UALR AT ARKANSAS STATE
WHEN 6 p.m. today, 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday
WHERE Tomlinson Stadium, Jonesboro
RECORDS Arkansas State 8-8; UALR 9-5
COACHES Arkansas State: Tommy Raffo (150-151-1 in sixth season); UALR: Scott Norwood (521-294 in 14th season overall; 132-154 in sixth season at UALR).
RADIO KNEA-FM, 95.3, in Jonesboro; KNEA-AM, 970, in Jonesboro
INTERNET astateredwolves.com, ualrtrojans.com
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS TODAY
ASU: RHP David Owen (2-0, 4.58 ERA);
UALR: LHP Travis McDonald (2-0,1.23)
SATURDAY
ASU: LHP Chandler Hawkins (1-2, 5.12 ERA);
UALR: RHP Chad Bradford (1-0, 2.87)
SUNDAY
ASU: RHP Bradley Wallace (1-3, 5.00 ERA);
UALR: RHP Cameron Allen (1-1, 3.24)
THE RUNDOWN
Each of UALR’s scheduled starting pitchers this weekend has an ERA of 3.24 or lower, led by Travis McDonald, who is 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched. Arkansas State’s lineup has come together quickly with several new faces. Three of its infielders are new to the program, including Lucas Fedderson and Matt Burgess. Fedderson is hitting a team-best .346 and Burgess is hitting .345. ASU’s .293 team batting average ranks second among Sun Belt teams. ASU has swept UALR each of the past two seasons in the teams’ conference-opening series.
QUOTING COACH RAFFO “Offensively, it is a little bit of a change for us. We lost a lot of senior bats. It’s fun and rewarding, the freshness and the newness. I think all coaches go through it, a turnover every two to three years. It’s fun and it’s exciting, and we’ve just got to keep teaching.” QUOTING COACH NORWOOD “We just want to go out and play. With last year, this group has nothing to do with that. I think everybody is looking to get off to a good start in conference. We’ve been there, we’ve just got to make a couple of extra plays.”
Sports, Pages 21 on 03/14/2014