Hogs opt for tough road prep
FAYETTEVILLE — Normally, University of Arkansas baseball Coach Dave Van Horn looks to schedule a home series the weekend before conference play.
Not this year. Not after UA athletics landed the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which are being held this weekend at the Randal Tyson Track Center adjacent to baseball’s Baum-Walker Stadium.
So the No. 1 Razorbacks (10-0) are on the road this weekend, taking on a dangerous Louisiana Tech (8-3) team led by Lane Burroughs, who worked on Van Horn’s staff at Northwestern (La. ) State in 1997. All available tickets, approximately 1,000, have been sold for the series at the new J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, rebuilt after a tornado totaled the facility in April 2019.
“It’s a tough environment,” Van Horn said. “It’ll be packed. It’ll be loud. I’m sure they’re going to promote where we’re rated and ranked, and I think that we’re going to get a real feel for what it’s like to be on the road in a tough environment.
“It’s not like we’re going to a place where we know we’re going to roll in there and win two out of three even if we don’t play well. We’ll have to play really
well to win two out of three, like in conference, just because of the maturity of their team and the talent they have.”
If the entire three-game set is played, Arkansas will have played six games away from home and seven games at Baum-Walker, the kind of scheduling that beefs up RPI rankings.
The Bulldogs will host Arkansas for three, then Ole Miss — which was No. 1 in some polls earlier this season — for games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“To get Arkansas here for a weekend and then Ole Miss back to back, it’s something we couldn’t turn down,” Burroughs said. “I know it’s tough. It’s going to be hard to navigate those five games.
“It’s a super regional-type deal. You don’t have to be better than them for a week. You’ve got to be better than them for two nights. That’s the way we’re going to look at it this weekend.”
The Razorbacks will send sophomore right-hander Peyton Pallette (1-0, 1.35 ERA) to the mound for his second consecutive Friday start. His first two outings in the middle of the weekend rotation against Texas and Southeast Missouri State went better than his start last week against Murray State in cold, windy conditions. He allowed 4 hits, 3 walks and his first 2 earned runs while striking out 10 in 88 pitches in a 7-6 victory.
Still, Burroughs gave Pallette a complimentary comparison to former Vanderbilt star and current Los Angeles Dodgers ace Walker Buehler.
“Oh my god,” Burroughs said. “Watching the Friday night guy down there a little while ago, we pulled him up … but it looks like Walker Buehler pitching. It’s real. We’ve got all the reports and talked to all the people who’ve seen them play out in Arlington.”
Louisiana Tech will counter with 6-3 left-hander Jonathan Fincher (2-0, 1.20), who has a 1.00 WHIP, 22 strikeouts and 4 walks in 15 innings.
“Big, strong left-hander,” Van Horn said. “Just fills up the zone. His numbers are good. He sinks it. He pitches in to righties. He’s doing a great job. That’s why he’s throwing first. He’s a senior, like just about everybody we’re going to see.”
Louisiana Tech has won seven of its past eight games, with its only loss in that span a 7-2 setback at Louisiana-Lafayette. The Bulldogs rallied from a 3-1 deficit with a seven-run seventh inning to wallop Louisiana-Monroe 10-3 on the road Tuesday.
The Bulldogs, who are ranked 23rd in the country with a .313 team batting average, have a handful of heavy hitters, led by outfielder Philip Matulia (.429, 2 HR, 13 RBI), shortstop Alex Ray (.367, 3 RBI), designated hitter Manny Garcia (.342, 2, 11), second baseman Taylor Young (.340, 4, 10) and third baseman Hunter Wells (.333, 3, 8). The Bulldogs have hit 17 home runs and allowed five.
Arkansas has shown a propensity for late rallies, with four victories after trailing in the eighth inning or later.
Van Horn said he was uncertain of who would start at some of the unsettled positions in his lineup, but indicated he might lean toward having right-handed hitting senior Braydon Webb (.056) in left field, largely due to his defense. In Sunday’s series finale against Murray State, the Razorbacks started Jacob Nesbit (.100, 1, 3) at third base, Cullen Smith (.310, 1, 8) at first base and Brady Slavens (.316, 4, 11) in right field.
However, he might opt to put Cayden Wallace (.176, 2, 4) back in right field, where he’s made nine starts, and shuffle the corner infielders again.
Catcher Casey Opitz (.379, 5 extra-base hits, 3 RBI), second baseman Robert Moore (.375, 3, 8), shortstop Jalen Battles (.316, 10 RBI), designated hitter Matt Goodheart (.316, 1, 3) and Christian Franklin (.308, 3, 11) are among the eight Razorbacks’ regulars hitting .300 or better.
Matt Jones of Whole Hog Sports contributed to this report.