Hogs at No. 2 in Perfect Game Preseason Poll

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas checked in at No. 2 in Perfect Game’s top-25 rankings, the first preseason poll of 2024.

It is Arkansas’ highest ranking in the publication’s preseason poll since 2013, when the Hogs also began the year at No. 2.

The Razorbacks are ranked behind only No. 1 Wake Forest by Perfect Game. Reigning national champion No. 3 LSU, last year’s national runner-up No. 4 Florida, No. 5 TCU, No. 6 Vanderbilt, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 8 Texas, No. 9 Oregon State and No. 10 Virginia round out the top 10, with the SEC boasting a nation-leading eight programs in the preseason poll.

The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks won’t sneak up on anyone with a fresh stock of contributing portal arrivals and stud junior bats Kendall Diggs and Peyton Stovall returning and ace LHP Hagen Smith anchoring the rotation.

Perfect Game is the first of college baseball’s five major national polls, including D1Baseball, Baseball America, USA Today Coaches and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, to release rankings ahead of the 2024 season.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper is not expected to publish a poll this season after the retirement of its longtime publisher Lou Pavlovich Jr. The publication’s national poll was college baseball’s oldest, dating back to 1959.

Arkansas, led by head coach Dave Van Horn, begins its 2024 campaign with a four-game series against James Madison inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium. First pitch on Opening Day is set for 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16.

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