Phil Elson & Tye Richardson hit on a short week in Nashville, what to look forward to in Arkansas basketball, plus Arkansas baseball Matt Hobbs joins the pod!
Arkanas opens SEC play this evening against Mizzou at Baum-Walker
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas finishes a 14-game homestand this weekend when it faces Missouri in a three-game series at Baum-Walker Stadium, opening SEC play tonight.
Friday’s game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start, while Saturday’s game will be at 2 p.m. Sunday’s series finale will be at 1:30 p.m. and all games will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
You can also listen to all games at ESPN 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
The Razorbacks (14-2) will be opening SEC play against Missouri (11-5) for the first time since the Tigers joined the league in 2012-13 and will be looking to win its third-straight SEC-opening series.
The Hogs have swept each of their last two conference-opening series, coming against Kentucky last year and Mississippi State in 2017.
Isaiah Campbell, at 3-0, will return to the mound on Friday and look to continue his strong start to his redshirt junior season. Campbell has gone five or more innings in each of his four starts and has struck out 10 or more in each of his last two starts (13 vs. Stony Brook; 10 vs. Louisiana Tech).
Campbell currently ranks in a tie for eighth in the SEC in strikeouts (33) and has only allowed three walks in 23.1 innings pitched.
Missouri comes into the weekend off a perfect five-game homestand after defeating Arkansas State, 14-4, on Wednesday. The Tigers have scored 10 or more runs in each of the last two games and have scored 10 or more five times this season.
Coach Steve Bieser enters his third season at the helm in Columbia and won more games than any other coach in their first two seasons (70) in school history. It was the winningest two-year stretch for Missouri since 2008-09.
Follow live
This weekend’s series will be available on SEC Network+ via the Watch ESPN app and WatchESPN.com. Brett Dolan (PxP) and Troy Eklund (Analyst) will call the action.
Phil Elson (PxP) and Bubba Carpenter (Analyst) will have the radio call on the Razorback Sports Network where you can listen at ESPN 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Fans can listen to the radio call via the Razorback Gameday app. 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
Fri.: (ARK) RHP Isaiah Campbell (3-0, 3.09 ERA, 33 K, 3 BB) vs. (MIZZ) LHP Jacob Cantleberry (2-0, 2.91 ERA, 33 K, 9 BB)
Sat.: (ARK) RHP Connor Noland (0-0, 4.32 ERA, 13 K, 5 BB) vs. (MIZZ) LHP TJ Sikkema (2-0, 0.46 ERA, 25 K, 4 BB)
Sun.: (ARK) RHP Cody Scroggins (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 26 K, 5 BB) vs. (MIZZ) LHP Tyler LaPlante (1-1, 3.43 ERA, 15 K, 3 BB)
Ballpark promotions
Free Shirsey Fridays are BACK at Baum-Walker Stadium for all five SEC Friday night games in 2019. Be one of the first 2,000 fans through the gates and receive a Brain Anderson Razorback Shirsey. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.
SEC opening weekend – Arkansas takes on Mizzou
Arkansas and Missouri will face off in the first weekend of SEC play for the first time in series history.
The Razorbacks have swept their last two SEC-opening weekend series (Kentucky – 2018; Mississippi State – 2017), but have only won three SEC-opening weekend series since 2012.
Arkansas is 11-10 in SEC opening series since 2012 and will be opening against an SEC East opponent for the fourth time since 2012.
Pitching leads way in early going
With the addition of first-year pitching coach Matt Hobbs, the Razorback pitching staff hasn’t lost stride in the first five weeks of the season.
Arkansas currently ranks fifth in the nation in strikeouts-per-nine innings (11.5) and sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.07).
Arkansas pitchers have struck out 10 or more batters in nine of their last 10 games and haven’t walked more than three batters in 13 games.
Kjerstad heating up
Sophomore outfielder Heston Kjerstad did not have the best start to his second season when he was 8-for-36 (.222) after eight games.
Since then, the Amarillo, Texas native is batting an even .500 (16-for-32) with five multi-hit games, four with three hits or more, and slugging .767 with five extra-base hits and six RBIs.
For the year, Kjerstad is now batting .353, good for third on the team.
Scroggins shuts down Louisiana Tech
Making his third-consecutive start on Sunday against Louisiana Tech, Cody Scroggins went a career-long six innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters, while walking only one and giving up two singles on 88 pitches.
Scroggins didn’t even allow a baserunner past first base for his entire outing and retired seven of the first eight he faced.
Sunday’s game was his’ first victory of the year and first decision in 27 career appearances dating back to 2016.
Welcome to the show, kid
Freshman right-hander Elijah Trest made his collegiate debut in the ninth inning on Sunday, striking out the side on 20 pitches to help secure Arkansas’ 12th victory of the year.
Trest is the seventh different freshman pitcher to see time on the mound so far this season and fourth to strike out the side in their first collegiate inning of work (C. Monke, P. Wicklander, E. Taylor).
Up next
Arkansas will make its annual Spring Break road trip next week when it starts a six-game road stretch in Austin, Texas.
The Hogs will take on the Texas Longhorns on Tuesday and Wednesday with both games starting at 6:30 p.m. on the Longhorn Network.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday
John & Tommy discuss the Florida loss, the future of the program, plus Scott Tabor talks Arkansas baseball!
Don’t start wanting Anderson gone without having a plan beyond hope
Arkansas’ season is probably over after collapsing in the final couple of minutes against Florida, 66-50, at the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
It probably should be, too.
For a team that has been wildly inconsistent over the course of a 17-15 season, nothing is official until the end of the weekend in terms of tournament announcements, but it’s doubtful they will be in many discussions.
Now the low grumbling about Mike Anderson’s job security from some that was reduced a little with a three-game winning streak at the end will increase in volume.
That’s what happens when you make the NCAA Tournament only three times in eight years and go 2-3 in those games. Razorback fans got used to a run over 17 years where not getting to the Sweet 16 was reason enough for some to start griping.
Here’s a comparison of how things have gone at Arkansas since the last Sweet 16 appearance in 1995 (Overall, SEC, Postseason):
• Nolan Richardson: 6 seasons, 117-74 (61.3%), 50-45 (52.6%), 3-5 (2-1 NIT, 2-4 NCAA)
• Stan Heath: 5 seasons, 82-71 (53.6%), 31-49 (38.8%), 0-2 (0-2 NCAA)
• John Pelphrey: 4 seasons, 69-59 (53.9%), 25-39 (39.1%), 1-1 (1-1 NCAA)
• Mike Anderson: 8 seasons, 168-101 (62.4%), 78-64 (54.9%), 3-4 (1-1 NIT, 2-3 NCAA)
Some fans say Anderson’s not winning enough games, even though the numbers clearly show he’s won more than anybody since Richardson’s last team to reach the Sweet 16.
Over Anderson’s last seven seasons, the Hogs are third in SEC wins in the league behind Kentucky and Florida.
Anderson’s supporters will argue this season is out of the ordinary, it’s harder to even get into the NCAA Tournament now (thanks to mid-majors’ success over the past few years) and the SEC’s increased emphasis on basketball.
His detractors will say the trend is heading down, which is true, and this team is inexperienced with no older leadership, also true.
Of course that falls on Anderson. He’s not a new coach and he can read a roster. He knows he didn’t sign a team of one-and-done players, but that’s still on him.
Ultimately, the question is not going to be if anyone is happy with the up-and-down record of the Hogs over the last eight seasons.
Nobody — fans, coaches, players, administration — is happy with that.
The loss to Florida was this team looking more like the team that had losing streaks of four and six games that sank the team’s season.
They got a lead as high as eight in the first half, trailed by two at halftime and kept it close for a little bit in the second half.
The only eyebrow-raising came when it looked like half the team quit in the final two minutes of the game. That’s never a good sign and one that you can rest assured Anderson took note of, whether he will admit it or not.
Anderson is going to have to convince an ever-doubting fan base he can pull the program out of the situation many believe is mired in mediocrity. For an arena that at times looked more like an intimate gathering as opposed to the rowdy crowds of a past era, that’s going to be an even bigger issue.
Don’t listen to the hype. There were some games that was loud, but there was a time when the early exhibition games had ear-splitting crowds.
Ultimately, though, you wonder if the question is, quite simply, could Anderson be replaced with anyone better?
Arkansas has tried hope in hiring basketball coaches in recent memory. It didn’t work out well with Heath or Pelphrey, but Anderson was supposed to put all of that in the rearview mirror.
That hasn’t worked out exactly the way anybody planned or certainly hoped. Replacing Anderson now would be another case of hoping somebody could come in and change things drastically.
And, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, hope isn’t a good plan.
Anderson, Gafford, Joe recapping loss to Florida at SEC Tournament
Arkansas coach Mike Anderson along with Daniel Gafford (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Isaiah Joe (12 points, 2-9 on 3-pointers) talk about the 66-50 loss to the Gators on Thursday afternoon.
???? Thursday Halftime Pod — featuring Bob Holt of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Phil Elson & Tye Richardson discuss the Arkansas-Florida matchup, plus Bob Holt!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Thursday
John, Tommy and Nick Mason discuss Arkansas-Florida, coaches getting paid per win, plus Richard Davenport!
Too early to be concerned about Razorbacks’ struggling spring offense?
In the early periods of Wednesday’s spring practice, something just didn’t look right with Arkansas’ offense.
Apparently that continued through the rest of the day, which was extremely windy, but nobody was blaming that.
“We just weren’t ready to go today,” offensive tackle Colton Jackson said later. “They just basically manhandled us.”
On the seventh day of practice, you normally could shrug it off as one of those days, but the belt the coaches hand out to the side of the ball that performs best that day hasn’t landed in the offense’s room yet.
The defense forced four fumbles on the day. Apparently the awarding of the belt wasn’t a tough decision.
“We didn’t get a lot going today,” running back Chase Hayden said.
Jackson said it wasn’t as much of a physical difference as what was happening above the shoulder pads.
“It was just guys making mental mistakes,” he said. “Not being where they were supposed to be. Not making the right reads. Not knowing which guys to block. It wasn’t physical at all, it was all mental mistakes.”
For Jackson’s it’s about accountability.
“It’s just something you have to take personal pride in,” he said. “After practice looking at what you messed up on, working on that, getting in the film room and seeing what you messed up on and be sure you don’t make them again.”
Part of it may be where the offense is on putting things in.
“We’re trying to install more each day,” Jackson said. “But we can’t do that until everybody gets what we’ve already installed. So, if you can’t do the basics you can’t install more.”
The other side knows what’s coming, too, and they aren’t playing it simple.
“Our defense is over there scheming up our plays and scheming up everything we have,” he said, “because we only have five plays in. If the guys get the basics of what we have in, we can move on and establish more of our offense. We can be more versatile out there and the defense wouldn’t be able to run the perfect blitzes on everything we’re doing.
“Guys gotta take it on themselves to get in the film room, do extra, study the playbook … just stuff like that.”
Chad Morris has said since the first spring practice this was about getting back to the basics. When that happens the defense is usually ahead of the offense early and that’s really exactly where this team is.
A former championship defensive coordinator broke it down pretty simple one time decades ago.
“You can talk about these schemes all you want,” he said. “But the bottom line on defense is when the ball is snapped, you see who’s got the ball and put him on the ground as fast as possible.”
John Chavis is making the offense’s life complicated with a heavy dose of different things with every practice.
“They sent a lot of blitzes we weren’t really prepared for,” running back Chase Hayden said.
The running back situation where injuries have hit an area that wasn’t incredibly deep after two of the top ones have been out.
First it was Rakeem Boyd, who was ruled out of all spring recovering from shoulder surgery. Then Devwah Whaley and converted cornerback Jordon Curtis have missed the last two practices.
The defense is also obviously stepping things up more than a notch or two.
“Chief’s whole emphasis is cranking the lawnmower,” defensive tackle T.J. Smith said Wednesday. “Getting the ball out, so that’s what guys have been doing.”
In other words, they’re cranking the mower and the offense has been the grass.
“We haven’t lost the belt,” Smith said with a big grin.
With eight practices left (and that includes the Red-White Game on April 6) there’s now a break on workouts until March 26.
Jackson said the offense knows what they have to do.
“We’ve got to come back after spring break and not let that happen again,” he said.
It’s probably too early to start worrying about the offense, but some concern might not necessarily be a bad thing for fans.
There are, as always, some explanations.
Turnovers in Saturday’s scrimmage were primarily by backups and the defense is obviously taking advantage of the learning curve with a lot of new faces on the offensive side of things.
But that’s all part of getting back to the basics.
At least that’s the hope, which isn’t always the best plan of action going forward.
For now, though, that may be as good as it’s going to get for at least a couple of weeks.
SPRING PRACTICE: Faces of spring from Wednesday’s sunny practice
Wednesday morning it rained, but it was bright and sunny when Arkansas took the field for the seventh practice of the spring and here’s a look at some of the faces during the drills.
PHOTOS BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM
Hogs’ Jackson on how defense dominating offense first half of spring
At almost the halfway point of spring practice after the final workout before spring break, offensive lineman Colton Jackson talked about why the defense is dominating because of familiarity with the limited number of plays in the offense now.
Hayden on offense’s turnovers handing daily belt to defense again
Razorbacks running back Chase Hayden talked with the media after practice Wednesday about the turnovers and offense continuing to have problems during spring practice drills.
