No. 1 Arkansas Prepares For Tonight’s Clash With No. 11 South Carolina on the SEC Network, Three-Game Series

FAYETTEVILLE — The first of a three-game series starts tonight at 6 p.m. CT between No. 1 Arkansas and No. 11 South Carolina on the SEC Network.

Arkansas (30-6, 11-4) and South Carolina (24-10, 10-5) are fighting for the top spot in each of their divisions as well as the best overall record in the SEC. The Hogs are Vanderbilt are at the top right now, but the Gamecocks are one of the teams closing in on them. Dave Van Horn has a lot of respect for them.

“They’re a powerful team,” Van Horn said. “They can hit some home runs. They can score quick on you. They’ve got a power arm going at us tomorrow. Probably going to be anywhere from 93 to 96 most of the time. Pretty much the same type guys the next two days, right-handers that throw hard with a pretty secondary pitch.

“They’re good at home. They’ve played really well at home. They beat you in their own ballpark. So we’re going to have to play well. Defensively, they’re solid. They’re 10-5 in league play after the first half and they’ve played some tough teams. It’s not like you can say they’ve been playing teams that haven’t done well. They’ve played good teams that have winning records.”

The Gamecocks are increasing capacity beginning this weekend, but that isn’t something that Van Horn has any control over thus he isn’t concerned with it.

“Well, I know they’re not going to have more fans than Mississippi State or Ole Miss had, so it’ll be business as usual for us,” Van Horn said. “We were told that they were opening it up, so that’s a little bit of an issue with the rain. If we do play two on Friday, instead of maybe an hour between games, it might be two hours. Maybe they’re going to just set a time. But it’s not going to be like we’re going to have to sit around for three or four hours, but maybe not an hour. And we’re fine with that, because they want to clear it out, they would try to make a little money and let more fans in. It just feels a little more normal obviously.”

The rest of this report is from the Arkansas Communication’s Office.

Schedule

Thursday, April 22 – 6 p.m. CT – at South Carolina

Friday, April 23 – 6 p.m. CT – at South Carolina

Saturday, April 24 – 2 p.m. CT – at South Carolina

Matchups & History

Thursday

Arkansas RHP Caleb Bolden (2-0, 4.63 ERA) vs. South Carolina RHP Thomas Farr (2-3, 3.28 ERA)

Friday

Arkansas RHP Peyton Pallette (1-2, 4.06 ERA) vs. South Carolina RHP Brannon Jordan (4-2, 3.15 ERA)

Saturday

Arkansas TBA vs. South Carolina RHP Will Sanders (6-1, 2.11 ERA)

The Razorbacks and Gamecocks clash for the 77th, 78th and 79th time in history this weekend. Arkansas leads the series, 42-34, and owns a significant advantage (22-12) in games played in Fayetteville.

The Hogs have won five of the previous six matchups but lost all three ballgames when the teams last met in Columbia during the 2016 season.

Tune In

Thursday’s series opener will broadcast nationally on the SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Ben McDonald (analyst) on the call. Friday and Saturday’s ballgames, meanwhile, will air via SEC Network+. Burch Antley will handle the play-by-play duties, with Kip Bouknight and Tim Hill providing analysis on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Fans can catch all the action through the ESPN app on smartphones, computers and tablets or via Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

The contests can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield/IMG, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM. Phil Elson will have the call from Columbia, S.C.

Schedule

Thursday, April 22 – 6 p.m. CT – at South Carolina

Friday, April 23 – 6 p.m. CT – at South Carolina

Saturday, April 24 – 2 p.m. CT – at South Carolina

Matchups & History

Thursday

Arkansas RHP Caleb Bolden (2-0, 4.63 ERA) vs. South Carolina RHP Thomas Farr (2-3, 3.28 ERA)

Friday

Arkansas RHP Peyton Pallette (1-2, 4.06 ERA) vs. South Carolina RHP Brannon Jordan (4-2, 3.15 ERA)

Saturday

Arkansas TBA vs. South Carolina RHP Will Sanders (6-1, 2.11 ERA)

The Razorbacks and Gamecocks clash for the 77th, 78th and 79th time in history this weekend. Arkansas leads the series, 42-34, and owns a significant advantage (22-12) in games played in Fayetteville.

The Hogs have won five of the previous six matchups but lost all three ballgames when the teams last met in Columbia during the 2016 season.

Tune In

Thursday’s series opener will broadcast nationally on the SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Ben McDonald (analyst) on the call. Friday and Saturday’s ballgames, meanwhile, will air via SEC Network+. Burch Antley will handle the play-by-play duties, with Kip Bouknight and Tim Hill providing analysis on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Fans can catch all the action through the ESPN app on smartphones, computers and tablets or via Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

The contests can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield/IMG, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM. Phil Elson will have the call from Columbia, S.C.

Radio Affiliates

Conway – KASR-FM 92.7

El Dorado – KELD-AM 107.1 (FM Translator)

Fayetteville – KQSM-FM 92.1

Forrest City – KXJK-AM 950

Forrest City – KXJK-FM 106.5

Fort Smith – KERX-FM 95.3

Little Rock – KABZ-FM 103.7

Marshall – KBCN-FM 104.3

Mena – KTTG-FM 96.3

Rogers – KURM-AM 790

Rogers – KURM-FM 100.3

Stuttgart – KWAK-FM 105.5

Texarkana, TX – KKTK-AM 1400