March 11, 2021
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – With a streak of 16 consecutive wins in the program, Arkansas No. 19 softball team (17-2, 0-0 SEC) begins the SEC game by traveling to No. 20 in South Carolina for a series of three games against the Gamecocks (13-3, 0-0 SEC) from Friday, March 12 to Sunday, March 14. Friday and Saturday games will air on SEC Network +, with the Hogs making their national television debut on Sunday on the SEC Network. Brad Muller (play-by-play) and Chrissy Schoonmaker (analyst) are called up for Friday and Saturday games, while Pam Ward (play-by-play) and Jenny Dalton-Hill (analyst) will work on Sunday’s match.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, March 12 – 5 pm CT – No. 20 in South Carolina – Watch – Live stats
Saturday, March 13 – 1 pm CT – No. 20 in South Carolina – Watch – Live stats
Sunday, March 14 – 12:00 pm CT – no. 20 in South Carolina – Watch – Live stats
Last time out
Arkansas defeated Central Arkansas on the road Tuesday night, 4-1, at the first meeting between the two programs. and the first game of the Razorbacks on the road against an opponent in the state. The Hogs were lost, 8-3, but they made all three strokes count as each drove in a run and looked for extra bases. The infielder Danielle Gibson made a home run of two races in the first inning, homering in her third consecutive game and fifth total time in that period. Designated player Linnie Malkin also hit a home run and freshman Hannah Gammill hit an RBI double. Pitcher Mary Haff recorded her tenth win of the season and was the best champion of the season, 11 of them.
Bogle Bombers
The Razorbacks were on a wave of power to start the season, totaling 47 home runs in the first 19 games to lead the SEC and occupy second place nationally. Burnside leads the team with 11 homers, who leads the SEC and ranks second in the country, behind Jocelyn Alo of Oklahoma (13). Gibson’s total of eight home runs came in third at the SEC and ninth in the country, and designated player Linnie Malkin’s seven home runs came in 16th in the country. Field freshman Hannah Gammill has hit five home runs and is tied for fifth nationally between freshman home runs and second in the SEC. Nine-hole hitter Keely Huffine popped the bottom of the order, hitting four home runs.
Going Streaking
Arkansas is currently on a streak of 16 consecutive wins, beating the previous record of 12 set by the teams in 1999 and 2008. Throughout the streak, the Razorbacks are hitting 0.314 as a team with 39 home runs, scoring an average of 7.5 races per game. Razorbacks are delivering an ERA of just 1.88. Arkansas’ 17-2 start in 2021 is tied for the second best start to the season in the program’s history.
#HogHits
- Haff leads the country with 10 wins and ranks fourth in shutouts (3) and ninth in strikeouts (76). The ERA of Haff’s 1.58 career is currently the best mark in the program’s history.
- Gibson leads in batting average (.423), batting (30) and RBI (31). She leads the SEC and ranks third in the country in RBI.
- In addition to occupying the second place in the country in homers, the Razorbacks also occupy the second place in walks, drawing 81.
Arkansas in search
After 5-0 last week, USA Today / NFCA and ESPN.com/USA softball polls ranked Hogs 19th in the national ranking. D1softball.com ranked Arkansas in 12th place, the team’s best rating at any time this season.
Opposition position
South Carolina (13-3) enter the fray after defeating Georgia Southern 9-1 in six innings on Wednesday night. Infielder Mackenzie Boesel leads the team with .479, while infielder Kassidy Krupit wins the club with five homers and 30 RBI. Gamecocks use five pitchers regularly with Kelsey Oh seeing the most entries (25.0). Bailey Betenbaugh threw 20.0 entries and leads the team in ERA (0.70), eliminations (22) and wins (4).
South Carolina leads the all-time series against Arkansas by 37-22, but the Razorbacks have won two of their last three games, winning the last series in 2019 at Fayetteville. The Hogs won the first two games in that series, 3-2 and 7-4. Arkansas has never won a series of three games in Columbia and is 10-16 years old when playing in South Carolina in the state of Palmetto.