The No. 13 Arkansas baseball team returns home for its first midweek game of the year, taking on Illinois State on Tuesday, March 3, at 3 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium.
GAME TIME:
Tuesday (March 3) – 3 p.m. vs. Illinois State
Tuesday’s game will air live on SEC Network Plus and can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield/IMG, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM.
Arkansas and Illinois State have played each other six times, squaring off in a pair of three-game series in 1992 and 2007. The Hogs are 5-1 all-time against the Redbirds.
The Razorbacks return from a tough weekend at the 2020 Shriners College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. Arkansas went 0-3 at the tournament against the trio of Big 12 squads. The Hogs opened with a 6-3 loss to Oklahoma, the first loss of the season, after holding a 3-2 lead midway through the game.
The Hogs battled back from down 8-0 to come within one, but fell to Texas, 8-7, on Saturday night. In the finale on Sunday night, Baylor scored a run in the fourth, fifth & sixth innings, with the Hogs answering with two runs in the eighth before falling 3-2.
Head coach Dave Van Horn will turn the ball over to freshman Blake Adams to start Tuesday’s game against the Redbirds. The Springdale native has pitched twice this season, with one start coming on opening weekend against Eastern Illinois.
He went 3.0 innings vs. the Panthers, allowing two runs on six hits, walking one and striking out two in Arkansas 12-3 win. He also pitched against Gonzaga on Feb. 23 for a third-of-an-inning.
PITCHING ROTATION
Tuesday – RHP Blake Adams vs. RHP Jack Anderson
Outfielder, and part-time first baseman, Heston Kjerstad put together another strong weekend at the plate in Houston, tallying seven hits in 13 at-bats over the three-game series. The opening SEC Co-Player of the Week and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Week for 2020 is hitting .439 this season with 18 total hits, nine for extra bases, 13 RBIs and 12 runs scored.
He leads the SEC in in slugging percentage (.902), while ranking second in homers (5) and fifth in batting average (.439) & hits (18). He has multiple hits in half of the overall games played so far this season, including each of the last three games.
After three weeks of action, Arkansas remained in the top 10 in one poll, staying in the top 15 of all six. The Hogs are ranked as high as 10th in the USA Today Coaches Poll heading into the week.
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