THIS WEEKEND’S MATCHUPS

UALR VS. WESTERN KENTUCKY

WHEN 6 p.m. today, 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday WHERE Gary Hogan Field, Little Rock RECORDS UALR 18-22, 5-13 Sun Belt Conference; Western Kentucky 22-19, 11-7 COACHES UALR: Scott Norwood (402-283 in 13th season overall; 113-143 in fifth season at UALR); Western Kentucky: Matt Myers (136-180 in sixth season overall; 47-52 in second season at Western Kentucky) THIS WEEK Lost 5-4 Wednesday at Texas-Arlington RADIO None INTERNET ualrtrojans.com

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS TODAY UALR: RHP Chance Cleveland (4-6, 2.92 ERA); Western Kentucky: LHP Tanner Perkins (3-2, 4.10) SATURDAY UALR: LHP Travis McDonald (1-2, 3.55 ERA); Western Kentucky: RHP Andrew Edwards (4-1, 3.38) SUNDAY UALR: RHP Blake Huffman (4-3, 4.14 ERA); Western Kentucky: TBA THE RUNDOWN Western Kentucky is coming off an 18-inning 3-2 victory over Kentucky earlier in the week. UALR Coach Scott Norwood made a change to his No. 2 starter for the first time during this year’s Sun Belt season. Blake Huffman had started each Saturday in UALR’s first six conference series, but Norwood has had trouble finding a reliable Sunday starter, using three different pitchers in Sunday games. So he moved Huffman to the Sunday spot for this week and will put Travis McDonald, who started last Sunday, in the Saturday spot. UALR is 2-4 on Sun Belt Saturday games, and 1-5 on Sundays.

ARKANSAS STATE VS. MIDDLE TENNESSEE

WHEN 6 p.m. today, 6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday WHERE Tomlinson Stadium, Jonesboro RECORDS Arkansas State 22-19, 8-10 Sun Belt Conference; Middle Tennessee 23-20, 7-11 COACHES Arkansas State: Tommy Raffo (136-131-1 in fifth season overall and at ASU); Middle Tennessee: Jim McGuire (23-20 in first season overall and at Middle Tennessee) THIS WEEK Lost 11-1 Tuesday vs. Ole Miss RADIO KNEA-AM, 970, in Jonesboro; KNEA-FM, 95.3, in Jonesboro INTERNET astateredwolves.com

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS TODAY Arkansas State: RHP Daniel Wright (4-3, 2.69 ERA); Middle Tennessee: LHP Johnathan Frebis (5-4, 4.74) SATURDAY Arkansas State: RHP Bradley Wallace (4-1, 3.19 ERA); Middle Tennessee: RHP Hunter Adkins (4-5, 4.55) SUNDAY Arkansas State: TBA; Middle Tennessee: LHP Zac Curtis (5-3, 5.13) THE RUNDOWN Arkansas State is one game ahead of Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt standings, with the Blue Raiders holding the eighth and final spot needed to qualify for the league tournament. ASU still has plenty of time to climb in the standings, though. The Red Wolves are only three games behind three teams tied for second place and after this weekend, two of their three remaining series are against teams they’re chasing. Middle Tennessee has the second-worst ERA in the Sun Belt at 4.62 and gave up 22 runs in a three-game series against Florida International last week.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS AT MCNEESE STATE

WHEN 6:30 p.m. today, 3 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday WHERE Cowboy Diamond, Lake Charles, La.

RECORDS UCA 29-10, 8-7 Southland Conference; McNeese State 19-19, 6-6 COACHES UCA: Allen Gum (77-69 in third season at UCA; 303-137 in eight seasons overall); McNeese State: Terry Burrows (134-177 in sixth season at McNeese State and overall) THIS WEEK Won 16-8 Tuesday vs. Tennessee-Martin RADIO KUCA-FM, 91.3, in Conway INTERNET ucasports.com

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS TODAY UCA: RHP Caleb McClanahan (7-3, 1.77 ERA); McNeese State: RHP Blake Ware (5-3, 2.30) SATURDAY UCA: LHP Jeffery Enloe (6-3, 2.06); McNeese State: RHP Bryce Kingsley (6-4, 3.41) SUNDAY UCA: RHP Bryce Biggerstaff (3-1, 2.86); McNeese State: TBA THE RUNDOWN Central Arkansas enters this weekend’s series at McNeese State with the nation’s fifth-best ERA (2.52). But the Bears will look to give senior left hander Jeffery Enloe a victory Saturday after he lost his past two starts - both complete games - against Nicholls State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In Enloe’s past two outings, the Bears have scored one run - a 2-1 loss April 13 to Nicholls State in Conway - and recorded one hit at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi last Saturday in a 3-0 setback.

ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF VS. TEXAS SOUTHERN

WHEN Noon and 3 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday WHERE Torii Hunter Baseball Complex, Pine Bluff RECORDS UAPB 15-25, 8-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference; Texas Southern 17-21, 9-9 COACHES UAPB: Carlos James (33-90-1 in third season at UAPB and overall); Texas Southern: Michael Robertson (95-105 in fourth season at Texas Southern; 258-276 overall) THIS WEEK Won 13-1 Tuesday vs. Alcorn State RADIO None INTERNET uapblionsroar.com

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS SATURDAY GAME 1 - UAPB: LHP Jim Ploeger (4-3, 4.02 ERA); Texas Southern: TBA; GAME 2 - UAPB: RHP Mikey Ramirez (2-3, 3.64); Texas Southern: TBA SUNDAY UAPB: RHP Kyle Schwartz (2-3, 3.64); Texas Southern: TBA THE RUNDOWN Arkansas-Pine Bluff was swept last weekend at Samford in a nonconference series, but rebounded to beat Alcorn State 13-1 on Tuesday. The Golden Lions host their final weekend series of the season against Texas Southern this weekend, beginning with a doubleheader Saturday. UAPB enters the weekend in second place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division behind Southern University of Baton Rouge (17-17, 12-9).

Sports, Pages 21 on 04/26/2013

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