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With sports on hold for the foreseeable future, our own Andrew Hutchinson - who’s known for his love of numbers - is digging into his file of favorite statistics and sharing them in a weekly series on HawgBeat.

Next up is a look at how Arkansas’ 2018 lineup crushed opposing aces during its run to the College World Series finals…

During his usual preseason press conferences with local media leading up to the 2018 season, it was easy to see Dave Van Horn felt good about his squad.

The Razorbacks had a nice blend of returning players - including a couple of key seniors, something they don’t usually have - and newcomers that made them legitimate national championship contenders.

One of the main reasons for Van Horn’s confidence was his lineup, which was arguably as deep as it’s ever been. One through nine, Arkansas had power in every spot.

Sure enough, the Razorbacks lived up to expectations. They were one out away from winning their first national title and their offense broke the school record by hitting 98 home runs. That was tied for third nationally, while Arkansas also ranked in the top 30 in all three slash categories, hitting .296/.391/.475 as a team.

What was even more incredible, though, was what the Razorbacks did against opposing aces.

During their 10-week SEC slate, they faced six pitchers who were considered the other team’s ace and went on to be drafted in the first three rounds of that summer’s MLB Draft.

Those pitchers had a combined 0-5 record (with one no decision), 7.88 ERA and 1.81 WHIP. They averaged just 5 1/3 innings and Arkansas hit at least one home run against each of them. In fact, the Razorbacks actually hit those six highly drafted aces better than other pitchers, slashing .312/.380/.529 against them.

A trio of first-round picks - Auburn’s Casey Mize (No. 1 overall), Florida’s Brady Singer (No. 18) and Ole Miss’ Ryan Rolison (No. 22) - as well as two second-rounders - Kentucky’s Sean Hjelle and Texas A&M’s Mitchell Kilkenny - and a third-rounder in Mississippi State’s Konnor Pilkington.

The Razorbacks had success against other top-notch pitchers, as well. South Carolina held eventual fourth-round pick Adam Hill for Game 2 of its series at Baum-Walker Stadium and still lost. Singer also got knocked around in Omaha, as did Oregon State’s Luke Heimlich - who would have been a high-round pick had it not been for off-field issues.

As great as he was himself, Blaine Knight’s historic 14-0 season likely would not have happened without Arkansas’ incredible offensive performances against a murderer’s row of aces.