FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Razorbacks second baseman Carson Shaddy made no attempt to hide his feelings about LSU.
"I was raised to hate LSU," said Shaddy, a redshirt junior from Fayetteville. "So it's a big deal for me and my family.
"I try to show it as much as I can through my passion for the game and for this university. You'll see a lot of passion this weekend."
The No. 15 Razorbacks (24-6, 7-2 SEC) and No. 13 Tigers (20-10, 5-4) open a three-game series at 6:30 tonight at Baum Stadium.
LSU is 67-30 against the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville -- including 16-4 since 2012 -- but the Razorbacks are tied with Auburn for the SEC West lead while the Tigers are fourth.
"We're not scared of these guys," said sophomore pitcher Blaine Knight, who will start tonight against LSU junior Alex Lange. "We know we're better than them, so we're ready to get going."
Third baseman Jared Gates, a native of Wichita, Kan., who transferred to Arkansas from Iowa Western Community College, said his teammates have hammered home the importance of the LSU rivalry.
"I've been around our guys long enough to know that those aren't the good guys," Gates said. "So I'm ready as well."
LSU lost to Texas A&M 4-3 on Sunday in Baton Rouge, when the Tigers blew a 3-0 lead with two outs in the ninth inning.
"It's the way the game works every now and then," Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said. "It is what it is. They're a good team."
LSU returns several position starters from last season, including second baseman Cole Freeman (.355 batting average), shortstop Kramer Roberson (.322), and outfielders Greg Deichmann (.321, 9 home runs, 32 RBI), Antoine Duplantis (.342, 29 RBI) and Zach Watson (.338).
The Tigers finished 19-11 in SEC play last season after starting 2-5.
"I'm sure they're not too concerned about it," Van Horn said of the Tigers' 5-4 conference start. "They're athletic. They can run. They do have some pop, too. Obviously they can pitch."
Arkansas already has as many SEC victories as it did last year, when the Razorbacks finished 7-23 in the conference and 26-29 overall. It ended a streak of 17 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Van Horn as the coach at Nebraska and Arkansas.
"In my opinion, Dave Van Horn is one of the great coaches in our sport," LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said. "It just goes to show that in any given year things can kind of get out of control and unravel.
"They just got in a rut and were unable to get out of it last year. That doesn't make Dave any less of a coach. There is nobody in the league that I have greater respect for than him."
Mainieri said he's not surprised the Razorbacks have bounced back after ending last season with a 13-game losing streak.
"I would have been more surprised had they not had the kind of year they're having," he said.
Lange (3-3, 3.73 ERA) has 55 strikeouts and 11 walks in 41 innings through 7 starts. The junior right-hander is 2-0 against the Razorbacks, holding them to 12 hits and 3 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings in games the Tigers won 16-3 in 2015 and 5-4 last season.
"He's a projected first-round pick," Van Horn said. "He's got first-round stuff."
Van Horn said Lange's curveball makes him especially effective.
"That's the pitch that if he's throwing for a strike, he's awfully tough," Van Horn said. "If he's not throwing it for a strike, you've got to lay off of it, because it looks like it's going to be a strike, and then it runs into the ground."
Shaddy said if the hitters aren't careful, they'll fall behind in the count against Lange's curveball and 94 mph fastball.
"So you've got to be aggressive and swing at those pitches that are all in the zone," Shaddy said. "He can throw anything on any count. He's electric."
The Razorbacks are expecting an electric atmosphere at Baum Stadium after being on the road the previous two SEC series at Missouri and at Alabama. Five of Arkansas' top 15 regular-season attendance for home games have been against LSU, including 11,103 on April 9, 2011.
"Man, I can't wait," Shaddy said. "I'm sure it's going to be just an incredible crowd this weekend. They love their Hogs and we love them.
"It was fun playing on the road and getting those two series wins, but there's nothing better than playing in Fayetteville."
Mainieri said the Tigers are excited about playing at Baum Stadium, too.
"It's always a great environment," he said. "We love coming up there.
"The fans are very supportive of their team. They're not terribly nasty toward our players, which I think is a great thing. I hope our fans are not nasty toward their players.
"They love baseball and they love their team, and that's a good combination."
Matt Jones of wholehogsports.com contributed to this report.
Sports on 04/07/2017