Preview: LSU vs Arkansas – Thu 6 (SECN) | Fri 8 (SECN) | Sat 2 (+)

#1 LSU Fighting Tigers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks at Baum Stadium at George Cole Field in Fayetteville, AR.



The LSU Fighting Tigers (19-2, 2-1) head north to Fayetteville, AR, for a Thursday through Saturday series with the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Tigers come off the best offensive performance against Ole Miss in 80 years to win the series last Sunday, and follow that up with a 4-2 heart-pounder across town at Southern on Tuesday night. It took extra innings to do it, but the Tigers escape the Jags and what would have been an RPI and potential Top 8 seed nightmare of a loss. Arkansas (10-9, 0-3) comes off of a midweek split in a pair of games with SEMO after being swept in their SEC opening series in Nashville. LSU leads the all-time series with the Hogs 61-29 in a series that dates back to 1960, including 4 of the 5 meetings between the teams last season and 10 of the last 13 total. The last 15 series between these teams have seen 7 sweeps – 4 by LSU and 3 by Arkansas.





Arkansas Razorbacks
Record: 10-9
Conference: 0-3, t-7th SEC west
Non-Conf: 10-6
Home: 9-4
Away: 1-3
Neutral: 0-2


Team Overview:
Dave Van Horn leads his 13th team at Arkansas after another 40 win season in 2014 and a regional loss to CWS runner-up Virginia. What is usually a staple of an Arkansas team, pitching has been a major issue for the Hogs this season and their team ERA of 4.43 lands them dead last in the SEC. They are 5th in the league in hitting at a .295 team average. LSU ranks 1st in hitting and 3rd in team ERA. The 10-9 record to start the season is one of the worst starts in nearly 40 years for Arkansas.


Team Stat Comparison (LSU)
Runs/game scored: 6.2 (7.1)
Runs/game allowed: 5.4 (3.0)

Team ERA: 2.30 (2.26)
Opponent ERA: 4.87 (6.32)

Team BA: .295 (.319)
Opponent BA: .241 (.212)

Team Fielding %: .972 (.969)
Opponent Fielding %: .969 (.953)



Starting Pitching:
The Arkansas rotation has been anything but consistent so far this year. Only 2 of the 6 weekends after this one will have seen the same 3 pitchers. The 15 weekend starts for the Hogs have average of 4.0 innings per start and a 3.42 ERA.

Thursday night will be a sophomore showdown between Dominic Taccolini and Jared Poché. Taccolini is a 6’3 righty from Sugarland, TX. He throws the terminator in the 92-93mph range and mixes in a curve, but his plus changeup is the strikeout pitch to look out for.

Friday’s starter for Arkansas is unannounced at this time, but I am going with Zack Jackson, who did not throw in either midweek game and seems to be the best candidate for the job. Jackson is a power righty with a really nice changeup, but struggles with command at times. Jackson is 3rd in the SEC with a ridiculous 0.83 ERA in 18.1 innings of work but has walked 17 batters raising his WHIP up to 1.58.

Game 3 on Saturday afternoon will the best matchup on paper featuring Arky junior Trey Killian against LSU freshman Jake Godfrey. Killian is the Arkansas ace coming off of a shoulder injury and making just his 3rd start of the season. Last spring, Killian tossed a complete game against the Tigers, but took the loss allowing 5 runs in 8 innings of work but held LSU to just a .208 average against him. He has improved his command from a year ago, once again featuring a low 90s fastball mixed with a sinking change and a sliding breaker that fall in the low 80s.




Relief Pitching:
The Arkansas bullpen has pretty much been a disaster with the exception of a couple arms, one of whom I am projecting to start on Saturday. In relief, this Arkansas team has a 5-6 record and 5.08 ERA, allowing 50 earned runs over 88.2 innings of work. Jacob Stone and Lance Phillips have thrown in back to back midweek games, so they may not be available on Thursday night.




Arkansas Offense: (LSU)
Team BA: .295 (.319)
Team OBP: .389 (.380)
Team SLG: .462 (.474)

The Razorbacks hit just .263 as a team in 2014, but return 8 of the top 11 contributors from that team and that vetern presence has proven meaningful with the team average up to .293 so far this year. Bobby Wernes is having an outstanding season with a .355 average and his 4 triples are 2nd in the league behind Stevenson, while Benintendi provides the biggest power threat with 5 bombs. On the bases, Arky has the fewest attempts in the SEC with only 18 on the year and 11 successful is the 2nd fewest in the league. Benintendi is the top base stealer with 5 swipes in 7 tries.



Defense:
The Razorback defense has made big strides over the last three seasons and is currently standing in the middle of the SEC with a .972 fld% after committing 4 errors over the two games this week against SEMO. The 3 every day middle infielders, two above plus McAfee, combine for only 4 errors on the season, and the team has turned 22 double plays. The Hogs use 3 catchers; Pennell has developed into the go-to guy, and base stealers have swiped 8 out of 13 bases against him. Shaddy has thrown out just 3 out of 15 runners, while Glosser did not catch any of the 3 stolen base attempts against him.


Helpful Links
Arkansas Stats
Arkansas Roster
Arkansas Schedule (via Warren Nolan)
Live Stats via LSUsports.net
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