Arkansas’ 14-game homestand rolls on with a series against Stony Brook. Here is a preview of the three games…
Schedule (TV)
Friday, March 1 - 1 p.m. CT (SECN+)
Friday, March 1 - TBA (SECN+)
Saturday, March 2 - 2 p.m. (SECN+)
For the second time in three weeks, cold weather and winter precipitation forced Arkansas to modify its schedule. This week, the Razorbacks moved their Sunday game up to Friday for a doubleheader.
(UPDATE: Arkansas has moved Saturday's game up an hour to 2 p.m. in an effort to get the game in before rain moves into Northwest Arkansas.
All three games will be streamed on SEC Network-plus, meaning they can be watched online on ESPN3.com or on the WatchESPN app.
Arkansas’ Starting Rotation (season stats)
Friday (1) - R-Jr. RHP Isaiah Campbell (2 games/2 starts, 2-0, 5.23 ERA, 10 K/2 BB, 10 1/3 IP)
Friday (2) - R-Jr. RHP Cody Scroggins (2 games/1 start, 0-0, 7.71 ERA, 10 K/3 BB, 4 2/3 IP)
Saturday - Fr. RHP Connor Noland (2 games/2 starts, 0-0, 2.08 ERA, 9 K/3 BB, 8 2/3 IP)
The schedule change also forced head coach Dave Van Horn to shake up the starting rotation. Although it will be the same three pitchers from last weekend, he’s going with a different order.
Campbell is back in his Game 1 spot after starting Game 2 at USC because of how the schedule laid out and Noland is still starting Game 3 even though he is still considered Arkansas’ No. 2 starter.
With a doubleheader on Friday, Van Horn did not want to pitch the freshman a day early. Instead, Scroggins will get the ball eight days after a solid start in Los Angeles.
Although he allowed three earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, Van Horn said he looked “really good” the first three innings and got squeezed in the fourth or he might have escaped that inning unscathed. The goal is to extend him a little more this week.
“We’re trying to build him up,” Van Horn said. “”He really went almost four innings and we would like to see him go five, so we’ll see if we can get five out of him, but just get us off to a good start at a minimum.”
Making their third starts of the season, Campbell and Noland could go 90-95 pitches depending on how cold it is and how easy they get through their innings.
That means junior right-hander Jacob Kostyshock will come out of the bullpen for the second straight weekend. He allowed his first earned run of the season in 3 2/3 innings of relief against USC and Van Horn said he is comfortable with that role.
“He came in with really good stuff and a great attitude,” Van Horn said. “He looked like a guy that wants the ball whenever it is - whether it’s the eighth and the ninth, the ninth, the fifth through the ninth - whatever it takes, and he’s going to be that guy this weekend.”
In the Polls
Arkansas moved up one spot in a couple of the college baseball polls after winning the USC series, but it wasn’t enough to move it up from No. 16 in the HawgBeat Composite Poll. Stony Brook is unranked.
Weather Report
The Razorbacks will have to wait at least a few more days before finally getting some good weather to play in. According to the Weather Channel, it will be 45 degrees at first pitch of the doubleheader, with the temperature peaking at 48 and then settling in the low 40s by the end of the second game.
Rain could be an issue Saturday, as there is a 60 percent chance of precipitation at 3 p.m. It will be 49 degrees at the start of that game.
Scouting the Opponent
Stony Brook’s starting rotation (season stats)
Friday (1) - R-Jr. RHP Greg Marino (2 games/2 starts, 1-1, 6.10 ERA, 8 K/3 BB, 10 1/3 IP)
Friday (2) - Jr. RHP Brian Herrmann (2 games/2 starts, 1-0, 7.45 ERA, 10 K/2 BB, 9 2/3 IP)
Saturday - TBA
Most college baseball fans remember Stony Brook as the 4-seed that knocked off LSU in the super regionals back to reach the 2012 College World Series.
That may seem like a fluke on the surface, but the Seawolves have a solid baseball program led by veteran head coach Matt Senk. Now in his 29th season, he has led them from Division III to Division II to Division I and has won more than 800 games with a .599 winning percentage.
This year’s team was picked to finish second behind Hartford in the seven-team America East conference and is off to a 3-3 start.
As many northern teams do, Stony Brook has been on a tour through the southeast to begin the season. Although it lost its series at Southeastern Louisiana last weekend, it won two of three at Florida International on opening weekend - a series that stands out to Van Horn.
“We just know that they play good baseball,” Van Horn said. “It’s tough beating a team from the Miami area who’s had some really good recruiting classes the last couple of years. … It’ll be a big challenge for us.”
One reason for the high expectations in 2019 is the return of junior shortstop Nick Grande, who hit .377 and stole 32 bases last season to earn first-team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball.
However, he is off to a rough start - 5 for 23 (.217) with one home run and two RBIs - and Van Horn said there are a few other guys in the Seawolves’ lineup who will likely prove to be a challenge.
“Everybody’s got somebody and usually more than we know about,” Van Horn said. “There’s always some guys a little better than maybe the scouting reports, or stuff is a little better on the mount, or they’re a little better runners or defensively than we thought, especially early in the year.”
Junior center fielder Michael Wilson has been Stony Brook’s top hitter. He earned America East Player of the Week after the FIU series, in which he hit a game-winning home run, and leads the team in all three Triple Crown categories: .385 batting average, three home runs and nine RBIs
Another player who has played well of late is junior first baseman Chris Hamilton, who went hitless in his first seven at bats but has gone 7 for 15 since, including an opposite-field home run against SELA.
The Seawolves also have a pair of Brandons - second baseman Jofsky and right fielder Alamo - who are hitting .350 through six games.
On the mound, their first two starters - Marino and Herrmann - were also in the rotation last year and had ERAs of 4.18 and 3.46, respectively, but neither are off to great starts this season.
They have done much better than their previous Game 3 starter, as JUCO transfer and left-hander Jared Milch allowed a whopping 11 earned runs on 11 hits and five walks in only three innings across two starts. That is likely why Stony Brook has a “TBA” for that game against Arkansas.
One possibility is freshman right-hander Nick DeGennaro, who has been a reliable arm out of the bullpen the last two weeks. In seven innings - 3 1/3 against FIU and 3 2/3 against SELA - he has given up only two earned runs and opponents are hitting just .174 against him.
Stat of the Week
The 2012 College World Series not only included Stony Brook, but it was also Van Horn’s third trip to Omaha with Arkansas. Interestingly, the Razorbacks have played almost the entire field from that year’s “elite eight” over the last two seasons.
Last year, they played conference foes Florida and South Carolina, as well as non-conference matchups with Arizona and Kent State. Arkansas posted a 11-5 record in those games - including a 5-2 mark against the Gamecocks, the team that knocked them out in the 2012 semifinals.
After this weekend, the only teams from the 2012 College World Series that the Razorbacks haven’t faced recently are Florida State and UCLA. They are 5-0 against the Seminoles with all five games coming in the postseason, most recently in the 2009 super regionals, and 0-2 against the Bruins with both losses coming in April 1999.
Stat Comparison - Arkansas | Stony Brook (national rank, out of 297 teams)
(NOTE: The NCAA has only updated the team batting averages through games played Wednesday on its website, so the ranks for other stats are an approximation.)
Batting average: .300 (41st) | .265 (116th)
Slugging percentage: .449 (58th) | .431 (75th)
On-base percentage: .405 (54th) | .325 (209th)
Home runs: 6 (t-71st) | 8 (t-34th)
Runs/game: 8.3 (t-36th) | 5.2 (t-160th)
ERA: 3.39 (77th) | 7.41 (t-245th)
WHIP: 1.15 (40th) | 1.75 (214th)
Strikeouts/9 innings: 9.5 (92nd) | 7.1 (243rd)
Strikeout-to-walk ratio: 3.72 (20th) | 1.48 (211th)
Fielding percentage: .973 (77th) | .975 (70th)
Stolen bases/game: 2.86 (10th) | 0.67 (t-196th)
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