Game Preview: Hogs head west for first road action of season
Kentucky surges past Arkansas with big second half run, 87-72
VIDEO: Postgame | Kentucky 87, Arkansas 72
SEC takes notice as Gafford leads Hogs to two big victories
WHAT: No. 3 Arkansas (3-0) vs. Arizona (3-0)
WHERE: Tony Gwynn Stadium, San Diego (Calif.)
WHEN: Wednesday 9 p.m. (CST)
TV: Cox Sports Television
Arkansas hits the road for the first time this season to battle the Arizona Wildcats Wednesday night on the campus of San Diego State. The Wildcats defeated Arkansas 3-0 in the first game of the Frisco Classic last season.
The Razorbacks (3-0) made easy work of the Bucknell Bison in their first series of the season, scoring the most combined runs in an opening series since 1997. Arizona, however, will represent a much higher level of competition.
The Wildcats enter the game 3-0 after sweeping Bryant to open the season. Arizona outscored the Bulldogs 19 to 2 in the three-game series. Like Arkansas, the Wildcats will play in the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament following this matchup.
Razorback lefty Kacey Murphy is expected to take the mound for the first time in 2018. Murphy had a career-best 3.65 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 19 appearances last season. Arizona’s starter has yet to be announced.
Here are three things to know about the undefeated Wildcats:
Arizona was picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12.
The Wildcats finished 16-14 in Pac-12 play last season for the second consecutive year and were the only team in the conference to make the NCAA tournament in both of those seasons. This year, the conference’s coaches selected Arizona to finish in fourth place behind Oregon State, UCLA and Stanford.
First baseman Alfonso Rivas is highly touted.
Rivas was named first-team preseason All-American by NCBWA, second team by D1 Baseball and third team by Baseball America. His 63 RBIs last season were the most by a Wildcat underclassman since 2003. This season, he’s off to a bit of a slow start, hitting .200 with 3 RBIs and 2 walks.
Arizona relied on arms in their opening series sweep of Bryant.
Despite not hitting a single home run as a team, Arizona managed to beat Bryant easily in three straight games on the back of their pitching rotation. Their pitchers finished with an ERA of 0.67 with 23 strikeouts and 13 walks. Juniors Cody Deason, Michael Flynn and Avery Weems got the three victories, combining for 11 strikeouts and 8 walks while only allowing 1 run in 17.3 innings pitched. Their Wednesday starter is TBA.