The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide looks to build off of their successful weekend series against Texas A&M one week ago, by traveling to Fayetteville, Ark. for a weekend slate at No. 10 Arkansas.
The Tide welcomes the challenge that Arkansas brings after taking down Texas A&M last weekend in Tuscaloosa, two of those games were decided via the run-rule. Bailey Hemphill and Lexy Kilfoyl were honored by the Southeastern Conference for player of the week, and newcomer of the week awards respectively.
The Hogs have stormed to the top of the SEC by posting a perfect 12-0 record in league play through the season’s first four conference series. Arkansas has swept South Carolina, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Auburn prior to this weekend’s series against Alabama.
In their most recent SEC series, Arkansas outscored Auburn 11-1 last weekend on the Plains. The Razorbacks set the table in the opener by downing the Tigers, 6-1 behind Braxton Burnside’s three-run home run in the 5th inning. Autumn Storms and Jenna Bloom combined to strike out 12 Tigers while only allowing 7 hits over the final two games in the circle to shut out Auburn and sweep the series.
The Razorbacks bring a very aggressive style of play at the plate. Arkansas leads the conference in home runs with 69, which is 17 more than the next team (Missouri- 52).
A stat that stacks well with Alabama pitching, is strikeouts. The Razorbacks have struck out a league-leading 175 times, while Tide pitching has struck out a league leading 270.
The Tide will be the toughest SEC opponent to date, as the only other ranked team that the Razorbacks have taken down in conference play was South Carolina, who was ranked no. 20 at the time and has yet to win an SEC game to this point. The toughest league team that Arkansas has faced this season was Ole Miss, who sits at sixth place in the SEC with a 6-6 record, while the other teams that the Razorbacks have faced have combined to win just one SEC game.
No. 4 Alabama travels to No. 10 Arkansas for a three-game series at Bogle Park in Fayetteville, Ark.
Game One- Friday at 6 P.M. CT
Game Two- Saturday at 11 A.M. CT (ESPN2)
Game Three- Sunday at 1 P.M. CT