The no. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks look to finish the SEC season strong by traveling to Tuscaloosa to open a three-game set with Alabama beginning Thursday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Arkansas lost only their third series of the season last week at home to Vanderbilt in what turned out to be an odd series due to weather. Following Vanderbilt’s 9-6 win over Arkansas in extra innings on Friday, Saturday’s game was postponed in the 6th inning due to rain and lightning, and was forced to continue on Sunday with Arkansas leading 8-6. The Razorbacks, led by a two-run homer by [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag], defeated the Commodores, 11-6. Due to more rain in the forecast, and the curfew rule being put into effect, game three was limited to just seven innings, with Vanderbilt taking the game and the series, 5-0.
Weather played a role in Alabama’s most recent series as well, as they dropped two games to Auburn, 3-2 and 6-4 respectively. Sunday’s game saw Auburn and Alabama reach a tie at 1-1 before thunderstorms in the area forced the game to end early, with a “no-contest” being called due to not playing enough innings, plus the game was tied.
The Razorbacks will need to bounce back in a big way in order to claim at least a share of the SEC West title. With the series loss to Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Texas A&M are tied for the top spot in the western division at 17-10 in SEC play. However, the Aggies took two-of-three from Arkansas in College Station last month, which gives them the upper hand over the Razorbacks. Waiting in the wings behind both Texas A&M and Arkansas is Auburn, who is two games behind both squads.
Head coach [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag] says that he has not mentioned what’s at stake with the team, but wants to take a “worry about us” approach to the weekend.
“We just talk about finishing strong and putting together some really good games and putting together a good tournament,” says Van Horn. “It’s tough to be at the top at the end, especially in the western division in my opinion. The teams are really good. We are going to go out there and do the best we can at Alabama and see if we can get part of it at a minimum, maybe the whole thing.”