Hogs face tough challenge at Auburn
FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas baseball team has been leading the Southeastern Conference West since opening conference play with a three-game sweep of Kentucky at home.
But the No. 3 Razorbacks (34-11, 14-7) aren’t running away with the division.
No. 18 Auburn (31-14, 12-9), No. 19 LSU (30-14, 12-9) and No. 21 Texas A&M (28-15, 129) are all within two games of Arkansas with nine SEC games remaining.
“We’ve got to keep getting better,” Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said after Missouri State won 6-4 at Baum-Walker Stadium on Tuesday night. “We’re a good team, we’re not special.”
LSU and the Aggies already had their shot at Arkansas, with the Razorbacks sweeping three games from the Tigers at home and taking one of three games at Texas A&M.
Auburn opens a three-game series against Arkansas at 7 tonight at Plainsman Park looking to close the gap on the Razorbacks.
“I think it’s really even,” Van Horn said of the West race. “I think a lot of the teams are very talented, especially on the weekends. I think it’ll probably go down to the last weekend — probably the last game.”
Auburn managed to win one of three games at No. 1 Tennessee (40-4, 19-2) last weekend. The Tigers lost the opener 17-4, then won 8-6 and lost 5-3.
“Our work is cut out for us,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said of facing the Razorbacks. “Hopefully, by sharpening our axe at Tennessee, we’re even more prepared.”
Auburn is 19-7 at home and has won six consecutive at Plainsman Park. During the streak that includes beating No. 23 Vanderbilt, Samford, Alabama State and Kennesaw (Ga.) State once each and a threegame sweep of South Carolina, the Tigers have outscored their opponents 48-16 and batted .310 with a 1.69 ERA.
“They’ve been playing good,” Van Horn said. “They’re hard to beat. They’re not scared. They’re not intimidated. They’ve got older kids. It’s going to be tough down there.”
Auburn senior first baseman Sonny DiChiara, a transfer from Samford, leads the SEC with a .436 batting average and has 13 home runs and 40 runs batted in. DiChiara, 6-1 and 263 pounds, also leads the SEC with a .597 on-base percentage thanks to a conference-best 50 walks.
“He (transferred) from a smaller school, but if you can hit, you can hit, and he can hit,” Van Horn said. “He’s powerful. He knows the strike zone.”
Auburn junior right-hander Mason Barnett (2-1, 4.19 ERA) will start for the Tigers tonight in place of injured Hayden Mullens against Arkansas senior right-hander Connor Noland (5-3, 2.72 ERA).
The Razorbacks’ rotation remains the same as it has throughout the SEC schedule with freshman left-hander Hagen Smith (6-2, 3.75 ERA) going against Auburn right-hander Trace Bright (2-4, 4.29 ERA) on Saturday and sophomore righthander Jaxon Wiggins (5-1, 5.75 ERA) going against Joseph Gonzalez (6-1, 2.30 ERA) on Sunday.
Wiggins is staying in the rotation despite struggling in the last four starts when he combined to go 12 1/3 innings against Florida, LSU, Texas A&M and Ole Miss and allowed 17 runs, 24 hits and 11 walks.
Wiggins also has four starts this season in which he went six or more innings, including a 3-0 victory over Kentucky, and his fastball can hit 99 miles per hour. He has 59 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings.
“I just feel like he’s going to flip the switch.” Van Horn said. “His stuff’s good. He actually threw some really good breaking balls (in three innings against Ole Miss), but you’ve got to land more of them because there’s two philosophies against him — take until you get a strike early or jump that first fastball and try to hit it as hard as you can. We’ve seen everything.
“The key for him is to be able to throw off-speed pitches early in the count and finish guys with fastballs … More than anything, you’ve just got to throw strikes. If he does that, he’ll be good.”
Van Horn said he won’t talk to the Razorbacks about being 4-5 in SEC road games.
“I don’t feel like I need to put that on them,” Van Horn said. ‘They know that every game is big from here on in, especially where we sit.
“I don’t feel like I need to give these guys any speeches. I think they get it.”