(Photo Credit: Little Rock Athletics)
By Hunt Palmer
After a year off, Alex Box Stadium will host another regional this coming weekend.
LSU earned the No. 6 national seed and will play host to No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist, No. 3 seed Rhode Island and No. 4 seed Little Rock beginning on Friday afternoon.
The three visiting teams will arrive on Wednesday, and all four team have a scheduled practice at the stadium on Thursday.
In this series, we’ve broken down the top three squads in depth. We finish with the No. 4 seeded Little Rock Trojans.
HOW’D THEY GET HERE?
The Trojans arrived at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament 19-32 and losers of 13 of 14 games.
Over four days in Merion, Ill., they won five games and claimed the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It was as improbable a run as any last week, and the result is the lowest RPI team in the field coming to Baton Rouge.
Little Rock does share some common opponents with LSU. Back in February Nicholls swept the Trojans in Thibodaux. Arkansas did the same in two April midweek games. Little Rock was outscored 14-0 in Fayetteville.
However, there was one midweek upset for the Trojans. They went to Oxford and beat Ole Miss 7-3 in Ole Miss’s annual field trip midweek game where thousands of kids pack Swayze Field for an early start time.
That loss may have cost the Rebels a top eight seed.
WHY THEY’LL ADVANCE
Well, for starters the Trojans better stay hot. If their pitching can do what it did in three of five tournament games last week–hold the opponent to one run–and LSU’s bats pick up where they left off in Hoover, anything is possible.
Jackson Wells, the fifth-year ace, got things started last week with a complete game performance against Southern Indiana where he allowed one run on six hits with eight strikeouts. He fired 129 pitches to get it done.
Wells has had a great career in Little Rock. He led the nation in ERA two years ago, edging Paul Skenes for that crown. This season hasn’t been as dominant. Wells has an ERA of 5.24. But he’s the best they’ve got, and at his best Wells can work very deep into games. He’s gone over 90 pitches in 10 starts.
Wells is likely to be opposed by Kade Anderson or Anthony Eyanson. However, if LSU holds its two aces and Rhode Island beats Dallas Baptist by throwing ace Trystan Levesque, Little Rock could play the weekend without seeing an ace based on the draw.
WHY THEY WON’T
Despite massive injury issues, 24-32 is still 24-32. The road through a regional is brutal for a four seed, and this one likely begins with Kade Anderson who might be the best arm in the country.
Only three Little Rock regulars hit over .300, and no one has nine or more home runs. Their fielding percentage of .969 is 10 points worse than LSU and DBU, as well.
Little Rock played the No. 246 strength of schedule and still had massive problems. They can play free and easy this weekend. There’s no real pressure. But the odds are long for the Trojans.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jackson Wells: 3-6, 5.24 ERA, 79 IP, 84 H, 46 ER, 32 BB, 90 K, opp BA- .275
Cooper Chaplain: .321 avg, 7 HR, 12-17 sb
Ty Rhoades: .296 avg, 8 HR, 38 RBI,
For breakdowns of the other three teams:
