Hogs' Opener Postponed to Play Doubleheader on Friday

Bad weather in Oxford forces delay in starting Razorbacks-Rebels to Friday.

Author:
allHOGS Staff
Publish date:
Apr 6, 2023 10:05 PM EDT

In this story:

OXFORD, Miss. — No. 5 Arkansas (23-5, 6-3 SEC) heads to the ‘Sip this weekend to take on defending national champion Ole Miss (17-11, 1-8 SEC) at Swayze Field, seeking back-to-back series wins in Oxford for the first time since 2008-10.

First pitch in the three-game series between the Razorbacks and Rebels is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, on SEC Network+. Game two between Arkansas and Ole Miss will also stream on SEC Network+ at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 7, while the series finale between the two SEC Western Division foes begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 8, on SEC Network.

Arkansas has won three consecutive regular-season weekend series against Ole Miss, including a road series win at Swayze Field in 2021. The Razorbacks have not won four straight weekend series against the Rebels since 2000-03.

Schedule

Game 1 Friday: No. 5 Arkansas vs. Ole Miss – 2 p.m.

Friday: No. 5 Arkansas vs. Ole Miss – 6:30 p.m.

Saturday: No. 5 Arkansas vs. Ole Miss – 2 p.m.

On the Mound

Game 1 Friday: Arkansas LHP Hunter Hollan (4-1, 3.50 ERA) vs. Ole Miss RHP Jack Dougherty (2-2, 5.79 ERA)

Friday: Arkansas TBA vs. Ole Miss LHP Xavier Rivas (4-2, 5.61 ERA)

Saturday: Arkansas TBA vs. Ole Miss RHP JT Quinn (3-0, 5.79 ERA)

Tune In

Richard Cross (play-by-play) and Matt McLaughlin (analyst) will have the call of Thursday and Friday’s games on SEC Network+. Dave Neal (play-by-play) and Kyle Peterson (analyst) have the call of Saturday’s series finale on SEC Network.

The entire series can be heard on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home with Phil Elson (play-by-play) on the call.

In the Polls

Arkansas enters the weekend as the nation’s consensus fifth-ranked team, checking in at No. 5 in five of the six major polls.

Baseball America – 5

D1Baseball – 5

NCBWA – 5

Perfect Game – 5

USA Today Coaches – 5

Collegiate Baseball – 7

Series History

Arkansas is 57-52 all-time against Ole Miss, including a 23-22 record in games play in Oxford, Miss. Under head coach Dave Van Horn, the Razorbacks are 32-42 overall against the Rebels with an 11-16 mark on the road.

Since 2019, the Hogs have won three straight regular-season weekend series against the Rebels, including a road series win in Oxford during the 2021 campaign. Arkansas has not won four consecutive regular-season weekend series against Ole Miss since 2000-03, which was part of the Hogs’ eight-series winning streak against the Rebels from 1996-2003.

Arkansas, which enters this weekend’s showdown seeking its second consecutive road series win against Ole Miss, has not won back-to-back weekend series in Oxford since 2008 and 2010. The Hogs have not swept in Oxford since 2002.

Homerin’ Hogs

The Hogs, who have homered in all but two of their 28 contests this season, have hit at least one home run in 24 consecutive games. Arkansas has swatted 42 homers, averaging 1.75 dingers per game, during its 24-game home run streak, which is the longest active streak among all SEC teams this season.

For the year, Arkansas has belted 48 home runs in 28 games, led by Jared Wegner’s team-high 12 homers. Including Wegner, four Razorbacks have swatted five or more home runs on the year: Wegner (12), Kendall Diggs (8), Jace Bohrofen (6) and Tavian Josenberger (5).

Wegner, who has started all 28 games this year, could threaten the program record for home runs in a single season, which is held by Ryan Lundquist (24 in 1997). With eight more home runs this season, Wegner would become just the seventh player in school history and the first since Chad Spanberger (20 in 2017) to hit 20 or more homers in a season.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.