 with eight extra-base hits over his last nine games … Sophomore Sam Vogel is hitting .279 with four home runs, three doubles and 11 RBI over his last 11 … Junior Bryson Thionnet has collected six hits (five extra-base hits) and five RBI over his last five games.

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