When this season started, and it really seems like a lot less than three months ago, Arkansas was the best looking opponent, on paper, that we would play. It seems like most everyone had the Hogs as a College World Series team. For the most part, they’ve lived up to that billing… but not quite. They remind me a little bit of the 2012 Florida group in that respect, that they probably haven’t been quite as good as their roster would suggest…. But that’s not to take anything away from them. They’re a very, very good team and like Florida in 2012, they probably will wind up in Omaha.
Arkansas comes in at 36-15 overall and 17-10 in the SEC, one game better than us in both respects. Arkansas began the season with a three game sweep of Bucknell, which included a 32-4 win on Saturday (query what a series like that accomplishes for anyone). Arkansas then departed for San Diego, where they beat Arizona in a neutral site game 1-0 on a Wednesdaynight, then opened the Tony Gwynn Classic with a 4-3 loss to Cal Poly. Arkansas bounced back at beat San Diego State 5-2 on Saturday before falling to the Aztecs 7-6 on Sundayafternoon. Arkansas then swept a mid-week series from the Dayton Flyers by a combined score of 29-1.
I remember watching Arkansas travel out to USC to play the Trojans in football back when I was in college, I guess it would have been 2005 or so. Maybe it was 2004. Anyway, USC ended up winning something like 70-17… I respect that USC will play legitimate out-of-conference games in football, and they’ll do the same in baseball too. USC baseball is certainly nothing like it used to be, but I bet that was a cool series for Arkansas to play at home back in early March. In that one, the Hogs took 2/3 from the Trojans, winning the rubber game 7-6 in 8 innings on Sunday, the game ending early due to travel restrictions.
Arkansas closed out non-conference play by taking 2/3 from Scott Stricklin’s old team, although Kent State did card a 10-4 win on Saturday.
After sweeping Texas in a midweek series in Fayetteville (which drew over 16,000 in paid attendance), Arkansas began league play, at home, by steam rolling Kentucky. The Hogs outscored the Wildcats 39-15 in the sweep. Arkansas would move to 4-0 with a 6-3 win over Florida in Gainesville before dropping the next two. Saturday was a blowout (17-2), but Sundaywas a one-run game. Arkansas would win the series opener against Ole Miss in Oxford the next weekend before dropping two one-run decisions.
Arkansas got back on the winning track by sweeping Auburn in Fayetteville, winning two more one-run games. The next weekend, South Carolina would hand Arkansas their only conference loss in Fayetteville all season on Thursday night, before Arkansas bounced back to shut out the Gamecocks the next two games.
One of the biggest surprises of league play came the following weekend when Mississippi State swept Arkansas in Starkville. That series is probably the biggest reason why this weekend is more than just academic for Arkansas. The Hogs beat Texas Tech in the midweek, then would sweep Alabama in Fayetteville the next weekend. Arkansas somewhat surprisingly dropped 2/3 to LSU in Baton Rouge, then came home and swept Texas A&M last weekend. Arkansas hasn’t played a mid week game since beating Texas Tech on April 24. Definitely an oddity with the schedule in that respect.
So, the Hogs have definitely been dominant at home, but appear somewhat vulnerable on the road. LSU isn’t particularly strong this year and Miss State has been respectable after getting off to such a bad start, but this is certainly a lost season for the Bizzaro Bulldogs.
With Arkansas at 17-10, us at 16-11, and Ole Miss at 16-11 (Ole Miss travels to Alabama this weekend) there is some real intrigue this weekend given that Ole Miss has the tiebreaker over both us and Arkansas.
Beyond just that, say the worst happens and we get swept this weekend, South Carolina wins two games at A&M, and either Kentucky or Vanderbilt (who play each other) sweep, we could end up finishing in 6th place. Of course, if we take two from Arkansas and Ole Miss only wins one at Alabama, we’d finish in 2nd place overall. Crazy to think there is that much latitude.
Tomorrow night, we’ll see junior righty Blaine Knight, from Bryant Arkansas. Knight is 8-0 on the year in 13 appearances, all starts, and owns a 2.87 ERA. His 75 1/3 innings lead their team. He has a 77/17 K/BB and a .227 average against. In league play, he’s 5-0 in 9 starts and has thrown 52 1/3 innings, posting a 3.78 ERA. He has a 56/13 K/BB in-conference with a .255 average against. Everybody talks about Casey Mize at Auburn and Brady Singer at Florida. Blaine Knight’s numbers are quite as good as theirs, but I think that he belongs in that discussion of top of the rotation pitchers.
In game two, whenever we play it, we’ll see Kacey Murphy, a junior lefty from Rogers Arkansas. Murphy is 6-4 on the year in 12 appearances, 11 starts, and has a 2.30 ERA. He’s thrown 70 1/3 innings as has a 63/12 K/BB. Opponents are hitting .227 against him. In league play, he’s 4-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 54 1/3 innings. He has a 52/9 K/BB in the SEC and league hitters are batting .233 against him.
Arkansas has left things TBA for the finale. I would think that we’ll probably see Isaiah Campbell, a third year sophomore righty from Olathe Kansas. Campbell got the ball in game 3 last weekend against A&M and has made 8 starts in league play. Not sure why they’re TBA, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest that he’s injured.
Arkansas’s closer appears to be Matt Cronin, a sophomore lefty who has collected 6 saves in league play. Jake Reindl, a righty and Barrett Loseke, a righty are their main guys out of the bullpen.
In league play, Arkansas has a 4.11 ERA and a .253 average against. They’re averaging over a strike out per inning in league play (242 K’s in 230 innings pitched) and have walked 88 hitters. In league play, Arkansas has the 2nd best ERA, is 4th in batting average against, is 3rd in strikeouts, tied for 1st (with us) in saves, and has allowed the third fewest hits (behind Florida and us).
While their pitching is very good, I think their lineup is what had most people excited about Arkansas this year. They have four players with double digit HRs. Grant Koch, who is a very good hitter, actually has their lowest average among their qualified players, at .263.
Carson Shaddy leads the Hogs offensively at .365/.459/.674 (tops in all three) with 10 RHs and 35 RBI. Shaddy is a rare fifth year senior, from Fayetteville. We should see Shaddy in the middle of their order and playing 2nd base. He’s a right handed hitter. It hasn’t fallen off much for him in league play as he comes in at .420/.494/.783 with 6 HRs and 20 RBI.
Heston Kjerstad is a left hand hitting freshman OF from Amrillo Texas. He’s having a great freshman campaign at .351/.428/.473 with 10 HRs and a team leading 42 RBI. We should see him hitting 3rd and playing in LF. Batting 3rd for these guys as a freshman tells you all you need to know about what kind of hitter he is. In the SEC, he’s hitting .324/.377/.509 with 4 HRs and 17 RBI.
Eric Cole should hit at the top for them and play RF. Cole is a switch hitting junior from Southlake Texas. He’s hitting .333/.417/.571 with a team leading 12 HRs. He’s been a bit better in league play at .347/.400/.610 with 8 Hrs and 25 RBI. Not too shabby for your leadoff hitter…
Arkansas doesn’t run much. They’ve only attempted 16 steals in league play, converting 11 of them (SEC opponents don’t run much on Arkansas either, coming in at only 9/15).
As a team in league play, Arkansas is hitting .308/.384/.499, which leads the SEC in all three. They’ve scored the 3rd most runs, and have hit the most HRs in league play at 43 (two ahead of Florida)… We’ve hit 23 HRs in-conference this year. That’s good enough for 7th place. Miss State is in last with only 13. Think about that. It’s not like we lack for power, but in 27 SEC games, Arkansas has hit 20 more HRs than we have. They also have the third fewest strikeouts and have drawn the 5th most walks.
Just like last weekend, this is a really good team. They haven’t been great on the road this year, and I almost wonder if that Miss State series was a case of them being a little bit disinterested. Other than that, there is no shame in dropping a series in Oxford or Gainesville this year. LSU isn’t what they normally are, but Baton Rouge is still a tough place to play.
That said, we saw a very balanced team in Florida last weekend and hung right in there. We got one win and should have won on Friday night. So, competition wise, this isn’t anything new for us. Arkansas is playing for a national seed too… they’ll probably get a top 8 national seed if they win this series, and we’ll probably get one if we do (I doubt that we both will).
Per WarrenNolan, Arkansas is #3 in RPI, one spot ahead of us. We haven’t beaten in a series anyone in the top ten of the RPI, but we have beaten Clemson (#11) twice and also took a series from Texas A&M (#14).
I’ve got a lot of respect for Arkansas as a program. Other than that weird hiccup in 2016, they’re always a factor in the league. They always pitch well, they always have good hitters. They’ll run a lot when they’re athletic, they don’t when they hit for power (like this year). They’re never an overwhelmingly good defensive team, but they know where to go with the baseball and they don’t typically beat themselves in the field. This is going to be a really fun, really entertaining series this weekend. I hope so much that the weather will cooperate with us… I really want to see this thing play out as scheduled, not some 7 inning double header business on Saturday. Either way though, I’m just looking forward to seeing it. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a series like this at home….
Arkansas comes in at 36-15 overall and 17-10 in the SEC, one game better than us in both respects. Arkansas began the season with a three game sweep of Bucknell, which included a 32-4 win on Saturday (query what a series like that accomplishes for anyone). Arkansas then departed for San Diego, where they beat Arizona in a neutral site game 1-0 on a Wednesdaynight, then opened the Tony Gwynn Classic with a 4-3 loss to Cal Poly. Arkansas bounced back at beat San Diego State 5-2 on Saturday before falling to the Aztecs 7-6 on Sundayafternoon. Arkansas then swept a mid-week series from the Dayton Flyers by a combined score of 29-1.
I remember watching Arkansas travel out to USC to play the Trojans in football back when I was in college, I guess it would have been 2005 or so. Maybe it was 2004. Anyway, USC ended up winning something like 70-17… I respect that USC will play legitimate out-of-conference games in football, and they’ll do the same in baseball too. USC baseball is certainly nothing like it used to be, but I bet that was a cool series for Arkansas to play at home back in early March. In that one, the Hogs took 2/3 from the Trojans, winning the rubber game 7-6 in 8 innings on Sunday, the game ending early due to travel restrictions.
Arkansas closed out non-conference play by taking 2/3 from Scott Stricklin’s old team, although Kent State did card a 10-4 win on Saturday.
After sweeping Texas in a midweek series in Fayetteville (which drew over 16,000 in paid attendance), Arkansas began league play, at home, by steam rolling Kentucky. The Hogs outscored the Wildcats 39-15 in the sweep. Arkansas would move to 4-0 with a 6-3 win over Florida in Gainesville before dropping the next two. Saturday was a blowout (17-2), but Sundaywas a one-run game. Arkansas would win the series opener against Ole Miss in Oxford the next weekend before dropping two one-run decisions.
Arkansas got back on the winning track by sweeping Auburn in Fayetteville, winning two more one-run games. The next weekend, South Carolina would hand Arkansas their only conference loss in Fayetteville all season on Thursday night, before Arkansas bounced back to shut out the Gamecocks the next two games.
One of the biggest surprises of league play came the following weekend when Mississippi State swept Arkansas in Starkville. That series is probably the biggest reason why this weekend is more than just academic for Arkansas. The Hogs beat Texas Tech in the midweek, then would sweep Alabama in Fayetteville the next weekend. Arkansas somewhat surprisingly dropped 2/3 to LSU in Baton Rouge, then came home and swept Texas A&M last weekend. Arkansas hasn’t played a mid week game since beating Texas Tech on April 24. Definitely an oddity with the schedule in that respect.
So, the Hogs have definitely been dominant at home, but appear somewhat vulnerable on the road. LSU isn’t particularly strong this year and Miss State has been respectable after getting off to such a bad start, but this is certainly a lost season for the Bizzaro Bulldogs.
With Arkansas at 17-10, us at 16-11, and Ole Miss at 16-11 (Ole Miss travels to Alabama this weekend) there is some real intrigue this weekend given that Ole Miss has the tiebreaker over both us and Arkansas.
Beyond just that, say the worst happens and we get swept this weekend, South Carolina wins two games at A&M, and either Kentucky or Vanderbilt (who play each other) sweep, we could end up finishing in 6th place. Of course, if we take two from Arkansas and Ole Miss only wins one at Alabama, we’d finish in 2nd place overall. Crazy to think there is that much latitude.
Tomorrow night, we’ll see junior righty Blaine Knight, from Bryant Arkansas. Knight is 8-0 on the year in 13 appearances, all starts, and owns a 2.87 ERA. His 75 1/3 innings lead their team. He has a 77/17 K/BB and a .227 average against. In league play, he’s 5-0 in 9 starts and has thrown 52 1/3 innings, posting a 3.78 ERA. He has a 56/13 K/BB in-conference with a .255 average against. Everybody talks about Casey Mize at Auburn and Brady Singer at Florida. Blaine Knight’s numbers are quite as good as theirs, but I think that he belongs in that discussion of top of the rotation pitchers.
In game two, whenever we play it, we’ll see Kacey Murphy, a junior lefty from Rogers Arkansas. Murphy is 6-4 on the year in 12 appearances, 11 starts, and has a 2.30 ERA. He’s thrown 70 1/3 innings as has a 63/12 K/BB. Opponents are hitting .227 against him. In league play, he’s 4-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 54 1/3 innings. He has a 52/9 K/BB in the SEC and league hitters are batting .233 against him.
Arkansas has left things TBA for the finale. I would think that we’ll probably see Isaiah Campbell, a third year sophomore righty from Olathe Kansas. Campbell got the ball in game 3 last weekend against A&M and has made 8 starts in league play. Not sure why they’re TBA, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest that he’s injured.
Arkansas’s closer appears to be Matt Cronin, a sophomore lefty who has collected 6 saves in league play. Jake Reindl, a righty and Barrett Loseke, a righty are their main guys out of the bullpen.
In league play, Arkansas has a 4.11 ERA and a .253 average against. They’re averaging over a strike out per inning in league play (242 K’s in 230 innings pitched) and have walked 88 hitters. In league play, Arkansas has the 2nd best ERA, is 4th in batting average against, is 3rd in strikeouts, tied for 1st (with us) in saves, and has allowed the third fewest hits (behind Florida and us).
While their pitching is very good, I think their lineup is what had most people excited about Arkansas this year. They have four players with double digit HRs. Grant Koch, who is a very good hitter, actually has their lowest average among their qualified players, at .263.
Carson Shaddy leads the Hogs offensively at .365/.459/.674 (tops in all three) with 10 RHs and 35 RBI. Shaddy is a rare fifth year senior, from Fayetteville. We should see Shaddy in the middle of their order and playing 2nd base. He’s a right handed hitter. It hasn’t fallen off much for him in league play as he comes in at .420/.494/.783 with 6 HRs and 20 RBI.
Heston Kjerstad is a left hand hitting freshman OF from Amrillo Texas. He’s having a great freshman campaign at .351/.428/.473 with 10 HRs and a team leading 42 RBI. We should see him hitting 3rd and playing in LF. Batting 3rd for these guys as a freshman tells you all you need to know about what kind of hitter he is. In the SEC, he’s hitting .324/.377/.509 with 4 HRs and 17 RBI.
Eric Cole should hit at the top for them and play RF. Cole is a switch hitting junior from Southlake Texas. He’s hitting .333/.417/.571 with a team leading 12 HRs. He’s been a bit better in league play at .347/.400/.610 with 8 Hrs and 25 RBI. Not too shabby for your leadoff hitter…
Arkansas doesn’t run much. They’ve only attempted 16 steals in league play, converting 11 of them (SEC opponents don’t run much on Arkansas either, coming in at only 9/15).
As a team in league play, Arkansas is hitting .308/.384/.499, which leads the SEC in all three. They’ve scored the 3rd most runs, and have hit the most HRs in league play at 43 (two ahead of Florida)… We’ve hit 23 HRs in-conference this year. That’s good enough for 7th place. Miss State is in last with only 13. Think about that. It’s not like we lack for power, but in 27 SEC games, Arkansas has hit 20 more HRs than we have. They also have the third fewest strikeouts and have drawn the 5th most walks.
Just like last weekend, this is a really good team. They haven’t been great on the road this year, and I almost wonder if that Miss State series was a case of them being a little bit disinterested. Other than that, there is no shame in dropping a series in Oxford or Gainesville this year. LSU isn’t what they normally are, but Baton Rouge is still a tough place to play.
That said, we saw a very balanced team in Florida last weekend and hung right in there. We got one win and should have won on Friday night. So, competition wise, this isn’t anything new for us. Arkansas is playing for a national seed too… they’ll probably get a top 8 national seed if they win this series, and we’ll probably get one if we do (I doubt that we both will).
Per WarrenNolan, Arkansas is #3 in RPI, one spot ahead of us. We haven’t beaten in a series anyone in the top ten of the RPI, but we have beaten Clemson (#11) twice and also took a series from Texas A&M (#14).
I’ve got a lot of respect for Arkansas as a program. Other than that weird hiccup in 2016, they’re always a factor in the league. They always pitch well, they always have good hitters. They’ll run a lot when they’re athletic, they don’t when they hit for power (like this year). They’re never an overwhelmingly good defensive team, but they know where to go with the baseball and they don’t typically beat themselves in the field. This is going to be a really fun, really entertaining series this weekend. I hope so much that the weather will cooperate with us… I really want to see this thing play out as scheduled, not some 7 inning double header business on Saturday. Either way though, I’m just looking forward to seeing it. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a series like this at home….
