The Little Rock Trojans will host Eastern Illinois for a three-game baseball series at Gary Hogan Field starting Friday, April 17. The matchup is seen as significant for both teams as they compete near the top of the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
The series comes as both teams are positioned for strong finishes in conference play. Little Rock holds a record of 20-17 overall and 8-4 in OVC games, while Eastern Illinois enters with a 21-11 overall mark and a 10-2 league record, tied atop the conference.
This weekend marks Little Rock’s return home after playing three consecutive OVC road series. The Trojans lead the all-time series against Eastern Illinois, 11-9. Head coach Chris Curry said, “This weekend should be a great series at home versus Eastern Illinois. It’ll be a rematch of the OVC championship game and each of us have won the regular-season title the past two years. Eastern always has done a great job pitching and their staff is at the top of the conference this year. We’re excited to get back home after a really tough nine-game, two-week road stretch and play at our best these next five conference weekends.”
Several Trojan players have had notable performances recently. Angel Cano hit two home runs in Tuesday’s game against Louisiana Tech, bringing his season total to seven homers with a .318 batting average and 15 runs batted in. Jerdy Lopez recorded his seventh multi-hit game of the season against Louisiana Tech, while pitcher Brannon Westmoreland ranks fifth in the OVC with an earned run average of 3.38.
Eastern Illinois arrives on a six-game winning streak that includes recent victories over Northern Illinois and Southern Indiana, during which they scored more than nine runs three times across four games. Brett Stanley carries a Division I-best hitting streak into this weekend’s games at 29 consecutive games, while James Love has reached base safely in his last 32 appearances.
The Panthers’ pitching staff features strong performances from Tyler Conklin, Bryce Riggs—who threw a complete game last week—and Dalton Boruff who finished their last series with scoreless innings pitched.
Both teams look to use this high-stakes matchup as momentum heading into the latter half of their conference schedules.
