To get where it wants to be in three weeks, tonight’s game doesn’t mean a whole lot for the UALR baseball team in the context of conference standings. For Central Arkansas, to get where it thinks it can be, tonight could mean quite a bit.
UALR and Central Arkansas will play a nonc-onference game at 6:30 tonight at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. It’s a casual, midweek game for the in-state rivals as each prepares for the final stretch of their respective conference seasons. But a victory for either team could mean a lot when it comes to the Trojans reaching the Sun Belt Conference Tournament or the Bears possibly snagging an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.
UALR (24-23), coming off a series victory at Florida Atlantic last weekend, has won five of its past six conference games to place it among the teams that would qualify for a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament on May 22 at Lafayette, La.
For Coach Scott Norwood, tonight’s game is about continuing its recent good fortunes after winning series against teams (Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic) in the top half of the league standings.
“It shows that we can play with anybody at any time,” Norwood said. “You just want to play well whoever you’re playing.”
Central Arkansas (32-13) is coming off a series in which it lost two of three games to Southeastern Louisiana, which put them four games behind conference leader Sam Houston State with six games remaining.
Tonight’s game has no bearing on conference standings, but a nonconference schedule that included victories over Mississippi State, Kansas and Oklahoma State has put the Bears in possible position for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, which would be the first for the program.
“We’ve got a few more games we’ve got to win, there’s no doubt about that,” Gum said. “But if it comes down to it, and we’ve got enough wins, you bet.”
To do that, though, Gum said he knows his team, whichranked No. 33 in the Ratings Percentage Index before last weekend, needs any victory it can get, even if it’s a Tuesday night game against a team with a 162 RPI.
“We’re looking at each one of them as a big game,” said Gum, whose team plays conference series against Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State and a midweek game at Tennessee-Martin before the Southland Tournament. “Of course, conference games, there is a bit more on those, but for us, each one of them has a lot of weight, for sure.”
When it comes to continuing a positive trend - a tough chore for UALR this year - tonight could be big for the Trojans, too.
They’ve won six of their past seven games overall and jumped from ninth place in the Sun Belt standings to a tie for seventh after last weekend. The top eight teams reach the conference tournament, which UALR failed to qualify for last year.
The Trojans now, at least, have the benefit of a lineup that has found a groove. They scored 28 runs in three games against Florida Atlantic over the weekend, are averaging 9.3 runs per game over their past seven and have hit 50 home runs on the season, second best in the Sun Belt and tied for fourth best in Division I.
“If we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be fine,” Norwood said. “The best thing we can do is control our own destiny, and that’s what we want to do. We have the capability of doing it, we just have to go out and do it.”
Tonight’s game WHAT UALR vs. Central Arkansas WHEN 6:30 p.m. tonight WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock RECORDS UALR 24-23 ; Central Arkansas 32-13 COACHES UALR: Scott Norwood (408-284 in 13th season overall; 119-144 in fifth season at UALR); Central Arkansas: Allen Gum (307-140 in eighth season overall; 81-72 in third season at UCA) INTERNET ualrtrojans.com, ucasports. com TICKETS Gates open 1 hour before game. Tickets are $12 box, $8 reserved ($5 children), $6 general admission ($4 children). UALR students, with a student ID, and Trojans season ticket holders admitted free.
Sports, Pages 17 on 05/07/2013