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Hogs take hot streak into midweek series with Northwestern State

Arkansas puts their five-game winning streak on the line Tuesday
Credit: THV11

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark — The sixth-ranked Razorback baseball team will look to keep its hot streak going on Tuesday and Wednesday as it welcomes Northwestern State for a rare two-game midweek series in late April at Baum-Walker Stadium. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

RELATED: Dave Van Horn previews Northwestern State

The Razorbacks (30-10, 12-8 SEC) will take a five-game winning streak into Tuesday’s game against the Demons (23-15, 12-9 Southland) and is coming off a major conference series sweep of then-second-ranked Mississippi State, their second conference series sweep this season. Arkansas now sits in a half-game lead for the SEC Western Division over Texas A&M, but only two games separate the top six teams in the division.

Sophomore infielder Casey Martin will lead the offense this week and is on a hot streak of his own as he earned the conference’s top honor by being named the SEC Player of the Week on Monday. Martin hit .417 over the last four games with 10 RBIs on eight hits. He totaled a career-high four RBIs twice, once coming in the 16-4 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and the other in the 12-5 series-clinching victory over the Bulldogs.

RELATED: Martin, Noland pick up SEC weekly honors

Martin has seen his average rise from .250 to .295 over the last nine games and has 17 hits during that span with six multi-hit games and 11 RBIs.

On the mound, head coach Dave Van Horn will send sophomore Kole Ramage to hill. Ramage will be making his third career start and first of the 2019 season. After not giving up an earned run in his first six outings, Ramage has struggled a little as of late, allowing 12 runs over his last three outings and struck out four. Ramage is second on the team with six wins and has gone three or more innings eight times this year.

Follow Live

Both games of the series with the Demons will be available via SEC Network+ and the ESPN app. Brett Dolan (PxP) and Troy Eklund (Analyst) will have the call.

Fans can listen to the radio call via the Razorback Gameday app and locally on KQSM 92.1 FM as Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter will have the call from Baum-Walker Stadium. Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to first pitch. There will also be a live radio link available on ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

 

Probable Starters
Game 1: ARK RHP Kole Ramage (6-1, 5.35 ERA, 29 K, 14 BB) vs. NW ST RHP Kyle Swanson (0-1, 5.14 ERA, 6 K, 5 BB)

Game 2: ARK TBA vs. NW ST TBA

Razorback Prime Nine 

>> Arkansas takes its five-game win streak into the second half of its 10-game homestand starting with a two-game midweek series with Northwestern State. This will be the first time since 2014 the two teams have faced off.

>> Arkansas is 18-4 in non-conference games this season with 14 of those wins coming at Baum-Walker Stadium. Arkansas is hitting .319 as a team in non-conference games and averaging 8.8 runs per game.

>> The Razorbacks picked up their second SEC series sweep last week, winning three games against second-ranked Mississippi State and now lead the SEC Western Division by a half game over Texas A&M.

>> Sophomore infielder Casey Martin was named the SEC Player of the Week on Monday. Martin hit .471 last week with six of his 10 RBIs coming against Mississippi State. Martin also hit his first grand slam of his career and now has eight home runs on the year.

>> Freshman right-hander Connor Noland won the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week award after throwing 9.2 combined scoreless innings against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Mississippi State. Noland never walked a batter last week and the 7.2 innings vs. MSU was a season-high.

>> Since Trevor Ezell took over the leadoff spot (April 2), the redshirt senior is hitting .306 (15-for-49) with nine extra-base hits and 12 RBIs. He’s had four multi-hit games during that 12-game stretch, including three three-hit games.

>> Junior Dominic Fletcher and Casey Martin remain tied with Mississippi State’s Jake Mangum with 17 doubles on the year, which leads the SEC. Last week, both had eight hits over the four games, but two of Martin’s hits were doubles.

>> Sophomore Kole Ramage will make his first start of the season on Tuesday against Northwestern State. Ramage has pitched three or more innings eight times this year and started twice in 2018, both in SEC games.

>> Sophomores Heston Kjerstad and Matt Goodheart are both on long hitting streaks going into Tuesday’s game against the Demons. Kjerstad is on a 12-game hitting streak while Goodheart is leading the team with a 13-game hitting streak.

Up Next

Arkansas stays at home for the weekend when it hosts Tennessee for a three-game set starting on Friday at Baum-Walker Stadium. Games one and two are slated for a 6:30 p.m. start, while Sunday’s finale will be at 4 p.m. and be televised on the SEC Network

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