LITTLE ROCK - Little Rock concludes its seven-game road trip Wednesday, traveling to Oxford, Mississippi, for a meeting with 18th-ranked Ole Miss. Originally scheduled for Tuesday evening, the game was shifted to a Wednesday 4 p.m. first pitch due to the expected rain in the forecast all day Tuesday. The meeting between the Trojans and Rebels will air on SEC Network + with audio coverage available through the Ole Miss Baseball channel on TuneIn.
We Meet Again
Little Rock and Ole Miss meet for the second time this season with the Rebels taking an 11-6 victory in Oxford on April 20. The Rebels had three innings of three or more runs to build an early led, trimmed to 7-5 in the fifth before a four-run seventh put it away. The two teams combined for 34 strikeouts on the evening with each pitching staff striking out 17 batters.
Road Warriors
Little Rock is getting use to playing away from Gary Hogan Field as this week's game at Ole Miss concludes a seven-game road swing and is part of a tough stretch where the Trojans will have played 12 of 15 away from Little Rock. From March 5 through May 12, Little Rock will have played 26 road games with just 10 home dates at Gary Hogan Field during that stretch.
Wild Wild West
The Sun Belt's West Division is shaping up to be quite the battle as we head down the stretch of the regular season. Little Rock is currently in a three-way tie for second at 9-9 with Louisiana and Texas State with UT Arlington sitting atop the league standings at 11-7. Arkansas State is a game back at 8-10 with ULM just a game and a half back at 9-12.
Bad Man Barkley
Aaron Barkley continues to be a force out of the bullpen for the Trojans this season, posting a 6-3 record and a 1.75 ERA with six saves in 51.1 innings pitched over 19 appearances as opponents are batting just .198 against him. The grad transfer ranks 11th nationally in WHIP (0.86) and 21st in ERA (1.75), including a 1.40 ERA in Sun Belt play.
Scouting the Rebels
Ole Miss enters the week at 33-14 and 14-10 in the SEC, third in the West Division, and ranked 18th in this week's D1 Baseball poll. The Rebels enter the week ranked in the top-20 nationally in nine different statistical categories, including second in hits (490), fourth in strikeouts per nine (11.6) and sixth in runs (364). As a team, Ole Miss is batting .304 with a .471 slugging percentage, averaging 7.7 runs per game. On the mound the Rebels boast a 4.28 ERA with 529 strikeouts, second nationally, with opponents batting .239.
Series History
Wednesday is the 23rd all-time meeting between Little Rock and Ole Miss, with all 22 previous meetings coming in Oxford. The Rebels are 17-5 all-time against the Trojans and have won the last seven games between the two, dating back to Little Rock's 9-6 win on April 7, 2010. Head coachÂ
Chris Curry is 0-4 all-time against Ole Miss, including the 11-6 defeat back on April 20.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. Little Rock enters the weekend as one of the nation's top double play-turning teams, leading the Sun Belt with 35 on the year and ranking 30th nationally. The Trojans are 35th in double plays per game (0.83), leading the conference in both categories.
2. Wednesday's game at Ole Miss will be Little Rock's 28th game against ranked opponents under head coach
Chris Curry, posting an 8-20 record, including a 2-1 series victory at 22nd-ranked Southern Illinois earlier this year. It is the eighth game against a ranked opponent for the Trojans this year, going 2-5 in the previous seven (0-1 vs. #17 Oklahoma State, 2-1 vs. #22 Southern Illinois, 0-2 vs. #2 Arkansas, 0-1 vs. #12 Ole Miss).
3. Little Rock has played three teams from the SEC this season, including a weekend series at Auburn and a two-game midweek series at Arkansas. The Trojans are 10-40 all-time against the league with its last win the 12-6 victory over the Tigers on Mar. 14.
4. Wednesday's game is the final midweek game of the season for Little Rock as the Trojans are 2-5 in midweek contests this season, going 0-5 in midweek road games.
5. Senior
John Michael Russ continues to make a name for himself in just his first true season of Division I baseball. Russ leads the team in both batting average (.318) and on base percentage (.409), ranking second on the team in hits (47) and third in walks (17). A Buster Posey Catcher of the Year watch list selection, Russ is one of six players to play in at least 40 games in 2021.
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