Series Preview: Razorbacks back on the road to battle Bulldogs
Nickel and strongside linebacker to play key roles in new defense
The Hawg Hustle Podcast | Ep 1
WHO: No. 3 Arkansas (28-10, 10-5) vs. Mississippi State (19-19, 5-10)
WHERE: Dudy-Noble Field, Starkville (Miss.)
WHEN: Friday 6:30 pm (CDT), Saturday 6:00 pm (CDT), Sunday 1:00 pm (CDT)
TV: SEC Network+
Arkansas begins the back half of its SEC slate with a trip to Starkville (Miss.) to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a three-game weekend series starting on Friday.
The Razorbacks (28-10) just went 9-1 in a recent ten-game homestand and will look to continue that success on the road where they’re 4-5 on the year. Last weekend, the Razorbacks took two of three from South Carolina behind masterful pitching in a shutout Saturday doubleheader. The Hogs edged out Missouri State on Tuesday, 11-7, scoring 8 unanswered runs after falling behind 7-3 early. Freshmen Heston Kjerstad and Casey Martin both launched big homers and Jake Reindl provided another quality appearance.
The Bulldogs (19-19) have struggled all season and are tied with Tennessee and Alabama for the worst conference record in the SEC. They’re coming off a road series loss to Auburn last weekend, losing game one and game three by a combined 3 runs. On Wednesday, Mississippi State was defeated by Memphis on the road, 6-1. MSU’s lone SEC series victory came in an impressive showing against Ole Miss. The Bulldogs spit a doubleheader then took game three in extra innings.
Blaine Knight (6-0, 1.95 ERA) will start on Friday night against lefty Konnor Pilkington (2-5, 2.57 ERA), who he battled last season. Arkansas lefty Kacey Murphy (5-2, 2.00 ERA) will get the game two start against Ethan Small (3-3, 2.94 ERA). Isaiah Campbell (3-3, 3.44 ERA) will face Jacob Billingsley (2-2, 4.08 ERA) in Sunday’s finale.
Here are three things to know about the Bulldogs:
Bulldog batters have the ability to beat you.
MSU may have a poor record and may struggle at times to score runs, but they still have talent in their lineup. Junior outfielder Jake Mangum leads the team in batting average at .345 and slugging percentage at .448. He’s also tied for the most doubles with 13. Fellow junior Luke Alexander hits for power. His average is only .232, but he leads the Bulldogs in homers (5) and RBIs (26). However, Mississippi State only has 18 total home runs, compared to Arkansas’ 60.
Friday night’s pitching matchup is a familiar one.
Arkansas ace Blaine Knight will take on Bulldog junior Konnor Pilkington in Friday night’s game one. The two SEC throwers faced each other in last year’s opening game of SEC play as well. Knight outdueled Pilkington, throwing 11 strikeouts and giving up 1 run on 3 hits in seven innings. The MSU pitcher lasted eight innings but surrendered 3 runs on 4 hits in the 3-1 Razorback win. This season, Pilkington has 64 strikeouts and only 9 walks in 39 and two-thirds innings. He has yet to have an appearance last fewer than four innings.
Mississippi State, like most teams, plays better at home.
The Bulldogs have a very mediocre record at 19-19 but they are 9-5 (2-3 SEC) on their own turf. They did get swept by top-25 Vanderbilt at home to start conference play but followed that up with an SEC series victory over the Rebels of Ole Miss. In that series, MSU jumped on Ole Miss in game one of a Saturday doubleheader, winning 13-3. They scored 8 runs in the second inning and Pilkington picked up the victory, throwing 7 strikeouts in seven innings. Mississippi State dropped the second game, 6-1. In the Sunday finale, Mangum had a big day, going 5 for 5 with an RBI and 4 runs scored in a 7-5 victory in 11 innings.