Arkansas' "average" baseball team takes on red-hot Memphis today at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock to open a two-game, home-and-home set with the Tigers.
Arkansas lost 2 of 3 to No. 1 LSU over the weekend to fall to 11-11. The Razorbacks have nine losses in their past 11 games heading into today's 6:30 p.m. first pitch.
"Right now, we're a pretty average team and that's what our record says," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said after Saturday's 7-4 loss to LSU.
Memphis (14-4) pounded Alcorn State during a four-game weekend sweep by a combined score of 40-12 to extend its winning streak to 10 games, the Tigers' longest since 1994.
"Memphis is going to be a battle," Van Horn said. "They've been beating pretty much everybody."
The Razorbacks and Tigers will continue the series at AutoZone Park in Memphis on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., the same two-game set they played in 2011.
"Back in 2011, that was kind of eye opening for our guys," Memphis Coach Daron Schoenrock said. "We showed up and there was already 5,000 to watch batting practice. Then the crowd grew and there were over 10,000 there.
"The intensity is getting ready to pick up with how fast the game's going to be played."
Arkansas will give the ball to freshman right-hander Keaton McKinney (1-1, 5.32 ERA) tonight. McKinney allowed 1 run on 1 hit in 5 innings during last Tuesday's 4-3 victory over Southeast Missouri State.
Memphis will start imposing 6-4 left-hander Alex Gunn, a senior with a 2-0 record who has not allowed an earned run on four hits in 12 innings.
"He struck out 10 last week against Arkansas State, which has a pretty good club, so we'll have our hands full there," Van Horn said.
Arkansas sophomore catcher Alex Gosser of North Little Rock will get his first opportunity to play in his hometown.
"Last year I was kind of on the fence about pulling a redshirt at this point," Gosser said. "Usually it's sold out. It's an electric crowd. Little Rock people come out and show the love. They don't always get to come up on the hill, so when we get down there we just try to put on a show."
Arkansas has gone 1-3 in midweek games the past two weeks with quality pitching running low as the Razorbacks prepare for back-to-back SEC series that open on Thursday.
"We haven't pitched very good around the plate, and we're having trouble stopping people," Van Horn said. "If we had a little more pitching depth, I don't think it would be an issue. That's our battle right now. I don't blame the five games in a row at all."
Arkansas has won six consecutive games in the series dating to a two-game sweep (6-3 and 8-7) by the Tigers in Memphis on March 15 and 17, 1993.
Bobby Wernes leads Arkansas' regulars with a .342 batting average, and Andrew Benintendi (.316) has a team-high five home runs and 20 RBI.
Carson Shaddy is hitting .410 and Michael Bernal is at .357, though neither has enough at-bats to qualify for NCAA statistics.
Memphis' Darien Tubbs will take an 11-game hitting streak into the series. Tigers first baseman Tucker Tubbs hit a grand slam to help fuel a 14-3 victory over Alcorn State as part of a doubleheader sweep Saturday.
Arkansas and Memphis are tied 2-2 in games played in North Little Rock, the last game being a 7-2 Razorbacks victory in 2011.
Sports on 03/24/2015