The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (43-12, 20-10 SEC) wrapped up the 2024 regular season this past weekend with a series loss to the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies (44-11, 19-11 SEC) in College Station, Texas.
Despite the series loss, the Hogs took one game from the Aggies, clinching the SEC West title for the fifth time in the last six seasons, meaning they will be the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament, which begins Tuesday.
Before a new season, the postseason, begins, let’s take a look at what all the Razorbacks have accomplished up until now, and what to expect as they head to Hoover, Ala.
Brief synopsis of the Razorbacks’ season
It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago that Hagen Smith struck out 17 batters against one of the best offenses in the country in Oregon State in just the second weekend of the season. That all-time performance was followed by an extra-innings loss to Oklahoma State before the Hogs rounded out their trip to Arlington, Texas, with a win over Michigan.
After three more weeks of non-conference play, the Razorbacks finally got Peyton Stovall back from injury before hosting Missouri to open SEC play.
It became apparent that weekend that the Razorbacks had a really special rotation in Smith, Brady Tygart and Mason Molina as Arkansas allowed just one run.
The Razorback staff continued their dominance through the first half of conference play, propelling Arkansas to series sweeps of LSU and Ole Miss. Then Dave Van Horn’s crew hit its first bump in the road.
The Razorbacks suffered their first series loss in 2024 when they traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face the Crimson Tide. They held the Hog offense to just six runs on the weekend.
It was then that Arkansas fans began to comprehend that the offense was not what they expected it to be.
The Diamond Hogs’ last three weekend series were all against top-15 opponents in Kentucky, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. A 4-5 finish across those three series was just enough to make Arkansas the SEC West champion.
Current state of Arkansas baseball
The Razorbacks will be the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament and will play the winner of South Carolina and Alabama on Wednesday afternoon. The Hogs are the second-best RPI team in college baseball and own the 11th-best strength of schedule.
Both metrics are important to the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
It’s safe to say the Razorbacks seem to have locked up a top-8 national seed in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in Hoover. This means that the Hogs will host a regional in Baum-Walker Stadium, and if they come out on top, they will also host a super regional.
As far as personnel goes, the Arkansas rotation looked dramatically different last weekend, with Tygart and Molina being replaced by Gage Wood and Will McEntire.
Wood pitched relatively well Friday, going five innings and giving up just two earned runs to one of the best offenses in the nation. He may have secured a role as a starter moving forward.
Wehiwa Aloy and Hudson White also both homered twice on the weekend, with White continuing his hot streak. He is now 12 for his last 28 with 5 long balls.
Arkansas would love that bat to stay hot heading into Hoover, where the games are usually higher scoring than in regular-season play.
SEC Tournament overview
The Razorbacks went 2-1 in Hoover a season ago, with an opening-round win over Texas A&M before Hunter Hollan and Smith took down Paul Skenes and the LSU Tigers in their next game. The Hogs would face the Aggies again just a few days later, losing in the semifinal round.
This year, Arkansas would likely rather face South Carolina, which they had a road series win against. But my money would be on the Diamond Hogs facing the Crimson Tide in the opening round.
Don’t expect to see Smith on Wednesday either. Van Horn always saves his ace for Round 2. Wood could get the call in Round 1, or maybe even Tygart, who did not pitch in College Station.
From there, Smith will almost certainly pitch Game 2, and if the Hogs advance further, you could see Molina back in the rotation, or possibly McEntire.
The winner of the SEC Tournament is usually the team that manages its pitching the best.
Prediction
It feels like Arkansas may actually have a good shot to win the tournament because of the strength of the bullpen.
Having said that, I think the Hogs hold down Alabama in Round 1 before moving on to face Georgia on Thursday.
The Razorbacks will have to get past Charlie Condon and Co. if they want to move on to the winners bracket, where they will have to face the best of the best in a team like Kentucky, which recently beat Arkansas two out of three games in Lexington, Ky.
Razorback fans shouldn’t expect to see the Hogs hoist a trophy Sunday. But I like the way the bracket works out for Van Horn’s Razorbacks.