Roadtrip Sends Baseball to Fayetteville for Weekend with No. 6 Arkansas

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Crimson Tide will take to the road this weekend for a three-game series at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville against the sixth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. First pitch on Friday is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT followed by a 2 p.m. start on both Saturday and Sunday. Games one and two of the weekend will air on SEC Network+ with the finale set to air nationally on SEC Network.

Follow the Tide

Fans can follow the series via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+ (Friday and Saturday) / SEC Network (Sunday)
Listen: 100.9 FM / CTSN / The Varsity App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: ArkansasRazorbacks.com

Probable Starting Pitching Matchups

FRIDAY: UA – Ben Hess (So., RHP) vs. ARK – Hunter Hollan (Jr., LHP)
SATURDAY: UA – Luke Holman (So., RHP) vs. ARK – Will McEntire (R-Jr., RHP)
SUNDAY: UA – Grayson Hitt (Jr., LHP) vs. ARK – TBA

Leading Off

Alabama and Arkansas will meet for the 99th time in history when the two teams open the series on Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Tide holds the all-time advantage, 52-46, but trails in Fayetteville, 19-26.
The Crimson Tide and Razorbacks met four times last season. The first three games came as part of the final regular season series for both teams from May 19-21 in Tuscaloosa. Alabama fell in the opener, 3-7, before an 8-6 win on Friday followed by a dominant 18-5 victory to clinch the series on Saturday. The Western Division foes met four days later on May 25 in Hoover with the Tide earning a 4-3 win to improve to 2-0 overall in the SEC Tournament.
Alabama and Arkansas last met in Fayetteville from March 19-21, 2021, to open SEC play. The Tide dominated game one, 16-1, before the Razorbacks bounced back for a 9-1 win followed by a 3-1 victory to take the series.
Entering this weekend, Alabama and Arkansas have squared off 49 times in Fayetteville.
A total of 24 games, or 53.3 percent of the matchups in Fayetteville, have been decided by three runs or less. Included in that number is 13 contests that have decided by one run.
More recently, five of the last nine pairings in Fayetteville have been decided by three runs or fewer.

About Alabama

Alabama travels to Fayetteville having gone 2-2 over the last four games. The Tide first claimed a win in last weekend's series finale with then-No. 22 Kentucky before securing a 10-4 win over Middle Tennessee on Tuesday in Huntsville.
The Crimson Tide used a pair of big innings to secure a 10-4 win over MTSU on Tuesday evening at Toyota Field.
Both teams went scoreless through the first three frames before matching one another with four runs apiece in the fourth. Alabama then added one in the sixth on an Andrew Pinckney home run, with the go-ahead homer proving to be all the Tide would need. The eighth then saw UA add another five runs for the 10-4 final.
Alabama's offense in Huntsville was led by the 6-7-8 hitters in Ed Johnson, Pinckney and Tommy Seidl.
Johnson finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Pinckney posted a 3-for-4 showing that included the homer, one RBI and a team-high three runs scored. Seidl matched Pinckney for the team lead in hits with his 3-for-4 effort that included a double, two RBI and one run.
Zane Probst picked up the win with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, walking one and striking out a pair. Probst followed Tide starter Jacob McNairy, who contributed 4.0 innings and allowed four runs on six hits with a season-high six strikeouts.
Alabama fell to Kentucky, 4-3, in a 12-inning affair last Friday evening in Tuscaloosa.
A windy night kept both teams in the ballpark and limited the scoring opportunities. The Wildcats took an early lead with two in the first and added one in the fourth. UA was able to cross one in the fifth before evening things up with a two-run ninth. Both teams were held scoreless until the top of the 12th when UK plated a run for the eventual 4-3 final.
Alabama starter Ben Hess did not factor into the decision despite an impressive start. The sophomore allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk with a career-high tying 10 strikeouts across his 6.1 innings of work.
The Tide came up short in the Saturday matchup with Kentucky, falling 9-5.
Kentucky posted single tallies in the second and third before a two-run fourth made it a 4-0 ballgame. Alabama answered with a three-spot in the home half of the fourth to make it a one-run affair, but a three-run top of the fifth by UK put the game out of reach.
The Wildcats added two more in the seventh with the Tide countering for a pair in the bottom of the seventh, but the score would stay there for a 9-5 final.
An eighth-inning rally helped the Crimson Tide down Kentucky, 4-3, on Sunday.
A back-and-forth game saw both teams trade runs all day. Kentucky struck for one in the top of the first with the Tide matching them in the home half. The Wildcats then added a single tally in the fourth for a 2-1 lead before Alabama evened things up again in the sixth.
The lead went right back to UK with a run in the top of the seventh before a wild eighth saw the Tide score the tying and go-ahead runs for the 4-3 final.
That eighth began with a one-out walk to Jim Jarvis followed by a double from William Hamiter to bring Johnson to the plate. The Tide second baseman sent a chopper to first that was fielded cleanly but a slip on the throw home led to a play at the plate with Jarvis sliding under the tag.
Pinckney was next up, singling to left to score Hamiter for what would prove to be the game-winning run. The redshirt junior led the offense with a 2-for-3 day that included two RBI and a walk.
The Crimson Tide received a strong start on the mound from Grayson Hitt, who allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks with five punchouts across his season-high 6.0 innings. Kade Woods followed, working the final 3.0 frames and allowing one run on one hit with four strikeouts for the win.

About Arkansas

Dave Van Horn is in his 21st season at Arkansas and 29th season overall as a collegiate head coach. Van Horn opened the 2023 season with a 796-423 mark in Fayetteville, part of a 1,116-580 career record. In total, he has accumulated 35 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including stops at the Division II and Junior College levels. Van Horn is joined on staff by assistants Matt Hobbs, Nate Thompson and Bobby Wernes.
Arkansas finished the 2022 season at 46-21 overall, including an 18-12 mark in SEC play. The Hogs played in two games in Hoover before heading to Stillwater, Okla., for the NCAA Stillwater Regional. UA won that Regional before advancing to Omaha with a pair of victories at the NCAA Chapel Hill Super Regional. Arkansas was then bounced from the College World Series following a 2-0 loss to eventual national champion Ole Miss.
The Razorbacks were selected to finish third in the Western Division and fifth overall in the SEC in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.

On Deck

Alabama will return home to begin an eight-game homestand at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The stretch will begin on Tuesday, April 4 when the Crimson Tide hosts Troy for a 6 p.m. CT matchup. The in-state pairing will air on SEC Network+.

University of Alabama Athletics