It's a big series this weekend as one of the top teams in the country comes to Dudy-Noble: Arkansas. The Bulldogs are still in recovery mode from the injury bug that has plagued them, so winning this series would be more than huge.
AR-Kansas has barely ventured away from their friendly confines this year, playing only three games away from Fayetteville - one of them was one of their two losses on the year (Houston). The Razorbacks haven't actually played a true road game, as those three were technically neutral sites. So, UPig 0-0 on the road, MSU 14-3 at home.
Weekend pitching matchups:
Friday - (ARK) RHP D.J. Baxendale (5-0, 2.30 ERA) vs. (MSU) RHP Chris Stratton (4-0, 2.12 ERA)
Saturday - (ARK) RHP Ryne Stanek (5-0, 1.52 ERA) vs. (MSU) LHP Nick Routt (1-2, 4.05 ERA)
Sunday - (ARK) LHP Randall Fant (1-1, 4.82 ERA) vs. (MSU) RHP Kendall Graveman (2-0, 2.30 ERA)
Arkansas' best hitter (statistically, I don't watch UPig baseball) is Matt Reynolds (.366, 3HR and 16 RBI). He is also hitting .400 in his last five games which includes the opening series of SEC play vs. Alabama. Including Reynolds, they've got four starters hitting over .333 this year.
Like I mentioned in the title, the Hogs are ranked #3 in the country....they are really good. Over the same amount of games as State, they've won 5 more. They have a lot more power, hitting 19 home runs to MSU's nine. But, other than that, the stats are pretty close. They have a .291 team batting average to State's .291, and their team ERA is 2.25 to State's 2.62.
It should be a good series, hopefully the Dawgs can pull a couple of 'em out!