Series Preview: Arkansas looks to carry momentum into Charlotte series
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WHO: No. 4 Arkansas (16-4) vs. Charlotte (11-8)
WHERE: BB&T Ballpark and Hayes Stadium, Charlotte (N.C.)
WHEN: Tuesday 6:05 p.m. (CST), Wednesday 3:00 p.m. (CST)
TV: BeIN Sports on Tuesday, Cox Sports Television on Wednesday
Arkansas carries major momentum from last week into a nine-game road swing, starting with the Charlotte 49ers in a two-game midweek series this Tuesday and Wednesday. The first game will be played at BB&T Park in Uptown Charlotte, and the final game will be hosted by Hayes Stadium on Charlotte’s campus.
The Razorbacks (16-4) are coming off an undefeated week, winning five straight games against Texas and then No. 4 Kentucky. In the three game sweep of the Wildcats, the Razorbacks tallied 39 runs (the most in an SEC series since 1997) and 13 homers. Shortstop Jax Biggers and third baseman Casey Martin were honored by the SEC as Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively, on Monday.
The 49ers (11-8) won their first Conference USA series as well, taking two of three from FIU over the weekend. Charlotte is 0-4 against ranked competition this season, losing three to No. 19 East Carolina and dropping a game to No. 12 North Carolina State earlier in the season. Arkansas is the highest ranked opponent Charlotte has faced since 2006. They are 9-4 at home and 1-0 at neutral sites this season.
Arkansas righty Barrett Loseke (0-0, 11.25 ERA) will make his second start of the year on Tuesday against Charlotte’s Chase Gooding (2-0, 2.77 ERA). Neither team has announced their starter for Wednesday’s finale.
Here are three things to know about the 49ers:
Charlotte currently has the top hitter in Conference USA.
Catcher/infielder Harris Yett leads the team and conference with a .419 batting average on the year. The redshirt junior has 3 home runs and 19 RBIs as well as 8 walks and 20 runs scored. As a team, the 49ers have eight players hitting over .300 and six of the eight have played or started a majority of their games so far. Charlotte has knocked out 14 home runs as a team and are led by Jackson Mims (4) and Yett (3).
Tuesday’s starter has yet to go beyond six innings.
Charlotte is sending out junior right-hander Chase Gooding to face the vaunted Arkansas lineup for the first game of the series. Gooding is 2-0 on the year with a 2.77 ERA and 16 strikeouts and 5 walks in 13 innings on the mound. His longest outing of the season came when he pitched six innings against Sienna and gave up 2 runs on 6 hits while throwing seven strikeouts and avoiding any walks. Twice this year, Good has been pulled before the third inning. In his last outing, he threw four innings against Wake Forest and surrendered 1 run on 3 hits and struck out five.
The 49ers are coming off a hard-fought conference opening victory.
Charlotte opened their Conference USA slate with a series win over Florida International this past weekend but it didn’t come easy. In Friday’s opening game, they scored 5 runs in the bottom of the ninth, including an RBI single from infielder Tate Pennington that clinched the 10-9 walk-off victory. After a 12-6 loss on Saturday, the 49ers won another nail biter, beating the Panthers 8-6 behind a six-run fifth inning. Charlotte will now turn its attention to its second SEC opponent this year as the 49ers lost three straight to Georgia in late February.