FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas is used to playing at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Birmingham, Ala., just not quite this early in the baseball season.
The Hoover Met, where the SEC Tournament will be held for the 18th consecutive year, is the site of the No. 23 Razorbacks' three-game series at Alabama, which begins at 6 tonight. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
TODAY’S GAME
No. 23 Arkansas at Alabama
WHEN 6:05 p.m. Central
WHERE Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Ala.
RECORDS Arkansas 26-18, 11-10 SEC. Alabama 23-21, 8-13.
SERIES Arkansas leads 43-33
RADIO Razorbacks Sports Radio Network. Not all games will be carried by affiliates. Check local listings.
TELEVISION SEC Network
PITCHING MATCHUP Arkansas: Trey Killian (RHP, 1-3, 5.98 ERA). Alabama: Taylor Guilbeau (LHP, 2-4, 3.68 ERA)
SPORT HOPS Arkansas is 8-2 in its past 10 games against Alabama and has won 7 of the past 11 series between the teams. … The first two games of the Arkansas-Alabama series will be televised on the SEC Network and the third game will be on ESPN2. … Razorbacks center fielder Andrew Benintendi is batting .381 and has reached base in 17 consecutive games and in 17 of his past 21 plate appearances. … Arkansas has a 2.80 ERA in the past five games. … The Razorbacks’ .979 fielding percentage ranks second in the SEC and 12th nationally. … Arkansas right fielder Tyler Spoon has raised his batting average to .356, and his 15 doubles rank second in the SEC.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY at Alabama, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY at Alabama, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY at Alabama, noon
SUNDAY off
MONDAY off
TUESDAY off
WEDNESDAY off
Alabama is playing its home games at the Hoover Met this season while the Crimson Tide's Thomas-Sewell Stadium in Tuscaloosa undergoes a $42 million renovation.
Arkansas is in position to make the SEC Tournament for the 15th time since the event moved to Hoover, but the Razorbacks (26-18, 11-10) have some work left to clinch a spot with three conference series remaining.
While many of the Razorbacks have played in the SEC Tournament, the team has newcomers such as catchers Tucker Pennell and Carson Shaddy, second baseman Rick Nomura, designated hitters Luke Bonfield and Chad Spanberger and pitcher Keaton McKinney.
"I think it'll help the new guys that haven't been there," Razorbacks senior left fielder Joe Serrano said of playing at Hoover Met this weekend. "They'll get to experience what it's like to play in a big stadium, get experience with the surface and the field.
"I heard they moved the fences in, so that'll be interesting to see, but it's definitely a pitcher's park. If you hit one out there, you really have to hit it."
Hoover Met's outfield fences have been brought in 5 feet down the lines to 335 and 10 feet in the power alleys to 375 while center field remains at 405.
"It feels like a bigger stage," said Arkansas sophomore starting pitcher Dominic Taccolini, who pitched in the SEC Tournament last season. "It's good to get used to it for later on."
Seating capacity is listed at 10,800, but including grassy areas there is room for more than 15,000.
"It's a little different atmosphere," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "It's an awful big stadium and probably doesn't have a real home crowd feel unless they have a lot of people there."
Alabama (23-21, 8-13) is 15-10 at Hoover Met this season with an average announced attendance of 2,715. At the Tide's most recent SEC home series two weeks ago against Georgia, all three games drew announced crowds of more than 3,200 with a high of 3,597.
"They've had to commute back and forth to play there in Hoover," Van Horn said. "I think it's probably been a little bit stressful for them, but they're awfully dangerous."
Alabama is among eight teams with between seven and 10 SEC victories. The bottom two teams in the final standings miss the SEC Tournament.
"They're just hanging on, like a lot of teams in the league right now," Van Horn said. "Just fighting for their lives."
Arkansas has won five consecutive SEC series for the first time since 2004, when the Razorbacks won six in a row, but Van Horn said he doesn't approach this weekend in terms of extending the streak.
"I look at it as another series," he said.
The Razorbacks have yet to sweep an SEC series. They won the first two games against Mississippi State last weekend, then lost the finale 2-1.
Van Horn said the Razorbacks weren't as focused for the third game, that they were looser in the locker room than usual.
"I just think when it came right down to it there was a little bit of a let-up," Van Horn said. "They didn't realize it, but I think we could all see it."
Van Horn said he's stressed to the Razorbacks they can't become complacent despite a 10-5 record in their past 15 SEC games.
"What have we done?" he said. "We're in the middle of the pack. We're one bad weekend from being right back where we were.
"We still have nine games left against teams that are behind us that want to get in front of us, and it's going to be tough."
Sports on 04/30/2015