The unanimous No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks (29-3, 11-1 SEC) take the trip down to Alabama to face the No. 25 Crimson Tide (22-11, 4-8 SEC) for a Friday-Sunday series inside Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Coming off of an undefeated 10-game homestand, which was capped off by a sweep of the Ole Miss Rebels and a midweek sweep over San Jose State, the Hogs finally hit the road to face Alabama. Rob Vaughn’s team comes in with a 4-8 conference record after being swept by Kentucky last weekend in Lexington, Ky., and dropping a midweek game to South Alabama on Tuesday.
The series opener between the Tide and the Hogs will be Friday at 6 p.m. CT, with Game 2 at 5 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be available for streaming on SEC Network+.
Pitching Matchups
Friday:
(ARK) LHP Hagen Smith: 6-0, 1.76 ERA, 83Ks/14BB, 41.0 IP vs (ALA) RHP Ben Hess: 3-2, 6.03 ERA, 57Ks/20BB, 34.1 IP
Saturday:
(ARK) LHP Mason Molina: 3-0, 3.38 ERA, 59Ks/21BB, 37.1 IP vs (ALA) LHP Greg Farone: 3-1, 3.28 ERA, 38Ks/11BB, 35.2 IP
Sunday:
(ARK) RHP Brady Tygart: 3-0, 2.70 ERA, 49Ks/11BB, 36.2 IP vs (ALA) TBD
If you’re an Arkansas fan, you’ve got to feel pretty good about every single series opener this year with Smith on the bump. The junior lefty is putting up Kevin Kopps-like numbers in 2024, averaging more than two strikeouts per inning. He will face off against pre-season All-American Ben Hess on Friday.
Hess has struggled to live up to expectations this season. His velocity has been down, and he’s often struggled to find the zone as his conference ERA has ballooned to 9.35.
Dave Van Horn is sticking with Molina as the Game 2 starter this weekend after the Texas Tech transfer gave up three earned runs in his four-inning outing last weekend against Ole Miss. His matchup will be against experienced Louisville transfer Greg Farone, who has been really solid in SEC play, so while his numbers are the best of the Crimson Tide starters, it makes sense for him to throw in Game 2 so his outing is not wasted on Hagen Smith day.
The series finale will feature Tygart, and that’s all we know for certain. However, it is fun to speculate who Alabama may throw on Sunday. The most likely candidate is true freshman Zane Adams, who was thrown into the fire when the Crimson Tide’s usual third starter, Hagan Banks, went down with an injury.
So far, the former midweek starter hasn’t been too bad, with an ERA of 4.85 with 20 Ks in 26 innings. If it is Adams on Sunday, though, expect an extremely short leash, like you’re walking a Doberman through a carnival.
Innings Eaters in the Alabama bullpen
Alabama starters don’t typically eat up a lot of innings on the weekends, which means a lot of pressure is applied to the bullpen.
Vaughn has a lot of trust in his bullpen arms, especially toward the back end of games. A couple of names to know are Tyler Fay, Kade Snell, Alton Davis, Aidan Moza and Braylon Myers.
Guys like Fay and Snell are your inning eaters and are used in roles similar to Will McEntire and Koty Frank for Arkansas. Do note that Snell did throw four innings in the midweek, so he likely won’t be available if needed until at least Saturday, if not Sunday.
Moza is a guy who could also give the Tide some long relief if needed, and he also has the stuff to be able to be used later on in games if needed in a setup or even closer role.
The true “closer” for Bama is Davis, who was named a freshman All-American a year ago and possesses a huge left-handed frame at 6-5. He’s a guy who can get it done when needed, and he owns a 2-1 record to go along with his 4 saves.
Myers is the Tide’s best bullpen arm if you just look at the numbers, with an ERA of 1.83 through 19 innings. He does not strikeout batters very often and loves to pitch to contact.
Overall, the Alabama staff undoubtedly has some high-end talent, with big preseason buzz around guys like Hess and Davis, but the staff just really hasn’t peaked yet. It currently ranks ninth in the conference in ERA and opponent batting average, 11th in Ks with just 301, and has allowed the second most home runs in the SEC.
Arkansas should have a good weekend at the plate unless Hess can finally figure it out or the lefty Farone gives the Hogs some issues. The bullpen seems pretty manageable from an offensive standpoint.
Bama’s impressive portal-built offense
With Vaughn coming in from Maryland after Brad Bohannon was fired for literally betting against his own team, many of the top bats from the Tide’s 2023 squad entered the portal, with big names like Colby Shelton ending up in places such as Florida.
Vaughn had to reload his offense for 2024, and he did just that.
Here are three big names to know going into the weekend:
The first is the JUCO transfer, third-baseman Gage Miller, who is the leadoff man for Alabama but is certainly not a prototypical leadoff guy. The bat is very loud and there isn’t much speed to worry about.
You do, however, need to worry about his .417 batting average, 1.325 OPS, 13 homers and SEC-leading 50 runs.
TJ McCants is the second name to know, and this one should sound a bit more familiar. McCants spent his first three seasons with Ole Miss and helped them win a national championship in 2022. Now, he’s at Alabama and crushing it.
McCants is batting .308 with 12 home runs and 10 stolen bases. Look for him to mess with Arkansas pitching all weekend with his power and plus speed on the bases.
True freshman Justin Lebron is the third big name. The shortstop has burst onto the scene offensively, hitting .327 with 5 home runs and 18 RBI. Lebron is a confident player with some speed to go along with his great bat-to-ball skills. The knock on him is that he is a liability at shortstop at times (7 errors).
Those are just the three most subjectively intriguing names. This lineup is very solid from top to bottom. Look out for other guys like Will Hood, who has eight homers, and Ian Petrutz, who is second on the team in on-base percentage.
Three Keys to the Series
- Take advantage of impatience. The key to holding down the Alabama offense is to take advantage of their lack of self control. Alabama has taken the second fewest walks in the SEC, meaning that guys like Molina and Tygart, who have been struggling with command, can ease up a little bit.
- Get past Farone. I could see Farone giving the offense some trouble on Saturday. If Arkansas can get past him and enter Game 3 at 2-0, the pressure is off, and the Hogs can breeze to another sweep.
- Bats need to take what they can get. The Razorbacks lead the SEC in walks, and Alabama walks a lot of batters. That sounds like a good formula to me. The Arkansas offense will be most successful this weekend if they just let the Tide beat themselves.
Prediction
Smith will be on his A-game Friday, and Will McEntire will come in and shut the Tide down for the Game 1 win. This one could be ugly if Hess continues to struggle. The Razorbacks will come out Saturday and squeak by in a low-ish scoring game, and then will lock up the sweep Sunday behind a great outing from Tygart.
Arkansas will come out of Tuscaloosa at 14-1 in conference play, picking up its fourth series sweep of the season while improving to 32-3 overall.