HawgBeat Preview: Hogs, 'Horns renew rivalry for midweek series
Arkansas hits the road for a tough midweek series at Texas this week. Here is a preview of those two games…
Schedule (TV)
Tuesday, March 19 - 6:30 p.m. CT (Longhorn Network)
Wednesday, March 20 - 6:30 p.m. CT (Longhorn Network)
Both of the midweek games will be televised on the Longhorn Network, a channel that a lot of Arkansas fans don’t have in their cable package. They’ll be also streamed on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app (links above), but will require log-in information for a video service provider that includes the Longhorn Network.
One option for fans is signing up for a five-day free trial of Playstation Vue, a streaming service that can be used on a variety of devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV. Fans in Oklahoma and Texas need to sign up for the “Core” package, while fans in Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico must sign up for the “Elite” package. All other locations require purchase of the $10 “Sports Pack,” which likely wouldn’t come with the free trial.
Weather Report
According to the Weather Channel, it should be beautiful conditions for both games. Temperatures will be close to 70 when the games start and they’ll remain in the 60s throughout their entirety. There is no chance of rain and only light winds are predicted.
Arkansas’ Starting Pitchers (season stats)
Tuesday - Fr. LHP Patrick Wicklander (7 games/3 starts, 2-1, 2.45 ERA, 29 K/9 BB, 18 1/3 IP)
Wednesday - TBA
Casey Opitz’ walk-off single Sunday afternoon not only completed the sweep over Missouri, but it ensured the Razorbacks would have a solid starter for their first midweek game against Texas.
Had the game gone to extra innings, Wicklander would have come out of the bullpen and there’s no telling how long he would have pitched.
“These games are a lot more important than midweek games,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “We want to win every game we play, but if we have a shot at winning a conference game, we’ll throw everybody we have and pitch an outfielder on Tuesday if we have to.”
The freshman from San Jose, Calif., will be starting a midweek game for the fourth straight week and will try to turn in a similar outing as his last two, as he gave up just one hit and struck out eight in five shutout innings against Charlotte and replicated that against Western Illinois.
As far as the bullpen goes, the only pitcher likely to be unavailable is junior Jacob Kostyshock because he threw 33 pitches in 2 1/3 innings Sunday. That means there’s a chance Matt Cronin could pitch if a save situation arises.
However, he and some of the other older primary relievers - such as Kole Ramage and Kevin Kopps -probably won’t pitch Wednesday because Van Horn doesn’t want it to limit their availability this weekend against Alabama.
There is a good chance it will be a bullpen day, similar to last Wednesday’s game against Western Illinois. Redshirt sophomore Angus Denton started that game, with sophomore Zebulon Vermillion and freshmen Evan Taylor, Elijah Trest and Liam Henry following him.
“We’ll probably throw a couple of our younger guys and just see if we have a chance to win it,” Van Horn said. “We’ll do what we have to do at the end.”
In the Polls
This will be a top-10 matchup, as Texas is No. 9 and Arkansas is No. 10 in the latest HawgBeat Composite Poll. Individually, the Longhorns are ranked as high as No. 4 by Baseball America, while the Razorbacks are ranked as high as No. 8 by the NCBWA.
Scouting the Opponent
Texas’ starting pitchers (season stats)
Tuesday - Fr. RHP Jack Neely (4 games/0 starts, 0-0, 6.23 ERA, 6 K/5 BB, 4 1/3 IP)
Wednesday - TBA
Coming off a trip to the College World Series, Texas was picked to finish fourth by the coaches in the nine-team Big 12 conference.
A drop-off was expected in part because the Longhorns lost Golden Spikes finalist Kody Clemens to the MLB Draft. However, third-year head coach David Pierce has them off to a 15-7 start with a sweep of LSU and a series win over preseason Big 12 favorite Texas Tech.
Pierce, of course, was tasked with replacing legendary coach Augie Garrido and joining a coaching lineage that also includes Cliff Gustafson, Bibb Falk and Billy Disch.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Pierce,” Van Horn said. “He’s done a great job since he’s been there. That’s a tough place (to coach), a lot of expectations there. I think it’ll be a good two-game series.”
As for this week’s matchup, Arkansas will face a 6-foot-9, 220-pound freshman. Although his overall numbers aren’t impressive, Neely’s best outing came against now-No. 3 Stanford, when he struck out six and allowed only one unearned run on one hit in 3 1/3 innings of a game Texas lost 8-1.
Much like the Razorbacks, Texas is going with a “TBA” for Game 2 of the series. Sophomore right-hander Matt Whelan (3.38 ERA in 16 innings) started the Longhorns’ last midweek game and would likely be an option, but he threw 36 pitches in two innings against Texas Tech on Sunday.
A couple of the top relievers Arkansas could face include freshman right-hander Ty Madden and sophomore right-hander Kamron Fields.
Madden has an impressive 0.52 ERA in 17 1/3 innings and threw 1 2/3 innings over the weekend, but only six pitches on Sunday and 15 pitches on Friday. Fields - who has a 1.46 ERA, 0.58 WHIP and is holding opponents to a .051 batting average in 12 1/3 innings - pitched three innings on Friday.
Offensively, the Longhorns don’t have a single player hitting above .300. Instead, their top three hitters are in the .280 range.
Junior right fielder Austin Todd leads the way with a .289 batting average, two home runs and a team-high 21 RBIs, while junior third baseman Ryan Reynolds is right behind him at .288, but with only one home run and nine RBIs.
Texas is also getting a solid contribution from freshman left fielder Eric Kennedy, who is hitting .284 with two home runs and 16 RBIs. He is 5 for 5 stealing bases, as well.
Although he doesn’t have many hits and is batting just .243, junior center fielder Duke Ellis has drawn 26 walks and has a team-high .448 on-base percentage. He’s a guy Arkansas will want to keep off the bases because he is also a perfect 7 for 7 on stolen base attempts.
Van Horn said he is excited to see the Longhorns’ renovated Disch-Falk Field and is hopeful the environment will help prepare his team for future road series in SEC play.
“They’ve got a really good team and it’s going to be great crowds,” Van Horn said. “Hopefully it’ll help us maybe handle the crowds at Alabama or wherever down the road. I think it’ll be a good experience for our team.”
Renewing the Rivalry
Arkansas and Texas playing in any sport will always make older fans’ blood boil, as the two used to be fierce rivals in the Southwest Conference. Although the younger generation - which includes the current players - never experienced the rivalry firsthand, it is still a matchup the gets everyone fired up.
One reason it’s a big deal to players is because many of them are from the Lone Star State. The Razorbacks have 10 players on their roster from Texas, including third baseman Jacob Nesbit.
The Coppell, Texas, native grew up cheering for a different Big 12 program, but his disdain for the Longhorns is the same as fans who grew up during the SWC days. He said his parents will be making the trip for the midweek series.
“I have always hated Texas,” Nesbit said. “I grew up a Texas Tech fan, my parents went there and everything, so when ever we would play Texas, we would have a big watch party because we were never really fond of UT.”
Heston Kjerstad is from Amarillo, Texas, and provided the highlight of the 2018 series in Omaha, when he knocked over Jake McKenzie at first base.
After nearly a three-hour weather delay in that game, Arkansas erased an early one-run deficit and crushed the Longhorns 11-5 to complete a three-game sweep for the season. The Razorbacks also won the two regular-season games in Fayetteville 13-4 and 7-5.
“I think we caught them when they were down a little bit and we were playing pretty good,” Van Horn said. “Then in Omaha, anything could have happened. … It was just a great ballgame, and then we had a long delay and things just went our way after that.”
Despite actually playing for Arkansas during the height of the Razorbacks’ rivalry with Texas, Van Horn said he doesn’t quite feel the same as the fans. To him, it’s just another non-conference matchup with a top-tier program.
“I get more pumped up about playing teams in our league,” Van Horn said. “To me, it’s like playing Oklahoma State or Oklahoma - they’re just good programs, good teams, big-name schools and obviously you’d like to get a win, but I don’t feel any extra excitement or anxiety or whatever.”
Road Trip
The midweek games against Texas begin a six-game road trip for Arkansas that just so happens to coincide with the university’s spring break. This is the second straight year the Razorbacks have hit the road during that week, as they played Charlotte before heading to Florida last season.
“Whenever we finish spring break on the road, we like to go on the road,” Van Horn said. “No reason to stay around here and play games. We might as well go on the road and then we can get somebody back, maybe, as far as games the next year or down the road.”
Although they will take a charter plane to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the weekend series, Van Horn said the Razorbacks would fly into Houston on Monday and then head to Austin.
“We just felt like there’s no rush getting there,” Van Horn said. “We don’t need to be that spoiled that we need to charter right into Austin (on Monday). Save the athletic department a little money.”
Stat of the Midweek
Including a meeting between the two schools at the 2012 Houston College Classic, Arkansas has actually won four straight games against its former Southwest Conference foe.
Before last season, the Razorbacks had never won more than two consecutive games in the series and that had happened only seven times. According to Texas’ media guide, which has data going back to the early 1900s, the Longhorns lead the all-time series 74-36.
Stat Comparison - Arkansas | Texas (national rank, out of 297 teams)
Batting average: .294 (38th) | .249 (190th)
Slugging percentage: .457 (30th) | .352 (199th)
On-base percentage: .394 (50th) | .363 (141st)
Home runs: 18 (t-43rd) | 11 (t-127th)
Runs/game: 7.3 (38th) | 5.7 (147th)
ERA: 2.74 (17th) | 2.97 (20th)
WHIP: 1.02 (5th) | 1.25 (38th)
Strikeouts/9 innings: 11.3 (2nd) | 8.9 (100th)
Strikeout-to-walk ratio: 4.13 (4th) | 1.97 (135th)
Fielding percentage: .971 (98th) | .962 (203rd)
Stolen bases/game: 1.95 (27th) | 1.23 (t-115th)
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