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Wicklander, Kopps combine for three-hit shutout to down LSU

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Wicklander, Kopps combine for three-hit shutout to down LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. — Hold That Hog.

No. 1 Arkansas bashed LSU, 7-0, in the series opener on Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.

The Razorbacks were no-hit for the first six innings of the ballgame before breaking out for two runs in the seventh and five more in the eighth to pull away.

The Hogs are now 33-7 overall, improving their SEC mark to 14-5 on the year with the victory. Arkansas, winners of its first six conference series of the season, will look to clinch a seventh consecutive SEC series win tomorrow and set a program record in the process.

Starter Patrick Wicklander went head-to-head with LSU’s Landon Marceaux from the very start.

The pair treated a full-capacity stadium in Baton Rouge to an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel as the Razorbacks and Tigers exchanged zeroes through the first six innings of the night.

Arkansas, however, struck in the top of the seventh. Matt Goodheart broke up Marceaux’s no-hitter with a leadoff single before Christian Franklin stepped up to the plate with two runners on.

The Razorback center fielder drove home both runners on base, singling to left center and scoring Goodheart and Brady Slavens to give the Hogs a 2-0 lead.

Wicklander recorded two outs in the bottom half of the frame before turning the ballgame over to Kevin Kopps, who came in and struck out the first batter he faced.

The lefty went 6.2 innings on the night, striking out five while walking none and limiting the Tigers to three hits.

Arkansas broke the game open in the eighth with five runs, including three more off the bat of Franklin.

After Slavens brought home two with a single to right, the consensus preseason All-American capped his five-RBI night with a three-run homer over the wall in left to put the Hogs ahead for good, 7-0.

Kopps locked down the final two innings, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth before punching out one more in the ninth to secure his sixth save of the season.

The right-hander struck out 11 consecutive batters dating back to his appearance at South Carolina earlier this season, topping Jess Todd’s school record of nine straight strikeouts against South Carolina in 2007.

The Razorbacks will play a doubleheader for the fourth consecutive weekend as Sunday’s game has been moved up to Saturday, May 1, due to inclement weather.

Game one of the twin bill gets underway at 2 p.m., while the nightcap will begin at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

Franklin after big offensive night, lack of activity behind Kopps

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Franklin after big offensive night, lack of activity behind Kopps

Hogs centerfielder Kevin Kopps (home run, 5 RBIs) talked about his big hits later, plus not getting any fielding chances with Kevin Kopps on the mound.

Van Horn on great pitching from Wicklander, Kopps, in shutout win

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Van Horn on great pitching from Wicklander, Kopps, in shutout win

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn has about run out of ways to praise Patrick Wicklander and Kevin Kopps, who combined to shut down LSU, 7-0.

Weather could play role in attendance at wide open stadium

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Weather could play role in attendance at wide open stadium

The Razorbacks are down on the bayou.

No. 1 Arkansas is on the road for the second consecutive weekend, trekking south to face LSU (25-15, 6-12 SEC) in a three-game conference series this weekend in Baton Rouge, La.

The action at Alex Box Stadium gets underway at 6 p.m. Friday, April 30, on the SEC Network.

You can also listen online HERE or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

The Hogs, 32-7 overall on the season, are in sole possession of first place in the SEC West with a 13-5 mark in conference play, ahead of second-place Mississippi State by 2.0 games.

Arkansas, college baseball’s unanimously top-ranked team, have won six consecutive SEC series for the third time in program history (2004 and 2015) and enter Friday night’s nationally televised contest at LSU as the country’s leader in home runs (74) and walks (240).

Schedule
Friday, April 30 – 6 p.m. – at LSU – SEC Network – Listen – Live Stats
Saturday, May 1 – 6:30 p.m. – at LSU – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats
Sunday, May 2 – 2 p.m. – at LSU – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats

Matchups & History
Friday
Arkansas LHP Patrick Wicklander (2-1, 2.20 ERA) vs. LSU RHP Landon Marceaux (4-3, 2.10 ERA)

Saturday
Arkansas RHP Peyton Pallette (1-2, 3.98 ERA) vs. LSU RHP AJ Labas (3-0, 3.15 ERA)

Sunday
Arkansas TBA vs. LSU TBA

The Razorbacks and Tigers will clash for the 109th, 110th and 111th time in history. Arkansas has the upper hand entering this weekend’s series, taking two of three from LSU when the two programs faced off in Fayetteville during the 2019 campaign.

The Tigers, however, own a significant advantage in all-time meetings, boasting a 74-34 record.

Arkansas last won a series in Baton Rouge during the 2004 season. The Razorbacks, under second-year head coach Dave Van Horn, swept the three-game road set against the Tigers.

Tune In
Friday’s series opener will broadcast nationally on the SEC Network with Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Chris Burke (analyst) on the call. Saturday and Sunday’s ballgames, meanwhile, will air on SEC Network+.

Undisputed No. 1

Indisputable and undeniable.

Arkansas held its position as the unanimous No. 1 team in college baseball for Week 11 of the season, leading all six major polls released Monday. Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, D1Baseball, NCBWA, Perfect Game and USA Today each put the Razorbacks atop their respective rankings for the third straight week.

It is the fifth time this season that Arkansas is the undisputed No. 1 squad as well as the ninth consecutive week that the Hogs maintain the top spot in at least one of the six.

Sooieville Sluggers

Arkansas is college baseball’s leader in home runs.

The Razorbacks have hit 74 homers in 39 games this year, seven more than any other team in the country this year. Old Dominion ranks second with 67 in 38 ballgames, while Mercer checks in at third with 62 in 40 games. LSU, this weekend’s opponent, is tied for fourth in the country with 60 long balls in 40 contests.

The Hogs’ astounding 1.90 homers per game is second in the country behind only Northwestern (1.93). The Wildcats have swatted 54 home runs in 28 games.

Two Razorbacks have blasted double-digit homers this season, including Matt Goodheart (11), Robert Moore (10) and Brady Slavens (10). Goodheart was named the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game/Rawlings earlier in the month after swatting five dingers in four games against UA Pine Bluff and Texas A&M (April 14-18).

Call the Kopps

One of college baseball’s top relief pitchers is a Razorback.

Kevin Kopps has been named to the midseason watch list of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award. He is one of 65 student-athletes included on the list for the honor, which is given to the top reliever in the nation.

The right-hander has been flat-out dominant during the 2021 campaign, owning a 0.97 ERA in 37.0 innings of relief work (18 appearances) on the year. Kopps has struck out 66 batters and limited opposing hitters to a .177 batting average, allowing only four runs while issuing just 11 walks.

Kopps, the Hogs’ closer, is 6-0 with a team-best five saves this season. Four of his five are of the multi-inning variety, most recently carding a three-inning, six-strikeout save against nationally ranked South Carolina on April 22.

Torres on Saban’s development of star recruits keeps Tide on top

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Torres on Saban’s development of star recruits keeps Tide on top

Other teams are recruiting similar to Alabama, but not developing players as well as what Nick Saban keeps doing to keep Alabama on top.

Halftime Pod Presented By Eastside Liquor — April 30, 2021

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Halftime Pod Presented By Eastside Liquor — April 30, 2021

Tabor on Hogs going on road to face LSU with Wicklander starting

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Tabor on Hogs going on road to face LSU with Wicklander starting

Former Razorback pitcher Scott Tabor on The Morning Rush about how tough it is playing Baton Rouge, how Dave Van Horn handles pitching.

Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Behind Enemy Lines at LSU

Tye Richardson
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Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Behind Enemy Lines at LSU

Tye is “Behind Enemy Lines” this morning in Baton Rouge, LA, getting ready for the Razorbacks weekend series vs. LSU. Hear from the guys, plus Clay Henry and Scott Tabor, as they get you ready for Razorback baseball, plus recap last night’s NFL Draft.

Alabama, SEC, dominate NFL Draft first round at skill positions

Andy Hodges
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Alabama, SEC, dominate NFL Draft first round at skill positions

If there are any doubters left about why Alabama dominates the world of college football, the first round of the NFL Draft should silence that.

For Arkansas fans, it’s also a pretty good indicator why they haven’t won a game against Nick Saban.

The answer is not just recruiting, which the Crimson Tide also dominates, but how Saban and his staff develops those players. That’s why everybody in the SEC West is really just playing for second place almost every year.

Schools like Arkansas and some others in the middle to bottom of the SEC pecking order brag about draft picks, but Alabama just notches first-round choices and keeps on going.

The SEC had 12 of the first-round picks with the Tide accounting for half of that. Most were either throwing, catching passes or trying to defend pass receivers or rush the quarterback.

With Alabama having six of the first 24 choices in Thursday night’s draft, that’s only two behind the Razorbacks’ eight first-rounders COMBINED since joining the SEC in 1992.

Since Saban came to Tuscaloosa, the Hogs have had three first-round picks and that was Darren McFadden and Felix Jones in the 2008 draft after Saban’s first year.

First-round NFL picks don’t have a thing to do with the number of stars in recruiting, but is more of a reflection of the development by a coaching staff after they get them on campus. Since Houston Nutt was the head coach, only one Razorback has been taken in the first round (Frank Ragnow in 2018).

As college football changed, Saban changed Alabama right along with it. A quarterback and two wide receivers from the Tide were taken in the first 20 picks of the draft along with a cornerback to stop the pass and an offensive lineman to protect the quarterback.

Saban is putting more offensive skill position in the early rounds of the draft than anybody along with secondary players (where he says he’s the highest paid graduate assistant in the country).

No running backs were early picks. The only running back in the last decade to win the Heisman Trophy (Alabama’s Derrick Henry) was taken in the second round in 2016 so that wasn’t particularly surprising.

Football at all levels is about passing these days … or being able to defend the pass. Whether you like it or not.

Pittsburgh finally took Alabama’s Najee Harris at No. 24, which Phil Elson more or less speculated could happen on ESPN Arkansas’ Halftime on Thursday afternoon.

New Jacksonville coach Urban Meyer took Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence first overall and grabbed his running back, Travis Etienne, right after Harris.

Expect more SEC domination on Friday night and a flood of picks Saturday.

Down the road we’ll see if the Hogs can start to develop players that get picked by the NFL.

Until the Hogs do have players getting drafted, they probably aren’t going to be competing for championships.

Sorry, folks, but that’s just the way it goes.

Holt on positive relationship among Hogs coaches in all sports

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Holt on positive relationship among Hogs coaches in all sports

Democrat-Gazette writer Bob Holt talked on Halftime about the good relationship and camaraderie between the Hogs’ head coaches.

Carpenter thinks LSU opening up stadium could be factor in series

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Carpenter thinks LSU opening up stadium could be factor in series

The Tigers will open the series with Arkansas to 100% capacity and no masks, which could play a role both ways, Bubba Carpenter says.

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