Listen to Hogs’ season-opener here or on ESPN Arkansas radio

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Razorback baseball is back.

No. 2 Arkansas begins its 2022 campaign, the program’s 100th season of competition, with a three-game series against Illinois State this weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium.

First pitch in the opener is set for 3 p.m. Friday online on SEC Network+ and FuboTV.

You can listen to Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter online at HitThatLine.com or on ESPN Arkansas radio stations 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

Game two of the series between the Razorbacks and Redbirds gets underway at noon Saturday before concluding with the finale at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Schedule
3 p.m. Friday: Illinois State • SEC Network+ • FuboTV • Listen

Noon Saturday: Illinois State • SEC Network+ • FuboTV • Listen

1 p.m. Sunday: Illinois State • SEC Network+ • FuboTV • Listen

Tune In

Arkansas’ season-opening series against Illinois State will stream on SEC Network+ with Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Troy Eklund (analyst) on the call for all three games.

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.

All three contests can also be heard Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter online all weekend at HitThatLine.com or on ESPN Arkansas radio stations 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

Matchups

Friday: Arkansas RHP Connor Noland (2021: 1-0, 6.91 ERA) vs. Illinois State RHP Jordan Lussier (2021: 6-3, 4.36 ERA)

Saturday: Arkansas LHP Hagen Smith (2021: N/A) vs. Illinois State LHP Sean Sinisko (2021: 5-5, 4.44)

Sunday: Arkansas RHP Jaxon Wiggins (2021: 3-1, 5.09 ERA) vs. Illinois State RHP Derek Salata (2021: 2-4, 4.95)

Series History

Arkansas and Illinois State will meet for the eighth, ninth and 10^th time in history this weekend. The Razorbacks are 5-2 overall against the Redbirds, with all seven games taking place in Fayetteville, Ark.

Illinois State, however, holds the momentum against Arkansas entering this weekend’s three-game series. The Redbirds have won two of the last three clashes with the Hogs, including a midweek contest at Baum-Walker Stadium during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

In the Polls

The Razorbacks begin the year ranked in all six major preseason polls, cracking the top 10 in five of them.

D1Baseball – No. 2
USA Today Coaches – No. 4
NCBWA – No. 4
Baseball America – No. 8
Perfect Game – No. 9
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper – No. 20

Robert Moore (Arkansas Communications)

Big Hit Bob
Arkansas second baseman Robert Moore has the attention of general managers, scouts and talent evaluators across the board entering his junior season.

A consensus preseason All-American, Moore earned a spot on this year’s preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award after slashing .283/.384/.558 with a team-leading 16 home runs and 53 RBI in 2021. The Leawood, Kan., native also landed on the preseason All-SEC First Team at second base, garnering high praise from the league’s 14 coaches.

Moore has done nothing but amaze since stepping foot on campus as an early enrollee ahead of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, slashing .291/.388/.534 with 18 home runs and 70 RBI in 77 games over two seasons as a Razorback. He established himself as one of college baseball’s premier middle infielders last year, earning All-SEC, Newcomer All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive praise following his first full season at Arkansas.

Arkansas Communications

It’s Wally Time
Alongside Moore in Arkansas’ infield, Cayden Wallace has big expectations ahead of the 2022 season.

The Greenbrier native burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2021, becoming the 24th Razorback in program history to earn Freshman All-America status by slashing .279/.369/.500 with 14 homers and 44 RBI. The Hogs’ primary right fielder last season, Wallace will take over at the hot corner for Arkansas this year.

One of the Hogs’ three team captains, Wallace enters the campaign as a preseason All-SEC Second Team honoree at third base. He also joined Moore as a preseason candidate for the Golden Spikes Award as Arkansas was one of nine programs to boast a pair of student-athletes on the watch list.

100 Seasons of Arkansas Baseball

Celebrating its 100th season of play in 2022, Arkansas will embark on its 75th consecutive campaign (after eight early seasons of non-varsity sponsorship and a program discontinuation from 1930 to 1946) on the diamond.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.