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Arkansas is riding a four-game losing streak, but will get another chance to snap out of it and get back to its winning ways when it hosts South Alabama this weekend.

Here’s a preview of the three-game series…

Schedule (TV)

Friday, March 6 - 3 p.m. CT (SECN+)

Saturday, March 7 - 2 p.m. CT (SECN+)

Sunday, March 8 - Noon CT (SECN+)

Game 3 of the series was previously scheduled for 1 p.m., but first pitch was moved up an hour to noon to accommodate for South Alabama’s travel plans.

All three games this weekend will be streamed on SEC Network-Plus, meaning they can be watched online on ESPN3.com or on the WatchESPN app.

Weather Report

It should be a beautiful weekend for baseball in Fayetteville. According to the Weather Channel, there isn’t a chance of rain until late Sunday and temperatures will creep into the 60s on the final two days of the series. The coldest day is Friday, when it will be sunny with a high of 58 degrees.

The wind could be a factor in Game 3, as it’ll be blowing 10-20 miles per hour out of the south - meaning it will be blowing in from right field.

Arkansas’ Starting Rotation (season stats)

Friday - So. LHP Patrick Wicklander (3 games/3 starts, 2-1, 3.00 ERA, 14 K/4 BB, 12 IP)

Saturday - R-So. RHP Caleb Bolden (3 games/1 start, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 K/0 BB, 10 IP)

Sunday - Jr. RHP Kole Ramage (4 games/2 starts, 1-1, 3.18 ERA, 10 K/4 BB, 11 1/3 IP)

Head coach Dave Van Horn announced Wednesday that right-handed ace Connor Noland will miss this weekend’s start because of a “mild” oblique strain on his left side. For more on his injury, click here.

With him out of the rotation, Wicklander is moving up a day and starting Friday’s series opener. Although he won’t have as much rest as usual, Van Horn didn’t think it was too big of a deal because he threw only 40 pitches against Texas last Saturday.

It was a disastrous outing for the talented left-hander, as he failed to record an out in the second inning and was charged with four earned runs. Before that, though, he hadn’t allowed an earned run in 11 innings.

“I know Wick’s ready for it,” catcher Casey Opitz said. “He didn’t have a very long start the last time he went out, so I’m sure he’s ready to get back out there and go after these guys.”

Bolden will get the nod Saturday and try to keep his perfect ERA going, as he has not allowed an earned run or walked a batter in 10 innings so far this year - his first since undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Texarkana, Texas, native is coming off his best outing of the season. Entering the game in the third inning, he shut Texas’ offense - which had built an 8-0 lead - down and gave Arkansas a chance to fight back into the game. Bolden ended up striking out five and giving up only a pair of two-out hits in five scoreless innings.

“His whole demeanor out there was something we needed and was kind of the kick in the butt we needed in that game,” Opitz said. “We could use more of that from him.”

Before heading to Houston, Bolden said he added a slurve and it felt good out of his hand against the Longhorns. That gives him a four-pitch arsenal that also includes a four-seam fastball, slider and circle changeup.

Although he could still add a few miles per hour to his fastball, Bolden has steadily built up his stamina, going two, three and four innings in his first three appearances of the season. Van Horn said he’s built up to be a starter and “it’s more like 75, 85, 90 pitches what we could get out of him.”

“Coach (Matt) Hobbs told me this week he was just going to let me run with it,” Bolden said. “I’m not really at any pitch count, just whenever I stop doing my job is when he’s going to pull me out of there.”

For the second straight weekend, Ramage will start Sunday’s game. Last week, he held Baylor scoreless for three innings, but was ultimately charged with two earned runs on four hits in five innings.

In the Polls

Despite losing all three games at the Shriners College Classic in Houston, Arkansas is still a consensus top-15 team, with the USA Today Coaches Poll even having it at No. 10. In this week’s HawgBeat Composite Poll, though, the Razorbacks are No. 11. South Alabama is unranked.

Scouting the Opponent

2019 record: 30-26 (16-14 Sun Belt)

2020 record: 7-7

Head coach: Mark Calvi (9th season)

South Alabama’s starting rotation (season stats)

Friday - Sr. RHP Drake Nightengale (3 games/3 starts, 0-0, 2.08 ERA, 30 K/4 BB, 17 1/3 IP)

Saturday - Jr. RHP Miles Smith (3 games/3 starts, 0-1, 6.92 ERA, 13 K/6 BB, 13 IP)

Sunday - Jr. RHP JoJo Booker (3 games/3 starts, 1-1, 4.85 ERA, 19 K/5 BB, 13 IP)

Arkansas hasn’t even reached SEC play yet, but will be facing yet another quality arm this weekend. This time it’s right-hander Drake Nightengale.

Selected as the Sun Belt Preseason Pitcher of the Year and a preseason second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, the senior is coming off a junior season in which he had a 3.52 ERA. However, that’s not indicative of just how dominant he was.

In his first season of Division I baseball after transferring to South Alabama from Pearl River J.C., Nightengale held opponents to a .196 batting average and had 91 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings. His 11.43 strikeouts per nine innings ranked 40th nationally, just behind TCU’s Nick Lodolo.

Although he’s yet to register a decision, he’s already racked up 30 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings and has a .206 opponent batting average. Nightengale’s 15.58 strikeouts per nine innings so far this year ranks 23rd in Division I.

Facing a pitcher of his caliber happens at least once and usually multiple times during conference play, but probably more than ever before, Arkansas has faced several in non-conference play.

It started on Opening Day, when the Razorbacks took on Eastern Illinois’ Will Klein, a 6-foot-5 right-hander who consistently threw in the mid-90s and is considered the top MLB Draft prospect in the OVC. Van Horn even said that a scout told him afterward that he thought Klein will pitch in the big leagues one day.

When Gonzaga came to town, it threw preseason All-American right-hander Alek Jacob on Saturday. The following weekend in Houston, the Razorbacks went up against Oklahoma right-hander Cade Cavalli, a projected first-rouner with a fastball that gets into the upper-90s.

It has usually taken a few innings to get going, but Arkansas has usually done okay against those pitcher. Even though the Razorbacks hit just .273 against them, the trio posted a combined 4.96 ERA and 1.41 WHIP with two losses and a no decision.

“I guess time will tell on that, but it’s definitely better to face it now than kind of get shocked when you get there,” Van Horn said when asked if that might translate to success in SEC play. “It’s kind of like, ‘Wow this is really a step up.’ I don’t think anything is going to be a step up.”

Offensively, the Jaguars have been led by catcher Reid Powers. He leads the team in all three triple crown categories, slashing .372/.449/.558 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.

Center fielder Michael Sandle (.292, 8 RBIs) and left fielder Ethan Wilson (.288, 7 RBIs) have also gotten off to decent starts, but for the latter, it feels almost disappointing.

Wilson burst onto the scene as a freshman last year, hitting .345/.453/.686 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs. Those numbers helped him become the first freshman to win Sun Belt Player of the Year and earned him National co-Freshman of the Year honors from Collegiate Baseball.

Other than those three players, though, South Alabama has been abysmal at the plate. Everyone else with at least five at bats, which is 13 players, is hitting .200 or below. That gives the Jaguars a .200 batting average as a team, which ranks 273rd out of 301 Division I teams.

“That’s amazing to me because they usually hit a lot,” Van Horn said. “I look at their schedule, they’ve played some good teams and they’ve faced some good arms. … They are finding a way to win one or two games every weekend hitting .200. That’s amazing.”

Two of those wins came last weekend, when South Alabama took two of three from Gonzaga. It won the rubber match by scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Of their seven losses, the Jaguars have lost five of them by four runs or less. Their other two losses came by 10 runs, against Gonzaga and at Alabama. They even played Vanderbilt relatively close in a pair of midweek games, losing 3-0 and 4-0.

Series History

Interestingly, South Alabama is one of the few teams who have come to Baum-Walker Stadium and had success.

Back in 2014, the Jaguars visited Fayetteville for a three-game series and opened up with a 12-1 blowout loss before sweeping a doubleheader the next day. They beat the Razorbacks 2-1 and 5-3 thanks to a pair of masterful starts by Locke St. John (8 1/3 IP, 1 ER) and Kevin Hill (8 IP, 3 ER).

The other two times Arkansas played South Alabama were part of a tournament at the Jaguars’ home field in Mobile, Ala., and it won both. The Razorbacks beat a David Freese-led team 8-7 in 2006 and then shutout South Alabama 7-0 in 2015.

That gives Arkansas a 3-2 edge in the all-time series between the two teams.

Stat of the Week

Arkansas is in the midst of a four-game losing streak. That is tied for its longest since ending the 2016 season with 13 straight losses.

The only other time the Razorbacks have lost four straight games over the past three-plus seasons came last year, when it lost twice to Ole Miss, dropped a midweek game to UALR and lost to open its series at Auburn.

They ultimately snapped out of it with a 15-inning win over the Tigers in Game 2 of a doubleheader and eventually made it back to Omaha.

“Sometimes you have to get knocked down a little bit to realize things,” Van Horn said. “We’ve been knocked down pretty good four times in a row (and) that’s hard to swallow, but we’re going to bounce back.”

These kind of losing streaks haven’t happened very often during Van Horn’s tenure, but they aren’t unheard-of. In fact, this is the 15th time since 2003 that the Razorbacks have lost at least four straight games. Another loss, though, would give them just their seventh losing streak of five or more.

The good news is that Arkansas has suffered a four-game (or more) losing streak in four of the six seasons Van Horn has taken it to the College World Series.

“Honestly, the demeanor in the locker room is really good for losing four,” Opitz said. “Obviously, we’re upset by it, and it makes us angry and we’ve got to make those adjustments, but we’re not losing any faith.”

Longest Losing Streaks Under Van Horn

~13 games (Texas A&M x2, Missouri State x2, LSU x3, Alabama x3, Mississippi State x3) - April 30-May 21, 2016

~6 games (Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga x2, Vanderbilt x3) - March 8-15, 2015*

~5 games (South Carolina x3, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt) - May 14-20, 2010

~5 games (LSU x2, Alabama x3) - May 2-10, 2009*

~5 games (Ole Miss x3, Florida, Alabama) - May 20-26, 2005

~5 games (Auburn, Wichita State, Alabama x3) - April 20-27, 2003

*Reached College World Series