Hogs home vs. higher-ranked Tigers
FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville, and its high school from which Carson Shaddy graduated, is almost as close as it gets in Arkansas to being farthest from Louisiana.
Chris Shaddy, Carson’s father and a former stellar Razorback shortstop, played during Arkansas’ Southwest Conference era but never against the LSU Tigers.
Yet Carson Shaddy, the Razorbacks’ fourth-year junior second baseman, said he was “raised to hate LSU,” the Razorbacks’ weekend opponent at Baum Stadium in games at 6:30 tonight, 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
“I try to show it as much as I can through my passion for the game and for this university,” said Shaddy, hitting .323 with seven home runs. “You’ll see a lot of passion this weekend.”
Literally see it since the Razorbacks anticipate Baum about bursting with fans this weekend.
“Man, I can’t wait to get under these lights with the Baum faithful,” Shaddy said. “They love their Hogs and we love them. There’s nothing better than playing in Fayetteville.”
Blaine Knight (Bryant), tonight’s Arkansas starting pitcher, expressed similar Arkansas love/LSU antipathy.
So does third baseman Jared Gates, who arrived last fall via Wichita, Kan. and Iowa Western Community College.
“Oh, yeah,” Gates said. “I’ve been around these guys long enough to know that these guys (LSU Tigers) aren’t the good guys. I’m ready as well.”
Even at 5-4 in the SEC, coach Paul Mainieri’s Tigers come so loaded with talent and tradition to be ranked 13th in the USA Today coaches poll while Dave Van Horn’s Razorbacks, 7-2 in the SEC after going 3-0 against Mississippi State and 2-1 against Missouri and Alabama, are 15th.
“They were preseason ranked in the top five on every poll,” Van Horn said. “I think seven of their starting position players back. They actually had I think two, maybe three, of their position players turn down the draft.”
LSU first baseman-outfielder Greg Deichmann, .321 with nine home runs, and Saturday left-handed starter Jared Poche,
6-1, 1.15 ERA, stunned the college baseball world turning down Major League draft money to return as seniors.
Junior right-hander Alex Lange, with talent and past success, including two outings over Arkansas belying his current
3-3 record, starts for the Tigers tonight.
“Lange’s an outstanding pitcher,” Van Horn said. “The first couple of times he’s gotten us and we haven’t been able to
get to him. He’s a projected first-round pick and he’s got first-round stuff.”
Sophomore Knight, 4-1,
2.23 ERA with an incredible
48 strikeouts vs. two walks, is awfully tough, too. Knight’s
2016-to-2017 contrast epitomizes the resurgent Razorbacks already winning as many SEC games as last season, when Arkansas finished 7-23 and last in the league.
“His attitude is so much stronger,” Shaddy said. “People don’t look at him as this skinny little guy who sometimes can run it up to 93. They look at him as a dog on the mound who can run it up to 97 and he’s going to get you out with his best stuff. He’s not afraid to go at you.”
Knight certainly hasn’t pitched afraid or acted afraid.
“We’ve been confident all year long and I think it’s going to carry through,” Knight said. “We are not scared of these guys. We know we’re better than them, so we’re ready to get going.”
Actually, Knight, 2-1, 2.98 ERA, pitched pretty well for a struggling team last season but says he pitches better now because he’s succeeding to throw harder without really trying.
“Not trying to do too much has helped me out,” Knight said. “Just learn how to spot up every pitch and not try to burn everything by everybody because you aren’t going to beat anybody with just fast ball in this league. They can catch up to 100 (miles per hour) very easily. I don’t throw 100 and so I don’t try to anymore.”
Right-handers Trevor Stephan, 4-2, 2.92, and Josh Alberius, 2-3, 3.64, start for the Razorbacks Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
All of Arkansas’ games are on the Razorbacks’ radio network and this weekend on the Internet at SEC +.