Razorbacks finish long spring break road trip against Missouri State

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Arkansas finishes a six-game spring break road with a single game at Missouri State here Tuesday at Hammons Field.

First pitch will be at 6:30 p.m. and you listen to the game on ESPN 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home in addition to broadcast on ESPN+.

Arkansas (20-4, 5-1 SEC) is coming off a midweek series split at No. 9 Texas and a series win at Alabama, its first conference road series win since 2017.

The Razorbacks scored 10 or more runs in each of their wins over the Crimson Tide and are averaging 7.4 runs a game. Against non-conference opponents, the Hogs are averaging 8.2 runs a game.

Multiple Razorbacks played a factor in the series win over the Crimson Tide, offensively, but redshirt freshman Jacob Nesbit rose to the occasion having his best weekend as a Hog as he earned this week’s SEC Freshman of the Week award.

Nesbit hit .421 (8-for-19) over the previous five games, the second-best average on the team and is currently on a team-best 14-game hitting streak and 21-game reached base streak.

The hit streak dates back to March 6 against Charlotte.

Probable starters

TUE. : (ARK) LHP Patrick Wicklander (2-1, 4.84 ERA, 32 K, 13 BB) vs. (MSU) LHP Ben Cruikshank (0-0, 10.38 ERA, 6 K, 13 BB)

Razorback Prime Nine

• Arkansas will finish its six-game road trip on Tuesday with a single midweek game at Missouri State. It’ll be the seventh-straight year the Hogs and Bears have played at least one time.

• The Razorbacks split a midweek series at No. 9 Texas last week and have won five of their last six against the Longhorns dating back to 2012.

• Arkansas won its second-consecutive SEC series after taking 2-of-3 from Alabama last weekend in Tuscaloosa. It’s Arkansas’ first road SEC series victory since 2017.

• Redshirt freshman Jacob Nesbit was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after hitting .421 over the last five games and extending his team-best hitting streak to 14 games.

• Nesbit has seen his batting average rise from .235 to .346 over the course of his hit streak and has tallied five multi-hit games during the same span.

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• Freshman Patrick Wicklander will be making his fifth start of the year on Tuesday. The San Jose, California native has thrown four or more innings in his last three starts and struck out eight or more twice.

• Sophomore Casey Martin homered on the second pitch of Sunday’s game at Alabama, becoming the first Razorback to lead off a game with a home run since Eric Cole against LSU on May 4, 2018.

• Outfielder Dominic Fletcher is tied for the SEC lead in doubles (11) heading into the third week of conference play. All three of his hits against Texas were doubles last week.

• Friday night starter Isaiah Campbell is the only pitcher in the SEC with 14 or more innings pitched, 18 or more strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA against league opponents.

Up next

Arkansas returns home for its next conference series as it welcomes Ole Miss to Baum-Walker Stadium for a three-game series.

The series will start on Friday at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.