< Back | Home

Casey Coon (7) is congratulated by his teammates after hitting a first-inning grand slam April 25 against the Wichita State Shockers. Arkansas won the game 10-2.

Diamond Hogs face off against LSU

By: Cory Crawford

Posted: 5/2/07

The Arkansas Diamond Hogs will be back in Baum Stadium this weekend to face the LSU Tigers after two weeks on the road in the Southeastern Conference.

The Razorbacks (35-12, 15-6 SEC) haven't played an SEC team in Baum since sweeping Florida in mid-April. Arkansas has done well on the road since then, picking up two series wins against Georgia and Auburn, and the Hogs have won nine of their last 11 overall.

LSU (24-20, 9-11-1, SEC) lost its last series at home to Tennessee, but was coming off a big series win against Mississippi State. The Tigers are in fifth place in the SEC West, 5.5 games back of the conference-leading Hogs.

For the second-straight week, the Diamond Hogs had two complete games last week from pitchers Jess Todd and Nick Schmidt. Those two, along with Duke Welker, have become an imposing force on the mound in the SEC.

All three have conference ERAs below 3.50 and are pitching well into ball games. Schmidt is still the leader of the rotation with an overall ERA of 2.40 and a 9-1 record.

Last week, some Arkansas bats that have been dormant for conference season woke up with a bang. Casey Coon, who was hitting around the Mendoza Line in conference play going into the weekend, collected five hits in 11 at-bats. Coon still leads the Hogs in RBIs on the year with 55.

Brian Walker, who had been struggling all season, popped three home runs over the weekend, going 6-for-12 at the plate to raise his conference average to .294.

Danny Hamblin continued his race toward Ryan Lundquist's career home run record. He now has 51 homers in his career, five behind the school mark.

Logan Forsythe continues to lead the Hogs in batting, hitting at a .349 clip.

The Tigers have had trouble getting quality starts from their rotation in the conference season. Jared Bradford is 5-1 with a 3.93 ERA, but no other pitcher has stepped up after him.

Charlie Furbush has a 7.83 ERA with a 0-5 conference record and Ryan Byrd has a 6.15 ERA and a 1-2 record, striking out only six batters in more than 21 innings of work.

The starters' overall marks are markedly better, but the SEC hasn't been good to the Tiger staff.

LSU is also having a down year with the bats. The Tigers carry a .252 team batting average into this weekend, almost .50 points behind the Razorbacks.

Blake Dean leads the way for the Tigers with a .333 average, six home runs and 37 RBIs. No other Tiger is hitting above .300.

Jared Mitchell provides a threat for the Tigers on the base paths, stealing 18 bases in 20 attempts.

The series begins at 7:05 p.m. Friday, continuing at 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 12:35 p.m. Sunday.