Arkansas Baseball Update
March 14-20, 2005
Record: 18-2
Week: 2-1
Friday: #7 Arkansas 9, #2 South Carolina 1
Saturday: #2 South Carolina 12, #7 Arkansas 3
Sunday: #7 Arkansas 5, #2 South Carolina 3
Noting the Razorbacks...
Arkansas won two-of-three games at second-ranked South Carolina to open SEC play ... The Hogs' 18-2 (.900) record is the best record among teams that were ranked ahead of Arkansas in last week's Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches poll ... the .900 winning percentage is the second-best among any top 25 team (Georgia Tech, .904) ... and Razorbacks are one of three teams ranked in the top 25 with just two losses (Georgia Tech and Nebraska) ... the series win was the fourth straight for the Razorbacks over the Gamecocks ... UA has won nine of the last 10 series against USC ... the Arkansas pitching staff held the potent South Carolina lineup to a .204 batting average in the series ... freshmen LHP Nick Schmidt and RHP Shaun Siebert completely shut down the Gamecocks in starts on Friday and Sunday, respectively ... Schmidt took a no-hitter into the sixth inning on Friday night to improve to 4-0 ... he worked seven innings, allowing one run on two hits, while striking out 11 Gamecocks ... Schmidt became the first Arkansas pitcher to strikeout 10 batters since 1999 ... Seibert came out on Sunday and did his best to match Schmidt's performance ... Seibert also pitched seven innings and allowed just one unearned run on two hits ... he did not walk a batter and struck out six ... Seibert lowered his ERA to at team-best 1.03 ... he is third in the SEC in ERA, second in opponent batting average (.144) and second in fewest hits allowed (13) ... the freshmen duo combined to pitched 14 innings against USC, allowing four hits, two runs (one earned) and struck out 17 ... Casey Rowlett extended his hitting steak to 19 games on Sunday and his hitting .500 (39-of-78) ... he batted .462 against the Gamecocks with three doubles, a .692 slugging percentage and two stole bases ... Rowlett leads the SEC in batting average, is second in hits (39), second in stolen bases (16) and third in on-base percentage (.540) ... The Hogs .328 batting average and 2.77 team ERA both rank third in the SEC ... Jake Dugger drove in six runs versus South Carolina to give him 28 on the season, just 16 RBI short of his 2003 total in 69 games ... Dugger ranks second in the SEC in RBI.
Pitcher of the Week Nominee
Nick Schmidt
Freshman - LHP - High Ridge, Mo./Vianney High School
Nick Schmidt took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the powerful South Carolina Gamecocks on Friday night ... he struck out 11 in seven innings of work ... Schmidt became the first Razorback pitcher to strikeout at least 10 batters in a game since the 1999 season ... he allowed just one run on two hits to lower his ERA to 2.20 on the year ... Schmidt leads the Hogs with 32.2 innings of work this season ... opponents are hitting just .194.
Player of the Week Nominee
Casey Rowlett
Senior - OF - Jones, Okla./Jones High School
Casey Rowlett extended his hitting streak to 19 games over the weekend with six hits in 13 at bats ... he has hit in every game he has played this season (he missed the Sunday game vs. Eastern Illinois due to illness) ... he was on base for both of the Razorbacks home runs in Sunday's series clinching wins ... started both rallies with opposite-field singles ... Rowlett is hitting .500 for the season with 39 hits in 78 at bats ... he collected three doubles over the weekend and sparked the Hogs' offense with two more stolen bases ... Rowlett ranks first in the SEC in batting average, second in hits (39) and stolen bases (16) and third in on-base percentage (.540).
A Look at Next Week... Arkansas heads to Centenary for a two-game, mid-week series with the Gents ... the Razorbacks then return home for a SEC series with the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday ... the Hogs have averaged 6,748 fans per game through nine games at Baum Stadium this season.
