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Published Apr 20, 2021
Arkansas-Grambling midweek game canceled
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
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***UPDATE***

Tuesday's game against Grambling has been canceled because of expected freezing temperatures. It won't be made up.

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Arkansas welcomes non-conference foe Grambling State to Baum-Walker Stadium for a single midweek game Tuesday. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup…

How to Watch

First pitch: 5 p.m. CT

Stream: SEC Network-Plus (link)

Listen: Razorback Sports network (click here)

(NOTE: The game was originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m., but it was moved up an hour and a half because of expected cold temperatures in Fayetteville.)

Pitching Matchups

Arkansas: Sr. RHP Kole Ramage (9 games/3 starts, 2-1, 7.58 ERA, 21 K/5 BB, 19 IP)

Grambling: TBA

This will be the fourth straight midweek start for Ramage. Against three in-state foes, he’s allowed four earned runs on 13 hits and two walks while striking out 13 in 10 2/3 innings. That gives him a 3.38 ERA and 1.41 WHIP as a starter this season.

The Opponent

Grambling State

Record: 11-19 (9-5 SWAC)

Head coach: James Cooper (12th season)

Series history: Razorbacks lead 7-0

Top Hitters

~Jahmoi Percival: .351/.456/.532, 3 HR, 25 RBI

~Keylon Mack: .304/.371/.571, 4 HR, 6 RBI

~Cameron Bufford: .293/.362/.488, 6 HR, 23 RBI

Notes and Tidbits

~This will be Grambling’s second game against an SEC opponent this season. Despite trailing just 1-0 through four innings, it eventually lost to Mississippi State 10-0 back on March 9. The Tigers also had a game against LSU postponed from last Tuesday to next Tuesday because of severe weather.

~It will be the second straight midweek opponent from the SWAC for Arkansas, which swept a two-game set with UAPB by a combined 38-5 score last week. The Razorbacks are now 25-0 all-time against current members of the conference, winning those games by an average margin of 9.3 runs.

~Although Arkansas has dominated the SWAC and is a perfect 7-0 against Grambling, the Tigers have proven to be a tough matchup. Three of those games were decided by just one run, including three years ago when the eventual national runner-up Razorbacks needed four runs in the eighth inning to win 7-6 and avoid an upset at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

~Grambling ranks near the bottom of Division I in most statistical categories, but is one of the top base stealing teams in the country. It averages 1.93 steals per game, which ranks 14th nationally, and has 58 total steals this season, which is tied for ninth. The Tigers have also been very efficient on the base paths, getting caught stealing only 13 times.

~For the second straight week, Arkansas is the unanimous No. 1 team in college baseball, taking the top spot in all six major polls. That means it is also No. 1 in this week’s Rivals Composite Poll, which features seven SEC teams among the top 14.

~Arkansas right fielder Cayden Wallace was named the SEC co-Freshman of the Week after going 7 for 19 with two doubles, five RBIs, four runs and two walks in four games - one against UAPB and three against Texas A&M - last week. It’s the second time he’s earned that honor this season and he’s now hit safely in 14 straight SEC games.

Quotable

Van Horn, on the historically closer-than-you’d-expect series with Grambling:

“It’s usually a pretty competitive game. They have really good athletes. A lot of times it’s like, where are we in our pitching and where are they in their pitching?”

HR Tracker

Arkansas hit another seven home runs against Texas A&M over the weekend, giving it 70 for the season. That ranks first in Division I - eight ahead of Old Dominion - and is well ahead of its pace when it hit a school-record 98 home runs in 2018.

That season, the Razorbacks had only 57 long balls through their first 36 games and they didn’t hit No. 70 until their 46th game.

Arkansas-Grambling Stat Comparison
StatGramblingArkansas

Batting average

.265

.287

Slugging percentage

.399

.519

On-base percentage

.370

.412

Home runs

26

70

Runs/game

6.6

8.5

ERA

8.14

4.19

WHIP

1.86

1.30

Strikeouts/9 innings

8.10

10.32

Strikeout-to-walk ratio

1.49

2.60

Fielding percentage

.956

.979

Stolen bases/game

1.93

0.97

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