Arkansas, Little Rock Open Two-Game Series

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will return to Baum-Walker Stadium tonight to host Little Rock for the first of two games this week against the Trojans.

The Hogs (18-4, 5-1) and Trojans will play at 6:30 p.m. tonight and then again on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Trojans are 11-10 on the season and 1-5 in league play. The Hogs swept the two games against the Trojans in 2021 winning 7-2 and 10-3 also at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Trojans won the initial meeting on April 2, 2019, when Little Rock stunned the Hogs 17-7 in Baum-Walker Stadium. The game in 2020 was canceled due to COVID.

This will be the first of six consecutive road games for the Trojans. Little Rock played three highly contested games against App State over the weekend, but the Mountaineers took two of three at Gary Hogan Field, beginning with a 14-inning 5-2 loss in which Little Rock scored the game-tying run down to its last strike in the bottom of the ninth. The Trojans rebounded to take game two 7-4 and held a 4-0 lead early in game three before late runs proved costly in a 10-5 loss Sunday.

The Trojans have struggled much of the year, but one place they haven’t had many issues is at the place. Little Rock enters this week ranked first in the Sun Belt in batting average and 19th nationally, hitting .311 as a team. The Trojans boast a .462 slugging percentage, second in the league and 65th nationally, complemented by a .391 on base percentage, also sitting second in the Sun Belt and 66th in the nation.

 The Razorbacks have a big weekend series coming up against Mississippi State at Baum-Walker Stadium beginning Friday. The Hogs have a new winning streak going with Sunday’s 6-4 win over Missouri. Prior to Saturday’s loss, Arkansas had won 12 games in a row.

Schedule

6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 29

vs. Little Rock – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats

4 p.m. Wednesday, March 30

vs. Little Rock – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats

Tune In

Both midweek games against Little Rock will stream on SEC Network+ with Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Troy Eklund (analyst) on the call. Fans can catch all the action through the ESPN app on smartphones, computers and tablets or via Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

The midweek series can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield/IMG, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM, with Phil Elson (play-by-play) and Razorback great Bubba Carpenter (analyst) on the call.

A full list of radio affiliates is available here.

Matchups

Game 1

Little Rock RHP Jacob Weatherley (1-0, 5.96 ERA) vs. Arkansas RHP Mark Adamiak (2-0, 2.08 ERA)

Game 2

Little Rock TBA vs. Arkansas TBA

Series History

Arkansas and Little Rock have met on the diamond just three times since 1960. The Razorbacks own a 2-1 series lead, with all three games having occurred at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The in-state opponents’ first clash came on April 2, 2019, when the Trojans shocked the Hogs in a 17-7 win. Last season’s pair of meetings went significantly better for the Razorbacks as Arkansas won both midweek showdowns.

Leading Off

Arkansas moved up to No. 2 in D1Baseball’s latest top-25 poll, which was released on Monday morning. The Razorbacks were also ranked second nationally in the most recent NCBWA and USA Today Coaches polls.The Hogs went a perfect 6-0 against in-state opponents last season, including a pair of wins against both Little Rock and UAPB. Arkansas also defeated UCA and Arkansas State in midweek clashes during the 2021 campaign.Dave Van Horn earned his 300th SEC win on Sunday at Mizzou. Including his years at Nebraska, Northwestern State and Central Missouri State, the Head Hog has racked up 1,139 wins at four-year institutions, which is sixth most among all active DI head coaches.RHP Mark Adamiak will make his third career start for Arkansas on Tuesday, getting the ball in game one against Little Rock. The right-hander has a 2-0 record and a 2.08 ERA in 8 2/3 innings this season, striking out eight while allowing only two runs.Arkansas’ five-game week, beginning with Tuesday and Wednesday’s contests against Little Rock, is part of a six-game homestand. The Razorbacks host Mississippi State this weekend (April 1-3) in the third SEC series of the season before wrapping up their stay at home with a midweek battle against UCA on April 5.

Quick Hitters

• Little Rock is 0-2 in midweek games this season, falling at Central Arkansas 3-1 on March 9 before dropping an 18-3 decision to Oral Roberts at home on March 16.

• Heading into the two-game midweek series, Little Rock has played 18 of its 21 games this season within the Arkansas state lines. 17 of those games have been played at Gary Hogan Field with the 18th the easy road trip to Conway to play UCA.

• Eldrige Figueroa is questionable for this week’s games with a back injury. If he does play in the games this week, he will hold the distinction as being the only player to have played in every Trojan vs. Razorback game in the series history.

• Little Rock has lost seven-straight against in-state opponents, dating back to the 7-2 win over UA-Pine Bluff on March 31, 2021. Little Rock is also looking for its first win away from Gary Hogan Field since the 7-3 win at Georgia State on May 20, 2021, a span of eight games.

• As a team, Little Rock is batting .335 with two outs in an inning as 62 of the Trojans’ 131 runs have come with two outs.

• The Trojans have been efficient at the beginning of games, outscoring the opposition 57-25 in innings one through three. But Little Rock opponents have taken advantage late in games, outscoring the Trojans 61-38 from the sixth inning on.