Razorbacks Conclude Regular Season Slate by Hosting No. 10 LSU

April 30, 2025

WATCH (Thursday) WATCH (Friday) WATCH (Saturday)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 6/8 Arkansas Razorbacks conclude their regular season slate with a three-game series against No. 10 LSU this Thursday-Saturday at Bogle Park.

The first pitch for Thursday’s and Friday’s contests is set for 6 p.m., while the series finale is slated for 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

LEADING OFF

The Arkansas Razorbacks are 36-10 and 12-9 in SEC play this season. Arkansas is coming off its highest-ranked series win in program history at No. 1/2 Texas A&M last weekend, where the Razorbacks won the first two games by the scores of 7-5 and 7-4 to secure their fifth-straight series win in SEC play. The series win was the Hogs’ fourth over a Top 10 opponent this season. Arkansas also became just the third SEC team in the last 20 seasons to take multiple series against Top 2 opponents, joining Tennessee and LSU, who accomplished the feat in 2025 and 2007, respectively.
The Razorbacks have earned a program-record 21 wins by run-rule this season. The previous record of 16 was set back in 2014.
Arkansas has outscored opponents 356-128 this season.

PROMOTION PACKED WEEKEND

The first 1,000 fans at Thursday’s game will receive a replica Razorback Softball Jersey. Thursday will also be Autism Awareness Night.
On Friday, Bogle Park will host a Red Out in addition to senior Carlee Ratcliff being honored prior to first pitch. Following the game, kids will have the opportunity to run the bases (weather permitting).
Saturday, Arkansas will honor senior Raigan Kramer prior to first pitch and have a trading card giveaway.

PRESENCE IN THE POLLS

Arkansas checked in at No. 2 in the Softball America Poll, No. 3 in the D1 Softball Poll, No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll and No. 8 NFCA/GoRout Poll this week.
The Razorbacks’ No. 2 ranking in the Softball America Poll was the highest in program history. The previous best in-season ranking was during week one of the 2023 season when they were ranked No. 4 in the NFCA and ESPN/USA Top 25 Softball Polls.
The Razorbacks have been ranked in the Top 25 of the NFCA Coaches poll for a program-best 84 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 LSU have met 80 times, with the Tigers holding a 63-17 all-time series lead. However, the Razorbacks have taken the last four series between the programs.
The Razorbacks won last year’s series in Baton Rouge by winning games one and two, 2-1 and 4-1.

SCOUTING LSU

LSU is 39-11 this season and 11-10 in SEC Play. The Tigers are coming off a series win at No. 8 Florida by winning the last two games 2-1 and 10-2.
As a team, the Tigers are batting .341 with 430 hits, 357 runs scored, 72 doubles, eight triples and 40 home runs while driving in 321 runs and posting a team on-base percentage of .445. Tori Edwards leads the team in nearly all offensive categories. The freshman is batting .423 with 18 homers, 68 RBI, 128 total bases and 29 walks while posting a .901 slugging percentage and a .523 on-base percentage.
In the circle, LSU owns a 2.72 team ERA, with 286 strikeouts in 311.1 innings pitched. Sydney Berzon leads the Tigers with a 17-5 record, 2.29 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 122.1 innings pitched.

MCDOWELL WOWS

Freshman infielder Ella McDowell has wasted no time making her presence known as a Razorback. She is batting .397 this season with 56 hits, seven home runs, eight doubles, a triple, 47 RBI, 33 runs scored and 17 walks.
McDowell became just the third freshman in program history to win SEC Freshman of the Week honors three times in a season after batting .455 during the three-game series with five hits, three runs scored, a home run and three RBI in 11 at-bats while posting a .455 on-base percentage and a .727 slugging percentage. The Richmond, Texas product registered multiple hits in both of the Razorbacks’ wins. During Saturday’s series-clinching victory, she went 3-4 with three RBI courtesy of a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning that accounted for the game-winning runs in a 7-5 victory.
Her .397 batting average is the best by a freshman in program history while her 47 RBI rank second.
In conference play she is batting a team-best .420 with 29 hits, three homers and 25 RBI while posting a .494 OBP.
McDowell blasted a three-run shot in a 7-5 series opening with at Texas A&M (April 25).
She drove in a career-high five RBI during 2-4 game with a three-run double during a series-opening win over No. 10 South Carolina on April 11.
McDowell was named D1 Softball National Player of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week after batting .706 during the week with 12 hits, three doubles, a home run, eight RBI and four runs scored in addition to a walk. She posted a .722 on-base percentage and 1.059 on-base percentage while registering multiple hits in all four of the Razorbacks’ games to increase her hitting streak to six games while improving her batting average by 56 percentage points. During the second game at No. 2 Florida, McDowell went 4-5 with four RBI, three of which came on a three-run homer in the top of the third inning. Her four hits were a single-game career high and marked the first four-hit game by a Razorback this season, while her four RBI tied a single-game career high.
She hit a game-winning solo HR in a 2-1 series-finale win over Kentucky (March 30) to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

BRI’s HISTORIC HITTING

Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis is batting .491 with 54 hits, 57 runs scored, eight doubles, 24 home runs, 65 RBI, 134 total bases and 46 walks while posting a 1.218 slugging percentage and a .645 on-base percentage.
She currently owns a 1.863 On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (OPS) which leads the country and is on pace to be the best single-season mark since the statistic was first tracked in 2016. Additionally, her 1.218 slugging percentage is also the highest of anyone on the list.
Only 24 players since 2016 have registered an OPS above 1.500 throughout the entirety of a single season. Of those players, only six SEC players have accomplished the feat, while 12 Power Five (Pac 12 Included) players in total have accomplished the feat.
Of the four USA Softball National Player of the Year Award winners who batted and won the award since 2016, only Jocelyn Alo of Oklahoma (2021, 2022) registered a single-season OPS of above 1.500. Valerie Cagle (2023, Clemson), and Sierra Romero (2016, Michigan) won the award despite recording an OPS lower than 1.500. Alo, Skylar Wallace (2023, Florida), and Abbey Cheek (2019, Kentucky) are the only three NFCA Player of the Year Award winners to post a 1.500+ OPS since the award’s inception in 2016.
The 24 players that have previously accomplished a 1.500+ OPS in a single season have combined for four National Player of the Year Awards 18 NFCA All-America selections (13 First-Team, 4 Second-Team, 1 Third-Team), 24 NFCA All-Region selections, (22 First-Team, 2 Second-Team), 26 First-Team All-Conference selections and 16 Conference Player of the Year Award winners.
Ellis is currently batting .491 with 24 home runs. Only five players in NCAA history (Since 1982) have finished a season batting above .480 while also hitting 20+ home runs. All five players who had previously accomplished the feat were named Conference Player of the Year in their respective conferences, while four of five were named NFCA First-Team All-America and NFCA First-Team All-Region. Stacey Nuveman (UCLA, 2002) and Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma, 2022) were both named USA Softball National Player of the Year, while Jen Yee (Georgia Tech, 2010) and Megan Langenfeld (2010) were the top three finalists for the award.

ROB CAN SPIN IT

Junior left-hander Robyn Herron is 15-4 this season with a team-best 2.25 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 109 innings pitched while limiting opposing hitters to a .178 batting average. She earned her 15th win of the season Friday night against A&M after striking out four and allowing two earned runs on three hits in five innings pitched. Herron entered the weekend ranking 13th nationally in hits allowed per 7 inn. (4.50). She was recently ranked 8th nationally in the Softball America May Position Rankings.
Arkansas is 26-6 (.813) when Robyn Herron goes 5+ innings during her collegiate career.
Her .180 batting average against this season is on-pace to be the third-best in program history.

KEEPING IT CLEAN

Arkansas has posted a program-record .985 fielding percentage this season with 17 errors in 1,142 chances through 46 games. The Hogs’ .985 fielding percentage leads the country entering the week. Arkansas has not committed errors in 30 of its 46 games this season.
In 2024, assistant coaches Matt Meuchel and Danielle Gibson helped guide Arkansas to a program-record .978 fielding percentage, which led the SEC and ranked ninth nationally.
Arkansas is 169-46 when not committing an error under Courtney Deifel (since 2016).

EIGHT IS GREAT

Reagan Johnson is the all-time program leader in career batting average at .376 while ranking fourth in career on-base percentage (.428), eighth in career triples (6) and fifth in career stolen bases (477.
She became the 11th player in program history to register 200 hits on April 11 in a 10-2 win over No. 10 South Carolina.
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.
Johnson 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).
She earned First-Team All-SEC and NFCA First-Team All-South Region in 2024 after batting a team-best .380 with 73 hits, four doubles, one triple, 11 RBI, 35 runs scored and 79 total bases to go along with a team-high 12 stolen bases. She ranked fourth in the SEC and 33rd nationally in hits (73) in addition to ranking fifth among all SEC players in batting average (.380).
Her sophomore year batting average of .380 and her freshman year average of .378 rank sixth and seventh respectively in the Arkansas single-season record books while her 79 hits as a freshman and 73 hits as a sophomore were the third and fourth-most by a Hog in a single season.
She batted a team-best .388 (66-170) against right-handed pitchers in 2024.
Johnson is 49-53 in stolen base attempts during her career, which is good for fifth all-time in program history.
The Karnes City, Texas product checked in at No. 73 overall and ranked 27th among outfielders in the Softball America Preseason Top 100 Players List on Jan. 6.

KEEP THE LINE MOVING

Arkansas has advanced runners in 58.1% (483-835) of its at-bats this season.
Bri Ellis led all returning Razorbacks, advancing a runner in 56% of her at-bats a year ago.
Since 2021, Arkansas has advanced runners in 54.18% (2,277-4,202) of opportunities.

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