Arkansas Opens SEC Play With Trip to Ole Miss

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks look to build off a program-record 19-1 start when they travel to Oxford, Miss., this weekend (March 7-9) for a three-game series at Ole Miss to open SEC play.

The Hogs’ SEC Opener is set for Friday at 6 p.m. inside the brand-new Ole Miss Softball Stadium. Arkansas and Ole Miss will meet at 6 p.m. on Saturday before concluding play with the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.

All three games will be broadcast on SEC Network+ with Will Kollmeyer (play-by-play) and former Ole Miss head coach Missy Dickerson (analyst) on the call.

LEADING OFF

• The Arkansas Razorbacks tied a program record with a 19-1 start this season. The only other team to accomplish the feat was the 2017 Razorbacks. A win on Friday would give the Hogs their best start in program history through 21 games.
• The Razorbacks have earned 15 wins by run-rule this season, which is a program record through 20 games and the second most in an entire season in program history. The most run-rules in a single season is 16, which was set in 2014.
• Arkansas has outscored opponents 185-32 this season. The Hogs are coming off a 5-0 showing at the Wooo Pig Classic last weekend that saw them earn five run-rule victories by defeating Iowa (9-0 5 inn., 12-0 5 inn.) and Illinois (12-4, 6 inn., 10-1 6 inn.), twice before finishing the weekend with a win over Missouri State (13-2, 5 inn.) on Sunday.
• Arkansas completed run-rule victories by way of a walk-off home run in four of their five wins during last week’s Wooo Pig Classic as Kailey Wyckoff (2-run HR, Feb. 28, Iowa), Courtney Day (GS, Feb. 28, Illinois), Jayden Ramos (3-run HR March 1, Illinois) and Atalyia Rijo (GS, March 2, Missouri State) all accomplished the feat.

PRESENCE IN THE POLLS

• Arkansas checked in at No. 10 in all four major polls this week.
• The Razorbacks have been ranked in the Top 25 of the NFCA Coaches poll for a program-best 76 consecutive weeks dating back to the start of the 2020 season. Arkansas is one of seven programs nationally to have appeared in the Top 25 of every NFCA Coaches Poll since the start of the 2020 season, joining Oklahoma, Florida, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Alabama and Florida State.

HISTORY LESSON

• Arkansas and Ole Miss will be meeting for the 76th, 77^th and 78 times this weekend.
• The Razorbacks lead the all-time series 42-33, while Ole Miss holds a slight 19-18 advantage over Arkansas in Oxford. Ole Miss took the last series between the programs, 2-1 in Fayetteville on May 3-4, 2024. Courtney Deifel holds an 11-8 record against the Rebels while at Arkansas (since 2016).
• Arkansas is 8-3 in opening SEC series since 2021 with a 4-2 mark in openers on the road in that time span.

SCOUTING THE REBELS

• Ole Miss is currently 18-3 this season while posting a 6-0 mark at home. The Rebels’ last loss was on Feb. 14 when they fell to Louisiana-Lafayette 6-5 in nine innings.
• The Rebels own a 1.29 team ERA with 164 strikeouts in 141.0 innings pitched while limiting opposing hitters to a .185 batting average. Freshman Miali Guachino leads the team with a 1.21 ERA and 8-3 record. The freshman right-hander has fanned 99 of her 237 batters faced.
• At the plate, Ole Miss is batting .322 as a team with 137 runs scored, 173 hits, 34 doubles, six triples and 21 home runs. Persy Lamas leads the squad with a .382 batting average with 21 hits, four home runs and 23 RBI.

THE BASH SISTERS

• Courtney Day (33) and Bri Ellis (33) have combined for more RBI (66) than 147 Division I programs this season, entering this week. Individually, they each have more RBI than 42 DI programs.
• Day and Ellis are the only teammates to rank in the top 5 in RBI nationally.

PUTTING UP HISTORIC NUMBERS    

• Senior first baseman Bri Ellis is off to one of the most impressive starts at the plate in modern NCAA Softball history.
• Her .686 OBP is the second highest by an NCAA DI player through March 2 since 2012 (Min. 40 AB), trailing only Sydney McKinney of Wichita State, who posted a .741 OBP in 2023.
• The Houston product enters the week ranked among the Top 10 nationally in on-base percentage (1st, .686), RBI per game (5th, 1.74), total bases (5th, 64), slugging % (2nd, 1.422), RBI (5th, 33) and HR (2nd, 11).
• Through the first 20 games, her .556 batting average and .686 on-base percentage were program records (Min. 40 AB), while her 11 home runs rank third and 33 RBI rank second, trailing only Nicole Schroeder drove in 40 runs in 57 at-bats during the 2017 season.
• Through the first 10 games of the season, Ellis is the only player nationally to have equal or more RBI than at-bats through the first 10 games of the season since at least 2015 (min of 20 AB).
• Her .583 batting average, seven home runs and 24 RBI were a program record through the first 10 games of a season (Min. 15 AB). The previous program best for HR and RBI through the first 10 games of a season was Linnie Malkin, who hit six homers and drove in 21 runs in 2021.

ROB CAN SPIN IT

• Robyn Herron owns a 6-0 record, 0.42 ERA and a team-best 47 strikeouts in 33.0 innings pitched in 2025 while limiting opposing hitters to a .083 batting average.
• Herron enters the week leading the country in hits allowed per 7 inn. (1.91), while ranking 3rd in ERA (0.42), 8th in shutouts (3) and 6th in WHIP (0.64). She is one of only two pitchers nationally to rank in the Top 10 of those four categories, joining Erin Nuwer of Tennessee.
• She has carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning in each of her previous four starts. Most recently, she picked up a win over Iowa by throwing five shutout innings (Feb. 22).
• On 20, Herron spun a complete-game one-hit shutout against Cal State Fullerton while carrying a no-no to the fifth and final inning.
• On Feb. 16, Herron threw the 12th no-hitter in program history in a 10-0 (5 inn.) win over ULM. She struck out a season-high 11 batters during her no-hit performance against ULM to improve to 3-0 on the season. The southpaw struck out the side to open and end the game. Only three ULM batters reached base during the contest, two by way of walks in the second and fourth inning, respectively, in addition to a dropped third strike with two outs in the fourth.
• Herron appeared in 29 games while making 19 starts and posting a 12-9 record with a team-best 143 strikeouts in 125.1 innings pitched. Her 1.62 ERA ranked 25th nationally and third among SEC pitchers. She also ranked 40th nationally with five shutouts during the 2024 season while posting three 10+ strikeout games.
• She is one of just seven returning pitchers nationally who ranked in the Top 25 in ERA and Top 40 in shutouts during the 2024 season, joining Nijaree Canady (Texas Tech), Maddia Groff (Omaha), Karlyn Pickens (Tennessee), Kasey Ricard (Boston), Alivia Wilken (North Alabama) and Isabella Smith (Oklahoma).
• Herron became the second pitcher in program history to throw a seven-inning perfect game while striking out a season-high 11 batters on just 86 pitches in a 7-0 win over Illinois State on Feb. 24, 2024, joining Mary Haff as the other Razorback to accomplish the feat.
• She joins Mary Haff (3) as the only Razorback pitcher to toss multiple no-hitters.
• Her nine 10+ strikeout games are the third-most in program history, trailing only Katy Henry (2005-08, 14) and Mary Haff (2018-22, 16).
• Herron ranked in the Top 10 in the Arkansas single-season program record books in 2024 in multiple categories, including opponent batting average against (.171, 2nd), shutouts (6, T-10th), and strikeouts/7 IP (7.99, 5th).

HITTIN’ HOGS

• Arkansas has posted a 190-20 overall record when registering 10 or more hits in a single game since 2006, including a 114-11 mark under Courtney Deifel.
• The Razorbacks are 9-0 this season and posted a 9-1 record in 2024 when registering 10+ hits, and have won 66 of their past 70 contests when accomplishing the feat since 2020.

NO FREE PASSES

• Arkansas is 138-40 since 2001 when its pitching staff issues no walks in a game.
• The Razorbacks are 83-17 when issuing no walks under head coach Courtney Deifel (2016-present).
• Arkansas is currently on a 13-game winning streak when issuing zero walks dating back to April 6, 2023. Which is tied for the second-longest winning streak when accomplishing the feat in program history. It was previously accomplished from 2012-14.
• In the past 20 years Arkansas has had a pitcher throw 5+ innings in a single game without allowing a walk 25 times. When the feat is accomplished, Arkansas owns a record 19-6. Arkansas was 3-0 last year when accomplishing the feat courtesy of a pair of wins from Robyn Herron and a win from Morgan Leinstock.

ROAD HOGS

• Since 2020, the Razorbacks have excelled on the road with a record of 58-19 (.753), which is the second-best mark of all current SEC members, trailing only Oklahoma (65-6, .915).
• With Arkansas’ road series victory at No. 7 LSU on April 26-28, 2024, the Hogs have won 15 of their last 16 SEC road series, which is the best mark among all SEC members during that time span (2021-present).
• From 1997-2020, the program won 17 SEC road series. Over the last four seasons, Arkansas has won 15 conference road series to go along with two SEC Titles.
• The Hogs recorded two top 10 ranked SEC road series wins last season and have accounted for three Top 10 road series wins in league play over the past three seasons.
• Additionally, Arkansas has posted a 79-28 (.738) record in the Courtney Deifel era (2016-present) in neutral site games.

RAE$

• Reagan Johnson is the all-time program leader in career batting average at .379 while ranking sixth in career on-base percentage (.424), eighth in career triples (6) and sixth in career stolen bases (43).
• Johnson entered the 2025 season as one of six active Division I players with 73+ hits in each of the previous two seasons, joining D’Auna Jennings (Duke), Kendra Falby (Florida), Korbe Otis (Florida), Mia Scott (Texas) and Paige Rocha (SIU-Edwardsville). Of the six players to accomplish the feat, Johnson and Jennings are the only non-seniors entering the 2025 season.
• She is the only Razorback in program history with multiple 70+ hit seasons, with 73 in 2024 and 79 in 2023. In 2024, she became one of four Razorbacks in program history to post an on-base percentage of .426 or better while registering 70+ hits in a season, joining Danielle Gibson (2022), KB Sides (2022) and Hannah McEwen (2019).

HOGS HAVE A DAY

• Arkansas finalized its 2024 roster with the addition of Texas transfer Courtney Day on Dec. 9, 2024.
• Day has made a statement in her return to college softball after sitting out the 2024 season after transferring from Texas. Day is batting .426 with eight home runs, 20 hits, 16 runs scored and 33 RBI while drawing 10 walks and posting an impressive 1.085 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage.
• During the Wooo Pig Classic (Feb. 28-March 2), she drove in 15 runs while posting a .615 batting average, 1.462 slugging percentage and .667 OBP with eight hits, three doubles, two homers, a triple, four walks and five runs score.
• The Pearland, Texas product made her first pitching appearance since June 9, 2022 (997 days) on Sunday during the fifth inning of a 13-2 victory over Missouri State. Day pitched a scoreless inning, allowing just one hit in addition to registering an inning-ending strikeout. The 997 days between pitching appearances was the second-longest duration between appearances nationally this season, trailing only Tatum Clopton, who had a streak of 1,057 days before making an appearance on Feb. 8.
• Day drove in a career-high six runs while hitting a grand slam in a 12-4 win over Illinois (Feb. 28). She became the first Hog to drive in 6+ runs in a game since Rylin Hedgecock drive in seven in a win over Kentucky on April 22, 2023.
• She belted her sixth home run of the season in a win over Loyola Marymount (Feb. 21)
• Day smashed her fourth home run of the season courtesy of a three-run shot in the third innings of a win over ULM (Feb. 14). Later in the day, she doubled and drove in a run during a 9-1 win over LA Tech (Feb. 9).
• During a 9-1 win over Bradley (Feb. 8), Day went 2-4 and hit a pair of two-run home runs to register her fourth career multi-HR games and the 62nd in program history. Day registered her first multi-HR game as a Hog in just her third game at Arkansas. She was the fastest Razorback newcomer to record a multi-HR game in program history (freshman and transfers included).
• Day blasted a two-run home run to right field in the top of the fifth inning during a 23-0 win over Lipscomb (Feb. 7). It was her first home run as a Razorback and her first home run in 684 days since she hit a two-run home run on March 26, 2023 while at Texas.

KEEP ‘EM IN THE YARD

• Arkansas has limited opponents to no home runs in 304 games during the Courtney Deifel era (2016-present), which accounts for 54.8% of all games during Deifel’s tenure. In the 304 games in which Arkansas has not allowed a home run, they have posted a record of 239-65 (.786).

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