Softball

Razorbacks Travel to No. 1/2 Texas A&M for Top 10 Showdown

Hunter Corneliusen
Hunter Corneliusen April 24, 2025
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks make their final road trip of the regular season this weekend when they visit College Station, Texas, for a three-game SEC series at No. 1/2 Texas A&M.

Game times are set for 6 p.m. on Friday, 4 p.m. on Saturday, and Noon on Sunday. The first two games of the series will be broadcast on SEC Network+, while the series finale will be televised on SEC Network. Will Johnson (PxP) and Donna Conrad (Analyst) will be on the call for the first two games. Courtney Lyle (PxP) and former two-time National Player of the Year (2009, 2010) Danielle Lawrie (Analyst) will provide commentary of the series finale on Sunday.

LEADING OFF

  • The Arkansas Razorbacks are 34-9 and coming off a dominant doubleheader sweep of Colorado State last weekend that featured Arkansas outscoring the Rams 22-1 in the two games played with a 14-1 win in game one and an 8-0 win in game two. Reis Beuerlein threw the third perfect game in program history during the nightcap.
  • 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 342-119 this season.

PRESENCE IN THE POLLS

  • Arkansas checked in at No. 6 in the Softball America Poll, No. 7 in the D1 Softball Poll and No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll and NFCA/GoRout Poll this week.
  • The Razorbacks have been ranked in the Top 25 of the NFCA Coaches poll for a program-best 83 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 Texas A&M have met 27 times with the Aggies holding a 5-22 all-time series lead. All five of the Razorbacks’ wins in the series have come under the direction of Courtney Deifel.
  • The Aggies took two out of three in the last series between the teams on March 10-12, 2023, with wins in the final two games of the series, 9-1 (5 inn.) and 2-0.

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M

  • Texas A&M is 40-6 this season and 13-4 in SEC play. The Aggies are coming off an 11-2 (5 inn.) over Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday night.
  • As a team, the Rams are batting .346 with 406 hits, 340 runs scored, 82 doubles, seven triples and 45 home runs while driving in 310 runs and posting a team on-base percentage of .448. Amari Harper leads the team with a .451 batting average in addition to 37 hits, eight doubles, five home runs and 30 RBI while posting a .573 on-base percentage.
  • In the circle, Texas A&M owns a 2.61 team ERA, with 279 strikeouts in 295.1 innings pitched. Emily Kennedy leads the Aggies with a 16-3 record, 2.75 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 114.2 innings pitched.

ROAD HOGS

  • Since 2020, the Razorbacks have excelled on the road with a record of 65-23 (.735) which is the second-best mark of all current SEC members, trailing only Oklahoma (78-7, .929).
  • On April 6, Arkansas earned its highest-ranked series win in program history with a 9-5 triumph at No. 2 Florida. On March 23, the Hogs became the first SEC team to win a series at Tennessee since they accomplished the feat on March 18-20, 2022. The series win snapped an 11-series home winning streak Tennessee owned which was a league best.
  • With Arkansas’ road series victory at No. 2 Florida on April 4-6, 2025, the Hogs have won 17 of their last 19 SEC road series which is the best mark among all SEC members during that time span (2020-present).
  • From 1997-2020, the program had only won 17 SEC road series.
  • The Hogs recorded two top-10 ranked SEC road series wins last season and have accounted for four top-10 road series wins in league play over the past four seasons.
  • Additionally, Arkansas has posted a 79-28 (.738) record in the Courtney Deifel era (2016-present) in neutral site games.

HUALING IN THE HONORS

  • Junior pitcher Reis Beuerlein (Pitcher of the Week) and junior utility player Kailey Wyckoff (Player of the Week) both earned SEC honors.
  • Beuerlein made her mark in Razorback lore by throwing the third perfect game in program history during the Hogs’ 8-0 (5 inn.) over Colorado State last Friday. The Cave Creek, Ariz. native struck out two of her 15 batters faced while using just 46 pitches. She joined Mary Haff (March 11, 2022, vs. Maryland) and Robyn Herron (Feb. 24, 2024, vs. Illinois State) as the only pitchers to throw perfect games in program history. Her 46 pitchers were the fewest in a perfect game nationally since Liberty’s Megan Johnson threw 39 during a perfect game against Texas Southern on March 6, 2020.
  • Wyckoff posted an impressive .750 batting average and .778 on-base percentage during the week while tallying multiple hits in two games and multiple RBI in one. Wyckoff tied a career high with three hits during the Razorbacks’ 7-0 win at Central Arkansas on Tuesday. She hit her team-leading 14th double of the season in game one of the doubleheader against Colorado State on Friday to move into a tie for sixth in the program record books for doubles in a season. She finished the weekend with a 2-2 effort in the nightcap on Friday that featured two RBI and two runs scored.
  • Wyckoff’s selection marked the third SEC Player of the Week honor for Arkansas, which ties a single-season program record previously set in 2021 and 2022.

BRI’s HISTORIC HITTING 

  • Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis is batting .490 with 50 hits, 53 runs scored, eight doubles, 22 home runs, 62 RBI, 124 total bases and 45 walks while posting a 1.216 slugging percentage and a .646 on-base percentage.
  • She currently owns a 1.861 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 1.216 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 .490 with 22 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 14-4 this season with a team-best 2.21 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 101.1 innings pitched while limiting opposing hitters to a .180 batting average. She went the distance in both of Arkansas’ wins against South Carolina (April 11-13) while posting a 2.86 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 14.2 innings pitched. Herron entered the weekend ranking 15th nationally in hits allowed per 7 inn. (4.49). She was recently ranked 13th nationally in the Softball America April Position Rankings.
  • She went the distance in both of Arkansas’ wins against South Carolina (April 11-13) while posting a 2.86 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 14.2 innings pitched.
  • Arkansas is 25-6 (.806) when Robyn Herron goes 5+ innings during her collegiate career.

RAKING THE WAY TO THE RECORD BOOKS

  • Through 43 games, this year’s Arkansas team ranked among the top three in program history in batting average (2nd, .338), doubles (1st, 76), slugging % (2nd, .580), on-base % (1st, .453), runs (1st, 342), sacrifice flies (1st, 28), RBI (1st, 318), total bases (2nd, 644) and walks (1st, 213). The Razorbacks’ 28 sacrifice flies are a single-season program record.
  • Entering this weekend, Arkansas ranks among the nation’s leaders in numerous categories, including hit-by-pitch (12th, 44), runs per game (7th, 7.95), SAC flies (4th, 28), on-base percentage (3rd, .453), RBI per game (5th, 7.40), walks (5th, 213) and slugging percentage (14th, .581).

KEEPING IT CLEAN

  • Arkansas has posted a program-record .986 fielding percentage this season with 14 errors in 1,020 chances through 43 games. The Hogs’ .986 fielding percentage leads the country entering the week. Arkansas has not committed errors in 29 of its 43 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

  • Arkansas is 220-3 when scoring eight or more runs since 2002, including a 153-1 mark during the Courtney Deifel era (2016-present).
  • The Razorbacks are on a 91-game winning streak when scoring 8+ runs. The last loss the Razorbacks had when accomplishing the feat was a 12-11 loss to Oklahoma State on Feb. 11, 2021, during the season opener at the Best on the Bayou Classic in Monroe, La.

MCDOWELL WOWS

  • Freshman infielder Ella McDowell has wasted no time making her presence known as a Razorback. The Richmond, Texas product is batting .392 with 51 hits, eight doubles, a triple, six home runs, 44 RBI and 17 walks while posting a .608 slugging percentage and a .467 on-base percentage.
  • She went 2-4 with a double and two runs scored in a 7-0 win at Central Arkansas.
  • Herron became just the fourth freshman in program history to drive in five runs in a single game during Friday’s series-opening win over No. 10/11 South Carolina with a 2-4 night that featured a bases-clearing double.
  • 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.

For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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