Arkansas heating up at the wrong time

3,175 Views | 21 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Wyoming Aggie
txagssweetie2014
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The hogs had lost 8 straight SEC games coming into last week, but they beat a decent Creighton team last Tuesday and then went on the road to Kentucky and won 2 out of 3. To similar to last year when they were 16-15 the week they played Kentucky, but won 4 of 5 that week then came into Aggieland with a 22-16 record. We won the opener, but then had the weather game which allowed them to sweep on Sunday. That propelled the hogs to a trip to the College World Series.

Now we go into Fayetteville, fighting for a division title and a national seed. I was really hoping Kentucky would keep the beat downs going and the hogs would be in give up mode. Unfortunately it's the opposite. They caught fire last week and now are thinking of a repeat of last year.

With a closing stretch of Vandy, SC and OM, we need to win the hog series. We better bring our A+ game.
Sean98
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AG
...or, much like we were after a good road showing at MissSt, they'll be overconfident and home and we'll drub them.

It's baseball, there really is no telling. But we hit better than Kentucky does. And if we jump on them early I think their fan support will dwindle pretty quickly. People I know in Fayettenam are pretty down on the team this year. We need to give them no reason to believe in a recovery.

Pork.. It's what's for dinner. ...and breakfast and lunch.
Yell Practice
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BTHO the Pigs.
Wyoming Aggie
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AG
This is the SEC. Almost every baseball team in this conference is going to be a tough series.
backintexas2013
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I am concerned about the weather. I really don't want to see two 7 inning games on Sunday.
TXAggie2011
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AG
The're still struggling to score consistently, which looks to have doomed them in some games this season.

They won 1-0 and 2-0 in Kentucky (before losing 5-4 in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader).

As the top offense in the league, a team scoring about 2 runs a game more than Kentucky, I would feel alright going into this series.


Obviously, throwing two shutouts is impressive and a drastically improved performance by one of the worst-performing pitching staffs in the SEC. But pitching momentum can stop on a dime in baseball. They avoided going to the bullpen in both games, helped that Saturday's win was a 7-inning ballgame.


Recognize that Arkansas is capable of beating you and it is important to play solid baseball all weekend, but even after this past weekend, Arkansas doesn't seem particularly threatening. Knock on wood.

Yell Practice
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It seems that Arkansas follows this pattern each season. They seem to get hot at the close of the year.
aggiedad55
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AG
BTHO the pigs!
McInnis
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In spite of their Kentucky series Arkansas is the opposite of Alabama. They have decent hitting (tied with Aggies in SEC lead for home runs), but their pitching is last in the SEC by a big margin. I can see this being kind of like the Auburn series. Might need to score 10+ to win. I hope the Aggies surprise me but I think this will be a really tough series.
Luke The Drifter
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AG
Momentum in baseball is as good as the next day's starting pitcher.

I'm not worried about Arkansas (or anyone else) being on a hot streak. If we do what we're capable of doing this weekend, all of Arkansas' hotness won't matter. If we play like garbage, then we'll lose the games we deserve to lose.


But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
Emilio Fantastico
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And besides, if arky does get on a bit of a streak, they get into the Top 100 RPI which will look better when we beat them.
txagssweetie2014
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They just beat a ranked OK state team. We better perform a lot better than last weekend if we expect to win this series.
aeroag14
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quote:
They just beat a ranked OK state team. We better perform a lot better than last weekend if we expect to win this series.

As has already been said, we have to play well in every game from here on out. Every SEC team is capable of winning games, including Arkansas.

That said, I still don't see any reason to be MORE concerned with Arkansas than any other conference opponent. Going back 2 weeks, they are still only 4-4, and only 2-3 in Fayetteville. Hardly out of this world numbers.
CapCityAg89
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MSU was ranked three and on a hot streak coming to their home park also. Just saying.
Luke The Drifter
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quote:
They just beat a ranked OK state team. We better perform a lot better than last weekend if we expect to win this series.

You're one of those who just can't wait for the baseball team to fall behind by a run or two so you can crap all over the game thread with the "we suck" garbage, aren't you?



But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
W
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this is going to be a tough series. Van Horn has had his apprentice's number so to speak. A&M is just 3-7 vs. Arky since joining the SEC.

one thing the Razorbacks do...is hit home runs. And Simonds has had trouble with that.

the Hogs will attack A&M's left-handed sticks the same way Bama did. Hopefully more pitches intended to be "away" from Birk, Banks, and company will drift over the middle of the plate. The Tide's pitchers hit their location almost every time last weekend.

the Ags haven't won a series in the Ozarks since 1988. At the time that was one of the biggest road series wins in program history
twk
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quote:
the Ags haven't won a series in the Ozarks since 1988. At the time that was one of the biggest road series wins in program history
Now THAT was an epic road trip.
Ginsang
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AG
quote:
They just beat a ranked OK state team. We better perform a lot better than last weekend if we expect to win this series.

Kind of an odd supposition...

The reality is that we don't really know how the Arkansas series is going to go down this weekend, do we?

If by "...better perform a lot better than last weekend..." you mean that you're hoping we don't commit 3 errors in one inning against the pigs then I agree with you.

However, citing Arkansas' recent mid-week, one run win over OSU (RPI=26) as a reason for genuine concern going into this weekend is pretty laughable. After we swept Georgia they went on to win 5 of their next 9 games, all against top 25 RPI clubs. Georgia's RPI is now sitting at 23. When we played them I think it was between 60-70.

Arkansas' current RPI is 83. While I'm sure that they are more than capable of playing better than their current RPI ranking, I think it's important to remember that what happened in the Arkansas series last year is over. This is a new year.

Against pretty much any SEC team you have to show up to win. It's about execution. If we execute this weekend we win.
Tex100
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quote:
This is the SEC. Almost Every baseball team in this conference is going to be a tough series.
FIFY
Lance Uppercut
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Arkansas is hitting .260 in the SEC (10th) compared to our .323 (1st). We're out-slugging them .384 to .476.

Even though our SEC ERA is 4.08 (6th), Arkansas is in last place at 6.43.

Their weekend ERAs are 4.50, 4.12, and 6.50.

They won 2 games against Kentucky by margins of 1-0 and 2-0, in part because Kentucky hits .250 in conference (11th) and has the lowest slugging percentage in the SEC at .350.

Arkansas was swept the previous two weekends before the Kentucky series and lost 2 of 3 to Missouri.

I think their starters are guys that have had success before, so hopefully they don't get everything figured out in time for us to get to town. And it is a road series in the SEC, so it won't be handed to us.
W
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AG
this is what makes sports fun.

from a statistics standpoint, A&M pretty much has all the advantages over the Hogs.

from an intangibles standpoint, Arkansas has most of the advantages based upon Van Horn's and his team's success vs. A&M the past 3 years
Yell Practice
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Go to the Ozarks and Sweep the Hogs Aggies.
Wyoming Aggie
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quote:
quote:
This is the SEC. Almost Every baseball team in this conference is going to be a tough series.
FIFY
True. I can't really think of one team that is a pushover outside of maybe Mizzou but even they have some quality arms.
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