Razorbacks kick off final road series of season against Aggies on Saturday

FAYETTEVILLE — Only one additional road test lays between the Razorbacks and the SEC Tournament and that road runs through College Station, Texas.

Arkansas faces Texas A&M in a three-game series beginning Saturday.

Saturday’s game is slated to begin at 8 p.m. with Sunday and Monday’s games scheduled for 7 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. All three games can be seen on the SEC Network with Eric Frede (play-by-play) and Erin Miller (color) on the call.

For the season, Texas A&M (25-21, 3-15 SEC) is led offensively by Payton McBride and Kelbi Fortenberry, who top the team with a .353 and .340 batting averages, respectively.

Fortenberry leads the Aggies in multiple categories, including runs (29), hits (51) and stolen bases (10).

Arkansas’ Hannah McEwen is coming off a stellar week, posting an 8-for-12 performance at the plate that included a double and a home run. McEwen recorded six runs and six runs batted in for a .667 batting average and .714 on base percentage.

The Hogs will be on the hunt for another victory after defeating the Aggies for the first time in program history the last time they met in 2017.

On that April day, senior Ashley Diaz picked the perfect time for her first hit of the weekend with a two-out RBI single to left field to send the Razorbacks to a 4-3 win over then No. 5 Texas A&M.

Arkansas scored twice in the final frame to rally past the Aggies for the program’s first win in the series. The victory doubled as the Razorbacks’ first win over a top-five opponent since the 2014 season.

The last time out

The Razorbacks recorded an 8-5 victory over No.9 LSU on Thursday night (April 18); the win was the first of its kind since 2013.

The Hogs followed with a statement 11-0 run-rule victory over the Tigers on Friday before dropping the final game of the series 3-1 on Saturday.

Arkansas’ 2-1 series win was LSU’s first series loss of the season.

In the polls

After winning eight of their last nine contests, the Razorbacks are holding steady in the polls, cruising into Week 11 sitting at 23rd in the NCAA Women’s Softball RPI, and ranked No. 18 by USA Today/NFCA, No. 13 by Fastpitch News, No. 18 by FloSoftball, No. 21 by Softball America and #24 in the USA Softball/ESPN poll.

Razorback tidbits

• The Razorbacks’ current .296 batting average is second highest in a single season, second only to the 2014 squad (.304).

• Danielle Gibson is only one of eight Razorbacks to ever record double-digit HRs and doubles in the same season (11, 11). The first since Nicole Schroeder achieved such in 2017 and only the 4th sophomore.

• Nicole Duncan’s 16 HBP calls in 2019 ties the single-season high of 16, set by Kim Eiben in 2002. As a team, the Hogs have been hit 50 times at the plate, a single-season high in program history. The previous high was 43, set by the 2012 squad.

• Kayla Green is only one of four SEC catchers to catch eight or more runners stealing – of those four, Green has the least number of stolen bases allowed (5) and therefore the best SBA% (.431). Green’s 23 career runners caught stealing is one away from ranking 10th for CSB in a career at Arkansas.

• Hannah McEwen’s .357 career batting average is tied for first in the Arkansas record books – tied with Devon Wallace (2012-2015).

• Autumn Storms’ 1.14 walks per seven innings is second-best in a single season by a Razorback, she’s behind only Tammy Kincaid (0.97, 1999 with 244.1 IP).

Keep up with the Hogs

Game 1 | Watch | Live Scoring
Game 2 | Watch | Live Scoring
Game 3 | Watch | Live Scoring