#1 Arkansas Hits the Road for Series at Louisiana Tech
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – College baseball’s unanimous No. 1 team is taking the show on the road.
Top-ranked Arkansas heads to Ruston, La., to square off against Louisiana Tech (8-3) in a three-game set this weekend at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park. The Hogs are undefeated to start the 2021 campaign, owning a perfect 10-0 record for the second time in the Dave Van Horn era (2003) and for only the third time in program history (1996).
First pitch in the series opener between the Razorbacks and Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. Friday, March 12. The second game of the series begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 13, while the finale is slated to start at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 14.
Tune In
All three of the Razorbacks’ games this weekend will air on Cox Sports Television and stream via ESPN+ with Brett Dolan and Troy Eklund on the call. Catch all the action through the ESPN app on smartphones, computers and tablets or via Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
For a full list of Cox Sports TV affiliates, visit coxsportstv.com/affiliates.
All three contests can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield/IMG, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM. Phil Elson will have the call all weekend long.
Radio Affiliates
Conway – KASR-FM 92.7
El Dorado – KELD-AM 107.1 (FM Translator)
Fayetteville – KQSM-FM 92.1
Forrest City – KXJK-AM 950
Forrest City – KXJK-FM 106.5
Fort Smith – KERX-FM 95.3
Little Rock – KABZ-FM 103.7
Marshall – KBCN-FM 104.3
Mena – KTTG-FM 96.3
Rogers – KURM-AM 790
Rogers – KURM-FM 100.3
Stuttgart – KWAK-FM 105.5
Texarkana, TX – KKTK-AM 1400
Top-Ranked Razorbacks
There is no dispute: Arkansas is the unanimous No. 1 team in college baseball.
The Razorbacks enter the fourth week of the season leading all six national polls after receiving the nod from Perfect Game on Monday. Arkansas was the consensus No. 1 team in the country last week after claiming the top spot in five of the six rankings, including Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, D1Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Arkansas remained atop those five and added Perfect Game’s No. 1 recognition earlier this week, marking the first time in program history that the Hogs hold the top spot in all six major polls.
HAWWWWWWWWWWGS
The Razorbacks continued their hot start to the 2021 campaign last weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium, finishing off their seven-game homestand with a three-game series sweep of Murray State. Arkansas has now won 10 straight games to open the year after beginning the home swing with a four-game sweep of Southeast Missouri State.
The Hogs have won 14 consecutive dating back to the final four contests of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
With a win in Friday’s series opener at LA Tech, the Razorbacks would improve to 11-0 for the first time under Van Horn’s guidance and for only the second time in program history. Arkansas also did so during the 1996 campaign, winning a program-record 18 games in a row to begin the year.
On the field, second baseman Robert Moore has led the Razorbacks offensively. The preseason All-American is slashing .375/.458/.635 with three homers and eight RBI through the first 10 games of the campaign. Right-hander Peyton Pallette, meanwhile, has quickly established himself as the staff ace through his first three starts of the year, owning a 1.35 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work on the mound.
Matchups & History
Friday
Arkansas RHP Peyton Pallette (1-0, 1.35 ERA) vs. LA Tech LHP Jonathan Fincher (2-0, 1.20 ERA)
Saturday
Arkansas RHP Zebulon Vermillion (0-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. LA Tech RHP Ryan Jennings (1-0, 3.65 ERA)
Sunday
Arkansas LHP Lael Lockhart (1-0, 2.77 ERA) vs. LA Tech RHP Jarret Whorff (2-1, 2.76 ERA)
Louisiana Tech enters the series with an 8-3 overall record, riding a four-game win streak. The Bulldogs swept their three-game series against McNeese State last weekend before picking up a midweek win at ULM on Tuesday night.
LA Tech owns an undefeated 6-0 mark at home this season. J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, which was destroyed by a tornado in April of 2019, reopened this spring following its reconstruction. The Bulldogs have swept the first two visitors – Southern and McNeese State – to play at the Love Shack this year.
The Razorbacks and Racers have clashed 31 times before, with Arkansas holding a commanding 25-6 all-time series lead. The two programs last met in a three-game set at Baum-Walker Stadium during the 2019 campaign. Arkansas won two of the three contests, shutting out LA Tech, 11-0, in the series finale.
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