The front-half of the SEC baseball season is over. Thursday, Arkansas will kick off a stretch-run toward a Western Division crown.
Step one is on the road as the No. 5 Diamond Hogs travel to Georgia for a three-game set Thursday through Saturday. First pitch in Game 1 is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
Arkansas is 1 1/2 games ahead of LSU through 15 games. The Tigers had a game against South Carolina cancelled earlier in the season because of the weather, which leads to LSU’s only 14 games. It could be huge if the margin between the two schools remains.
Georgia has no chance at the SEC East title. The Bulldogs are in seventh in the seven-team division, a game behind Missouri and Tennessee and nine games back of the SEC’s overall leader, Vanderbilt.
The biggest on-field story for Arkansas is the potential return of reliever Brady Tygart. A preseason All-American, Tygart hasn’t pitched since March 1 because of an arm injury. Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn mentioned two series ago that Tygart could be back before April is finished.
Arkansas won the series the last time the two played in 2021 in Fayetteville, two games to one.