The Eastern Illinois baseball team will look to improve its Ohio Valley Conference standings this weekend against third place Little Rock with a three-game series starting on Friday at 3 p.m. at Coaches Stadium.

Both Saturday and Sunday’s games are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

The Panthers are coming off a 14-0 win over Western Illinois, a non-conference opponent. The Panthers are 1-5 in the OVC and 17-12 overall.

The Trojans are 18-12 overall and 6-3 in the OVC. They are coming off a 11-4 over No. 5 Arkansas.

The Panthers and the Trojans are very close in many OVC statistic categories. The Trojans lead the OVC in team batting with a .288 batting average. The Panthers are in second place with a .277.

In team pitching, the Panthers lead with a 4.60 ERA while the Trojans are in second place with a 5.01.

Junior catcher Grant Lashure is the lone Panther in the individual batting category. He is in eighth place with a .388 batting average. Through 68 at-bats, Lashure has recorded 23 hits and 10 RBIs.

Trojan senior outfielder Tyler Williams is second in individual batting with a .361 batting average. In 119 at-bats, Williams has recorded 43 hits and 23 RBIs and six home runs.

Sophomore infielder Nico Baumbach is third in the standings with a .359 batting average. He has recorded 37 hits, 24 RBIs, and nine home runs.

Junior infielder Skyler Trevino is tenth in the standings with a .327 batting average. He has 34 hits, 33 RBIs, and nine home runs.

Two Trojan pitchers are leading the individual pitching category. Sophomore right-hander Jackson Wells is in first place with a 1.51 ERA. He has allowed 34 hits, 13 runs, and seven earned runs.

Sophomore right-hander Preston Davis is second with a 2.52 ERA. He has allowed 26 hits, 17 runs, and 11 earned runs.

Graduate student right-hander Ky Matthews-Hampton is in fourth place for the Panthers. He has a 2.89 ERA and has allowed 48 hits, 16 runs, and 15 earned runs.

Graduate student right-hander Nick Laxner also appears on the list for the Panthers. He has a 4.35 ERA and has allowed 33 hits, 16 runs, and 15 earned runs.

Autumn Schulz can be reached at 581-2812 or at acschulz@eiu.edu