Hogs facing big weekend SEC series with Bulldogs, starting Thursday

FAYETTEVILLE — For the fourth-straight weekend, Arkansas faces a ranked conference opponent as second-ranked and SEC West leader Mississippi State comes to Baum-Walker Stadium for a three-game series starting on Thursday at 8 p.m.

Thursday’s game will be televised in front of a national audience on ESPNU, Friday’s game two will be at 6:30 p.m., while Saturday’s finale will be at 2 p.m.

Games two and three will be online only via SEC Network+.

The Razorbacks (27-10, 9-6 SEC) are still just a game back of the Bulldogs in the division race even with the slip up at sixth-ranked Vanderbilt last week that resulted in a series loss.

Arkansas did prevent the sweep with a thrilling ninth-inning comeback on Sunday, scoring five runs in the final frame to win a back-and-forth battle, 14-12.

In that game, Arkansas pounded out a season-high 22 hits with eight of its nine starters recording two or more hits.

The hit total was the most in a single game since the second game of the 2018 season (vs. Bucknell on Feb. 17, 2018) and the most in an SEC game since 2001 (24 vs. Georgia, March 17, 2001).

The Razorbacks followed up that offensive outburst with 16 runs on 16 hits against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday.

The Hogs have 38 hits over their last two games and 19 games with 10 or more this year.

Once again, redshirt junior Isaiah Campbell will be on the mound to kick off the series. He’ll go opposite Ethan Small for Mississippi State.

Campbell has thrown six or more innings in seven-consecutive starts and all nine of his starts this year have been of five innings or more. Campbell is currently third in the league in innings pitched (58.2) and fifth in the league in strikeouts (58).

He suffered his first loss of the year last week at Vanderbilt, but totaled his seventh-straight quality start, striking out nine.

Follow Live

This weekend’s series can be viewed on ESPNU on Thursday and SEC Network+ on Friday and Saturday. Clay Matvick (PxP) and Chris Burke (Analyst) will be on the call Thursday. Brett Dolan (PxP) and Troy Eklund (Analyst) will return games two and three for the SEC Network+ broadcast.

Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter will have the radio call all three days on the Razorback Sports Network.

Fans can listen to the radio call via the Razorback Gameday app and on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to first pitch. There will also be a live radio link available on ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

Important Links
Game 1 – WATCH | LIVE STATS
Game 2 – WATCH | LIVE STATS
Game 3 – WATCH | LIVE STATS 

Probable Starters
ARK RHP Isaiah Campbell (6-1, 2.45 ERA, 68 K, 10 BB) vs. MSU LHP Ethan Small (4-0, 1.83 ERA, 94 K, 15 BB)

ARK LHP Patrick Wicklander (3-1, 4.25 ERA, 52 K, 23 BB) vs. MSU RHP Peyton Plumlee (2-2, 3.35 ERA, 38 K, 16 BB)

ARK TBA vs. MSU RHP JT Ginn (7-1, 3.35 ERA, 64 K, 6 BB)

Goodheart staying hot at halfway point of SEC season

Going into the SEC opener against Missouri, sophomore Matt Goodheart was only hitting .241 with one multi-hit game and just seven hits in 12 games and four RBIs.

Claiming he was having trouble seeing at night, Goodheart got a new contacts prescription and not only turned the corner, but has become one of the top hitters in the SEC.

Goodheart is now hitting .456 in his last 20 games and has tallied six multi-hit performances in his last eight games.

In the Auburn series, Goodheart went 6-for-14 (.429), including his first three-hit game as part of Arkansas’ 15-inning win in the doubleheader with two of those hits going for doubles.

He followed that up with a 6-for-11 performance at the plate with two multi-hit games, three extra-base hits and two runs driven in.

In just SEC games, Goodheart is first in batting average (.480) and on-base percentage (.574). He’s also second in slugging (.700), two-hundredths behind Ole Miss’ Cole Zabowski.

Wicklander shows poise as starter

Freshman Patrick Wicklander may be one of Arkansas’ main starters by season’s end. Wicklander showed maturity two weeks ago when starting Arkansas’ rubber match with No. 15 Auburn on the road.

Wicklander threw five scoreless innings to help save an already depleted bullpen from the 15-inning affair the night before and struck out six batters en route to the 8-0 shutout.

In seven starts this year, Wicklander has a 1.98 ERA with three wins in 27.1 innings and 39 strikeouts.

Doubles machine

Through 37 games, junior Dominic Fletcher is easily having his best season as a collegiate hitter. Fletcher, who combined for 22 home runs and 86 RBIs, is on a similar pace this year with four home runs and 26 RBIs.

However, his batting average (.306) and doubles (17) are ahead of last year’s pace. Fletcher’s 17 doubles are currently tied Mississippi State’s Jake Mangum for the most in the SEC.

In three of Fletcher’s last seven games, he’s hit at least one double and six of his doubles this year have come in SEC play.

He has at least one hit in 15 of the last 18 games and tied his career high with five RBIs in Tuesday’s 16-4 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.