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Arkansas welcomes in-state foe Arkansas State to Baum-Walker Stadium for its final midweek game of the season Tuesday night. Here’s everything you need to know about the historic matchup…

First pitch: 6:30 p.m. CT

Stream: SEC Network-Plus (link)

Listen: Razorback Sports Network (click here)

Arkansas: Fr. RHP Jaxon Wiggins (12 games/0 starts, 3-0, 5.11 ERA, 16 K/9 BB, 12 1/3 IP)

Arkansas State: Fr. RHP Tyler Jeans (13 games/2 starts, 1-2, 6.41 ERA, 25 K/24 BB, 26 2/3 IP)

Head coach Dave Van Horn teased the possibility of starting Wiggins in Game 3 against Georgia, but went with the more experienced option in Caleb Bolden.

Instead, the hard-throwing freshman will have to wait until Tuesday to make is first collegiate start. A highly touted recruit, he was an effective closer for the Razorbacks earlier this season, recording four saves, but that was before Kevin Kopps emerged as arguably the top reliever in college baseball.

Wiggins hasn’t appeared the last three weekends because of how well Kopps has pitched, but he’s been available if needed. Opponents are hitting just .217 against him and even though his ERA doesn’t look great, it drops to 1.54 if you take out his rough outing at Ole Miss.

It’s unknown exactly what kind of pitch count he’ll be on, but Van Horn said he doesn’t anticipate using Wiggins in Friday’s game at Tennessee, so he could be extended.

“It’s going to be up to him and depend on pitch count and how he’s doing,” Van Horn said. “We all know he’s got great stuff. … We’ll just let him go and if it looks good, we’ll let him roll a little bit and then figure out how we’re going to handle him the rest of the weekend next Saturday and Sunday in Knoxville. We won’t let it get crazy, obviously.

Van Horn also added that he plans to use “a lot” of pitchers in the midweek matchup, but it will likely be some of the lesser used guys.

“We’re not going to do anything on the mound that’s going to hurt us going into Knoxville,” Van Horn said. “So we’ve got to have some guys step it up that didn’t pitch this weekend.”

Arkansas State is starting a freshman, as well. Jeans is a 6-foot-4 right-hander whose listed hometown is Texarkana, Ark., but he went to Pleasant Grove High on the Texas side.

He has struggled with his command this season, issuing more free passes (26 - 24 walks, 2 HBP) than strikeouts (25) and throwing five wild pitches in 26 2/3 innings. He is also allowing more than two base runners per inning (2.03 WHIP) and opponents are hitting .286 against him.

Arkansas State

Record: 16-24 (8-10 Sun Belt)

RPI:

Head coach: Tommy Raffo (13th season)

Series history: first meeting

Top Hitters

~C/1B Liam Hicks: .398/.523/.602, 5 HR, 24 RBI

~3B Ben Klutts: .323/.404/.516, 5 HR, 22 RBI

~RF Tyler Duncan: .317/.401/.559, 9 HR, 47 RBI

~Not only is this the first time Arkansas has ever faced Arkansas State in baseball, it’s also the first time the two schools have played during the regular season in any of the major sports since Jan. 3, 1983, when the Razorbacks beat the Red Wolves in women’s hoops. They’ve never played in football, either, and the last regular-season men’s basketball game was in 1948 - a 76-59 win for the Razorbacks.

~This matchup was made possible by athletic director Hunter Yurachek’s recent loosening of a decades-long policy against playing in-state programs in any sport. The Razorbacks have also played Little Rock, Central Arkansas and UAPB in baseball this season, going 5-0 in those games.

~On the field, Arkansas State’s strength is definitely its offense. The Red Wolves have even produced at the plate against high-caliber competition, scoring 15 runs against Oklahoma (W, 15-14), 10 runs against Mississippi State (L, 18-10) and 12 runs against Ole Miss (L, 15-12) this season.

~Last week, the Red Wolves nearly knocked off Ole Miss in a midweek game. An eight-run outburst in the sixth inning pulled them within 11-10, but they promptly gave up four runs over the next two innings. Arkansas State actually brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth, but couldn’t get it done.

~Pitching has been a major struggle for Arkansas State this season. Opponents are hitting .291/.404/.452 against the Red Wolves, leading to a 7.29 ERA and 1.85 WHIP - marks that rank among the bottom 20 teams in Division I.

~As an in-state program, Arkansas State’s roster is loaded with players from the Natural State. That list includes five regular starters in the field: Blake McCutchen (Cabot), Jaylon Deshazier (Pine Bluff), Sky-Lar Culver (Mountain Home), Drew Tipson (Bryant) and Jared Toler (Benton/Harmony Grove).

~This will be Arkansas’ first midweek game in nearly a month. Matchups with Grambling State (April 20) and Missouri State (April 27) were canceled because of weather and COVID-19 issues within the Bears’ program, respectively.

~For the fifth straight week, Arkansas is the unanimous No. 1 team in college baseball, meaning it also took the top spot in the Rivals Composite Poll.

Van Horn, on his assessment of Arkansas State:

“I watched them play last week. I looked at their numbers. They’re scoring runs. I saw them score eight runs in one inning against Ole Miss last Tuesday. … They looked physical to me. They’ve got some older kids. They’ve got a left-handed hitter that’s hitting everything. … It’ll be a battle on Tuesday. It’s tough, especially this time of the year in between conference games.”

Van Horn, on his approach to the historical matchup:

“We’re going to approach it like this is going to be a tough game. I already talked about it to the team after the game, that Arkansas State is coming in Tuesday and we better be ready to go. These guys will get after us if not. It’s going to be a good ballgame.”

Van Horn, on his relationship with Arkansas State head coach Tommy Raffo:

“I don’t know him real well. We’ve talked over the years. I know he was with Coach Polk down there at Mississippi State and has done a good job at Arkansas State. When I called him a couple years ago and told him it looks like we get to start playing, he was all in and I appreciate that.”

Arkansas didn’t hit a home run in the first two games of the Georgia series, giving it a season-long three-game drought, but ended that streak with two critical homers in the series finale.

That gives the Razorbacks 78 home runs through 45 games, which is still well ahead of the pace when they broke the school record in 2018. That season, they had only 69 home runs at this point of the year and they didn’t hit No. 78 until the 53rd game.