Hogs Return to Bogle Park for SEC Series with Kentucky

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 12/14 Arkansas Razorbacks return to Bogle Park this weekend (March 28-30) to host the Kentucky Wildcats for a three-game SEC series.

The series opener is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, while Saturday’s matchup will start at 4 p.m. before the series concludes on Sunday at Noon. All three games will be broadcast on SEC Network+. Brett Dolan (Friday, Sunday) and Josh Haley (Saturday) will provide play-by-play of the action, while Hannah McEwen (Friday) and Sydney Parr Lee (Saturday, Sunday) will serve as the color analysts.

LEADING OFF

• The Arkansas Razorbacks are 23-7 and coming off a series victory last weekend at Tennessee by taking the first two games of the three-game set 6-3 and 9-0. The Razorbacks became the first team to win an SEC series in Knoxville since they accomplished the feat previously on March 18-20, 2022, when they took the first two games of a three-game series. Tennessee entered the matchup having won 17 of their last 18 league series, including 10 straight at home.
• The Razorbacks have earned 16 wins by run rule this season, tying a program record set in 2014. The 2014 Razorbacks accomplished the feat in their 47^th game, while this year’s squad only needed 23 games to set the mark.
• Arkansas has outscored opponents 243-85 this season.

PROMOTION PACKED WEEKEND

• Many promotions are on deck this weekend at Bogle Park. Friday will be Karaoke Night and postgame kids run the bases. Arkansas will celebrate senior utility player Courtney Day prior to first pitch on Saturday. Sunday the first 750 fans will receive a Chenise Delce Shirsey. Following the conclusion of Sunday’s game, each Arkansas player will sign autographs on the concourse outside of the home plate entrance at Bogle Park.
• The SEC softball community will again be unit­ed on March 26 when all 15 teams participate in the league’s fifth annual “All for Alex” weekend to honor the legacy of Mississippi State’s Alex Wilcox. Wilcox was a member of the 2018 Mississippi State softball team who inspired the nation with her courageous fight against ovarian cancer. That fight ultimately took her life in the summer of 2018. All 15 SEC teams will wear teal uniforms or teal accents on Saturday

PRESENCE IN THE POLLS

• Arkansas checked in at No. 12 in the NFCA/GoRout and Softball America Polls and No. 14 in the ESPN/USA Softball and D1 Softball Polls this week.
• The Razorbacks have been ranked in the Top 25 of the NFCA Coaches poll for a program-best 79 consecutive weeks dating back to the start of the 2020 season. Arkansas is one of six 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 and Florida State.

HISTORY LESSON

• Arkansas and Kentucky have met 65 times. Arkansas holds a 37-28 all-time lead in the series.
• Arkansas took the last series between the programs on April 22-23, 2023, with wins in the first two games of the series by the scores of 8-1 and 14-6 (5).
• The Razorbacks also earned a series win in the most recent matchup in Fayetteville with wins in the series opener and finale (2-1, 8-0) on May 29-31, 2022.

SCOUTING KENTUCKY

• Kentucky enters the weekend with an overall record of 21-12, including a 5-4 mark in SEC play. The Wildcats are coming off a 9-1 midweek loss to No. 17 Stanford on Tuesday.
• Kentucky is batting .299 as a team with 259 hits and 192 runs scored while registering 48 doubles, 11 triples and 31 homers with 165 RBI. Peyton Plotts leads the Wildcats with a .381 batting average and 40 hits in addition to 12 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 33 RBI and 26 runs scored.
• In the circle, Kentucky owns a 3.00 team ERA with three pitchers owning ERAs below 3.00. Sarah Haendiges has a team-leading .212 ERA and 7-2 record while registering 66 strikeouts in 59.1 innings pitched.

SOOIE SPINNERS

• The Razorbacks own a 2.89 ERA this season while striking out 202 batters and limiting opponents to a .197 batting average in 179.1 innings pitched.
• Arkansas has registered 40 shutouts since the start of the 2023 season. The Razorbacks are one of only nine programs to rank in the top 20 nationally in shutouts in 2023 and 2024, joining the likes of Oklahoma, Boston, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Stanford, Alabama, South Dakota State and Cal State Fullerton.
• Arkansas entered the week ranked 21st nationally with eight shutouts this season and ranked 19th nationally in shutouts in 2024 with 14 and 17th nationally in 2023 with 17.
• The Razorbacks have posted 11+ shutouts in each of the last four seasons, one of just 16 programs nationally to accomplish the feat.

A HISTORIC START FOR NO. 77

• Bri Ellis has gotten off to the hottest start in program history and one of the hottest starts in modern NCAA history at the plate. Through 30 games, she currently holds program records in five offensive categories, including runs scored (37), home runs (17), RBI (49), total bases (97), and slugging percentage (1.276). Additionally, Ellis ranks second in on-base percentage (.639) and walks (27), only trailing Devon Wallace, who posted a nation-leading .672 on-base percentage in 2013 and 29+ walks during three seasons of her four-year career on The Hill (2012-15).
• She was one of only two DI players to lead the nation in slugging percentage, homers and on-base percentage through March 19 of a season since 2012. The only other player to accomplish the feat was Louisiana-Lafayette catcher Lexie Elkins in 2016.
• Through March 2 of this season her .686 on-base percentage at the time was the second-highest of any NCAA DI player through that date since 2012, trailing only Sydney McKinney of Wichita State who posted a .741 OBP through that date in 2023.
• Through the first 10 games of the season, Ellis was 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).

HOME SWEET BOGLE

• Bogle Park was the place to be in 2024, as a program-record 97,744 fans walked through the gates. All 10 of Bogle Park’s all-time top 10 single-game attendance marks were also set in 2024. Arkansas played in front of home crowds of 3,000+ in 21 of its 27 regular season games at Bogle Park.
• Arkansas had 3,128 fans at its series opener against Oklahoma (March 16).
• Arkansas is just one of three programs to rank in the top five in single-season attendance every year since COVID, joining the likes of Alabama and LSU.
• The Razorbacks have ranked in the top three nationally in total home attendance in back-to-back seasons and have finished in the top five in national total attendance in each of their past five seasons at Bogle Park.
• On May 4, 2024, Arkansas broke its single-game attendance record, with 3,937 in attendance for game three vs. Ole Miss.
• In 2024, the Hogs have accumulated the third-highest cumulative attendance across NCAA softball (89,982). Arkansas averaged 3,333 fans per game.
• Bogle Park hosted the highest-attended SEC Softball Tournament in 2023, with 16,937 in the stands May 9-13, shattering Florida’s previous record of 13,201 in 2022.
• Between the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, Bogle Park drew crowds of 3,000+ 16 separate times.
• Since its gates opened in 2009, Bogle Park has welcomed 473,937 fans through the turnstiles. Of those 473,937 fans 389,168 (82.11%) have come during head coach Courtney Deifel’s tenure (2016-present).
• Bogle Park was recognized by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) as the Netting Professionals/NFCA DI Field of the Year in 2022.

PAYTON BURNHAM: SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

• Freshman Payton Burnham was named SEC Player of the Week after pitching 6.1 shutout innings and striking out five while allowing just three hits and three walks in a 9-0 series-clinching win last Saturday. The Eugene, Ore., product leads the Hogs with a 2.22 ERA this season and is 6-2 with 45 strikeouts in 47.1 innings pitched while limiting opposing hitters to a .182 batting average. She became the 12th player in program history to earn SEC Freshman of the Week distinction and just the fifth Arkansas pitcher to do so.

REIS TO THE RESCUE

• Reis Beuerlein threw 5.1 no-hit innings with 6 strikeouts in relief during the series finale at Tennessee (March 24).
• She became just the fourth Razorback to pitch 5.1+ innings without allowing a hit in relief since 2001, joining Morgan Leinstock (6.0 vs. Long Beach State, 2024), Robyn Herron (5.2 vs. Drake, 2023) and Chelsea Cohen (6.0 at Missouri State, 2012).

NO FREE PASSES ALLOWED

• 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. 

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 .325 with 11 home runs, 26 hits, 22 runs scored and 42 RBI while drawing 12 walks and posting an impressive .883 slugging percentage and a .441 on-base percentage.
• The senior hit a two-run homer off Karlyn Pickens in the Hogs’ 6-3 win at Tennessee (March 22) before homering the next day.
• Day hit a three-run homer in the series finale against Oklahoma (March 16).
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Day initially transferred to Ole Miss following the 2023 season but did not play.
• She is the third Razorback to transfer from Texas in program history, joining Taylor Ellsworth (2021) and Carlee Ratcliff (2023), who was Day’s roommate at Texas in 2022.
• During her four seasons in Austin (2020-23), Day posted a .317 batting average and .395 on-base percentage with 120 hits, 22 doubles, two triples, 26 home runs, 63 runs scored, 44 walks and 91 RBI through 176 games played. She has registered 23 multi-hit games and 24 multi-RBI games during her collegiate career.
• Day owned a 2.45 earned run average and 47 strikeouts in 68.2 innings pitched while with the Longhorns.

MCDOWELL WOWS

• Freshman infielder Ella McDowell has wasted no time making her presence known as a Razorback. She is batting .330 this season with 29 hits, three home runs, three doubles, a triple, 25 RBI and nine walks.
• McDowell went 2-4 with 2 RBI in a loss to No. 1 Oklahoma (March 15).
• She went 2-3 with a career-high four RBI in a 20-3 thumping of Ole Miss (March 9).
• McDowell blasted a two-run home run in a win over Missouri State on March 2.
• In a 12-4 win over Southern Miss, she went 2-4 with a solo home run, a double and two runs scored (Feb. 15).
• McDowell has posted a .983 fielding percentage in 59 chances this season.
• In a season-opening 3-1 win at Texas State, McDowell led Arkansas at the plate by going 2-3 with a solo home run in the sixth inning (Feb. 6)
• Her home run accounted for the Razorbacks’ 6,600th run in program history.
• She became the first Razorback freshman to homer on opening day since Rylin Hedgecock accomplished the feat on Feb. 7, 2020, during a 10-0 win over UTEP in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

DISCIPLINED DUO

• 1B Bri Ellis and OF Raigan Kramer became the seventh pair of Arkansas teammates in the past 20 years to register 30+ walks in the same season in 2024.
• Ellis (27) and Kramer (27) are the team leaders in walks for Arkansas this season.

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