Hogs Set to Host No. 1 LSU in SEC Showdown
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas (10-9, 0-3) continues a stretch of five games in five days this weekend, welcoming No. 1 LSU (19-2, 2-1) to town for a three-game series at Baum Stadium.
Tickets
Single game tickets to the series can be purchased by clicking here.
Promotions
The first 2,500 fans at Thursday’s game will receive an official Arkansas baseball pennant.
Follow Live
Thursday and Friday’s games will be televised nationally on SEC Network with Dari Nowkhah (PXP) and Kyle Peterson (Analyst) on the call. Saturday’s series finale will be broadcasted on SEC Network Plus and the WatchESPN App, while Phil Elson and Rick Schaeffer will have the call of all three games on the IMG Razorback Sports Network.
Probable Starters
Thu. | 6:03p | (ARK) RHP Dominic Taccolini vs. (LSU) LHP Jared Poche’
Fri. | 8:03p | (ARK) TBA vs. (LSU) RHP Alex Lange
Sat. | 2:05 | (ARK) RHP Trey Killian vs. (LSU) RHP Jake Godfrey
Thursday’s Probable Starter – RHP Dominic Taccolini
Sophomore right-hander Dominic Taccolini is set to make his team-high sixth start of the year Friday in the series opener against No. 1 LSU. His best start of the year came against Loyola Marymount, tossing 7.0 innings and allowing just five hits and two runs, while striking out a career-high nine batters. Taccolini has two of the team’s three quality starts on the year and has not allowed more than three earned runs in any start.
Saturday’s Probable Starter – RHP Trey Killian
A week after tossing 7.0 perfect innings against the No. 5 team in the country and earning Louisville Slugger National Pitcher of the Week, junior Trey Killian gets the ball in the series finale with top-ranked LSU. Killian was untouchable in his last outing, retiring all 21 batters he faced and recording six strikeouts, 11 fly outs and four groundouts. In his last seven starts against SEC teams dating back to last year, he has allowed just six earned runs, while striking out 42.
Leading Off
• Arkansas continues a stretch of five games in five days this weekend, welcoming No. 1 LSU to town for a three-game series at Baum Stadium.
• The Razorbacks are playing the No. 1 team in the country at Baum Stadium for the second straight season. Last year Arkansas took two of three from the top-ranked Gamecocks April 4-5.
• After playing a doubleheader last Saturday at Vanderbilt, Arkansas is slated to play eight games in eight days with six of those coming against top five teams in the nation.
• The Razorbacks have recorded double-digit hits in a game 10 times this season, while scoring 10 or more runs in five different games.
• The Arkansas pitching staff has tallied double-digit strikeouts in a game eight times this season, including a season-high 15 punch outs against Vanderbilt on March 14.
• Andrew Benintendi leads the Razorbacks with five home runs and 19 runs batted in. His five home runs rank tied for third in the SEC.
• Zach Jackson has only allowed two earned runs in 18.1 innings of work for a 0.98 ERA on the year. He has 24 strikeouts and has not allowed an extra base hit this season.
#BobbyBandWagon | #SCTop10 | #SCNumber1 | WATCH
In what has become second nature for Arkansas fans, the world saw first hand the range, arm and accuracy of Bobby Wernes Wednesday night, when he landed at No. 1 on SportsCenter’s #SCTop10. He debuted at No. 2, but SportsCenter left the top two plays up to the fans and with 71-percent of the vote, Wernes quickly became the play of the night for his incredible snag and jump throw from foul territory to get the runner.
Series History
Arkansas is 29-61 all-time against LSU, including a 14-20 record in Fayetteville. The last time the Razorbacks won a series from the Tigers came in 2011 and a three-game sweep of LSU at Baum Stadium. Arkansas has a trio of three-game sweep against LSU since 2001, with two of them coming at Baum Stadium.
Doubled Up
Arkansas has turned 22 double plays on the year, and has 203 twin killings over the last four years to rank No. 4 in the country over that span. Mississippi State leads the country with 229 double plays since 2012, while Southern Miss is second and Georgia Tech is third.
Bouncing Back
Arkansas has never started 0-4 in SEC play since entering the league in 1992. The Razorbacks have started 0-3 four other times and have gone on to win the next series all three times, including the last time in 2003 when the Hogs bounced back and won nine of their next 12 games.
Coming Up
Arkansas returns to action next Tuesday-Wednesday, taking Memphis a two-game mid-week series in Little Rock and Memphis. The Razorbacks will then host Ole Miss for a three-game series, giving Arkansas two straight weeks of five games in five days.
For more information on Arkansas baseball, follow @RazorbackBSB on Twitter.
