PREVIEW: Hogs hit the road to face Louisiana Tech

College Students, get a year of HawgBeat coverage for just $11.95. Request details via email from your school account (.edu) to nchavanelle@yahoo.com.

Not a subscriber? Subscribe for free for 30 days w/code HAWGS30
NEW USERS | RETURNING USERS

HawgBeat's coverage of the Diamond Hogs' Road to Omaha is brought to you by CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers, which has locations in Fayetteville and Russellville.

Arkansas hits the road for a three-game series at Louisiana Tech this weekend. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup…

Schedule (TV)

Friday, March 12 - 6 p.m. CT (CST/ESPN+)

Saturday, March 13 - 2 p.m. CT (CST/ESPN+)

Sunday, March 14 - 1 p.m. CT (CST/ESPN+)

All three games will be televised on Cox Sports TV and streamed on ESPN-Plus, which is ESPN’s subscription service that costs about $6/month.

Weather Report

Arkansas will get beautiful baseball weather for the first two days of the series. Even with a late start Friday, it will be 73 degrees at first pitch of Game 1, according to The Weather Channel, with temperatures only dipping into the upper-60s by the end of the game and not much wind to speak of.

It will be a little bit windy and cloudy for Game 2, but it’ll still be in the mid- to upper-70s at first pitch.

The issue is on Sunday, as scattered thunderstorms are expected to be in the area, with a 60 percent chance of rain in Ruston, La. That has led to speculation that the two teams might try to play a doubleheader Saturday.

As of Wednesday, they hadn’t had any formal discussions about that, but both head coaches acknowledged they had seen the forecast. Head coach Dave Van Horn was very receptive to the idea of playing a doubleheader because they haven’t played one yet and he knows it’ll likely happen at some point during SEC play.

“Sometimes it’s good to get a feel for that because it’s a long day,” Van Horn said. “You’ve got to use a couple different catchers maybe and you just have to make some adjustments. Sometimes it becomes a mental thing. It wouldn’t bother me a bit if that’s what we need to do just because of the experience factor.”

Arkansas’ Starting Rotation (2021 stats)

Friday - Fr. RHP Peyton Pallette (3 games/3 starts, 1-0, 1.35 ERA, 26 K/5 BB, 13 1/3 IP)

Saturday - Jr. RHP Zebulon Vermillion (3 games/2 starts, 0-0, 1 save, 3.86 ERA, 6 K/6 BB, 9 1/3 IP)

Sunday - Sr. LHP Lael Lockhart (3 games/3 starts, 1-0, 2.77 ERA, 19 K/6 BB, 13 IP)

The Razorbacks are going back to their opening weekend rotation, but keeping Pallette in the Game 1 slot and reinserting Vermillion into Game 2.

For a breakdown on why Van Horn decided to give Vermillion another shot at starting after only one week back in the bullpen, click here.

In the Polls

With Perfect Game moving them into the top spot, the Razorbacks are now the unanimous No. 1 team in college baseball. That means they are also No. 1 in the Rivals Composite Baseball Poll, which combines the six major polls, but it’s also worth noting that they are part of an all-SEC top five.

Scouting the Opponent

Record: 8-3

Head coach: Lane Burroughs (5th season)

Louisiana Tech’s starting rotation (2021 stats)

Friday - R-Jr. LHP Jonathan Fincher (3 games/3 starts, 2-0, 1.20 ERA, 22 K/4 BB, 15 IP)

Saturday - R-Jr. RHP Ryan Jennings (3 games/3 starts, 1-0, 3.65 ERA, 14 K/2 BB, 12 1/3 IP)

Sunday - Sr. RHP Jarret Whorff (3 games/3 starts, 2-1, 2.76 ERA, 13 K/4 BB, 16 1/3 IP)

Despite it being a mid-major program in Conference USA, Van Horn said he expects Louisiana Tech to be a “really big challenge” for his No. 1-ranked Razorbacks.

They’ll be playing in front of a pandemic-sellout crowd at the new J.C. Love Field in Ruston, La., where the Bulldogs are 6-0 with sweeps over Southern and McNeese State.

“It’s a tough environment,” Van Horn said. “It’ll be packed. It’ll be loud. I’m sure they’re going to promote where we’re ranked and I think that we’re going to get a real feel for what it’s like to be on the road in a tough environment.”

After sweeping McNeese State last weekend, Louisiana Tech kept the momentum going by putting together a seven-run seventh inning to beat ULM on the road Tuesday night.

Riding a four-game winning streak, the Bulldogs are hitting .313/.413/.513 and have a 3.32 ERA as a team through 11 games.

“They’re on a little bit of a roll right now,” Van Horn said. “Statistically, they swing the bats (and) their starting pitching has been really good as far as the weekend guys.”

Offensively, Louisiana Tech has six regulars hitting .333 or higher, with left fielder Philip Matulia leading the way with an impressive .429 batting average. He also has a team-high 13 RBIs, but leadoff man and second baseman Taylor Young leads the Bulldogs with four home runs.

Even right fielder Steele Netterville, who’s hitting just .256, has shown some pop. He has three home runs - which is tied with third baseman Hunter Wells for second on the team - and is second on the team with 12 RBIs.

“They've got some guys with power up and down the lineup,” Van Horn said. “They've got a couple guys up top that can run. They'll bunt and handle the bat a little bit. I think they're going to be kind of like the teams we saw last week and the week before.”

On the mound, the Bulldogs’ three weekend starters have combined for a 2.47 ERA over the first three weeks of the season. Jonathan Fincher has the best numbers of the trio and will be getting the ball in Game 1.

“The lefty we’re going to face on Friday is a big kid,” Van Horn said. “Tall, big, strong left-hander, just fills up the zone. His numbers are good. He sinks it. He pitches in to righties. He’s doing a great job. That’s why he’s throwing first.”

Van Horn said Fincher’s velocity is around 90 miles per hour, while the Ryan Jennings and Jarret Whorff - the two right-handers starting Games 2 and 3 - throw about the same, but have a little more velocity.

Another DVH Protege

Arkansas has already faced one of Van Horn’s protege’s this season and another one will be in the opposite dugout this weekend.

The Razorbacks swept a four-game series with a Southeast Missouri State squad led by Andy Sawyers, who played for Van Horn at Nebraska. This weekend, Louisiana Tech is led by Lane Burroughs, who briefly worked for Van Horn at Northwestern State in 1997.

Van Horn spoke highly of the work Burroughs has done with the Bulldogs, saying he’s done a “tremendous job” while compiling a 128-73 mark (.637) since taking the job in 2017.

“They’ve elevated that program over the last five years - and that’s when he got there, five years ago - to more of the top of their league,” Van Horn said. “Before that, they were in the middle or maybe the other end. Maybe they’d have a good team here and there, but they’ve been good every year.”

It’s also worth noting that Burroughs’ staff includes former Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard as the recruiting coordinator and - as Van Horn described him - a “great” pitching coach in Mike Silva.

“They play in a good league…and they’re getting support from their athletic department,” Van Horn said. “They’re doing what they need to do. Lane’s a really good person and a really good coach. I’m really happy for him. Obviously I want to win them all, but I look forward to seeing him.”

Playing on the Road

Although the Razorbacks opened the season in Arlington, Texas, this will be their first true road test of the season. They bused down to Ruston, La., on Thursday.

“It's not like we're going to a place where we know we're going to roll in there and win two out of three even if we don't play well,” Van Horn said. “We'll have to play really well to win two out of three, like in conference, just because of the maturity of their team and the talent they have.”

Van Horn said he hopes that Arkansas, regardless of this weekend’s results, will be able to build off the experience and use it to get ready for when its time to travel to Mississippi State for the first SEC road series later this month.

However, playing on the road this weekend wasn’t exactly by design. With Baum-Walker Stadium located right next to the Tyson Indoor Track facility, the Razorbacks needed to get out of town because the NCAA Indoor Championship is being held in Fayetteville.

“Normally I like to play at home the last weekend before conference opens up, but five years ago I think when they put a bid in to host this NCAA championship indoor track meet and they got it, I think the NCAA wanted to make sure maybe there weren’t some other events going on in the area,” Van Horn said. “Little did they know at the time that fans weren’t going to be all over the place here.”

The baseball and track teams share the Fowler Center and with this being the 11th indoor track meet of the season - seventh college, plus four pro events - there have been several days the baseball team hasn’t been able to use it. Luckily, the weather has mostly cooperated and they’ve been able to be outside.

Stat of the Week

He hasn’t gone very deep into games so far this season, pitching only 13 1/3 innings across his three starts, but Peyton Pallette has shown the makings of a potential staff ace.

The right-hander from Benton has already racked up a whopping 26 strikeouts, averaging nearly two per inning. In fact, his 17.55 strikeouts per nine innings ranks fourth among qualifying Division I players with at least seven innings.

(NOTE: To qualify for the NCAA leaderboard, a pitcher must have at least 1 IP/team game. That is why Kevin Kopps’ 19.29 strikeouts per nine innings and Jaxon Wiggins’ 21 strikeouts per nine innings are not included.)