Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas enters week on a hot streak
FAYETTEVILLE — Bill Murray’s “Groundhog Day” movie nightmare would be the Razorbacks’ deja vu dream.
The Arkansas baseball team would love nothing better this week than to re-live last week at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The format evokes potential for similar results. Coming off taking 2 of 3 the previous Thursday through Saturday on the road against SEC West rival Auburn, the Razorbacks hosted the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans last Tuesday in a potentially emotional in-state game that the Trojans won last year.
No sweat for Dave Van Horn’s Hogs, winning 11-0.
The following Thursday through Saturday against reigning national champion and chief SEC West rival LSU, the defending SEC champion Razorbacks (23-3, 8-1 SEC) swept 7-4, 4-3 in 10 innings and 7-5. Arkansas rallied from behind each game.
This week’s schedule mirrors the last. Arkansas State, always brimming with emotion in any event against the Razorbacks, visits Baum-Walker at 6 p.m. tonight. Thursday through Saturday the Ole Miss Rebels (18-10, 3-5), traditionally up there with LSU as an Arkansas-neighboring SEC West rival, come to Baum-Walker.
Duplicating last week would be asking a lot given the up-anddown nature of baseball, but confidence-wise these Hogs obviously believe it can be done.
They click on all cylinders, pitching and hitting so effective they obscure defense, a no-less-important facet which Van Horn emphasizes. In nine SEC games the Hogs have committed but four errors. They committed none against LSU while turning five double plays.
“You talk about fielding the ball and turning double plays,” Van Horn said Saturday. “Just a really good weekend all around.”
With starters Hagen Smith, Mason Molina and Brady Tygart along with top reliever Will McEntire combining for 209 strikeouts, the defense obviously has less chances to handle. However, all those strikeouts can make the chances they do handle more difficult, Van Horn said.
“A lot of times when you have pitchers that strike a lot of people out, [the defense] can get on their heels a little bit,” Van Horn said after the Razorbacks swept Missouri at Baum-Walker. They’re thinking, ‘Oh, strikeout, he’s in a 1-2 count.’ But our guys, I think they did a great job. Made a couple diving plays.”
The return of junior second baseman Peyton Stovall, sidelined the first 12 games this season by a broken foot after missing the last 13 games of 2023 with shoulder surgery, has proven a pivotal piece of the defensive puzzle. Offensively, too. Stovall hits a team-leading .364 average with four home runs, including a 2-run shot vs. LSU on Saturday, and 17 RBI.
“We knew it was going to happen when he came back,” Van Horn said Saturday. “He’s pretty much doing it against the SEC. He didn’t get any of them [early-season] cookie games. He’s really brought a spark to our lineup and he’s brought a spark to our middle infield.”