Arkansas Baseball Notebook

March 18, 2007

Week: 3-1

Overall Record: 16-6

Tuesday, March 13: #9 Arkansas 10, Oral Roberts 2

Friday, March 16: #10 Arkansas 10, #12 Kentucky 2

Saturday, March 17: #12 Kentucky 7, Arkansas 5

Sunday, March 18: #9 Arkansas 14, #12 Kentucky 5

Noting the Razorbacks

No. 9 Arkansas went 3-1 on the week and captured its SEC-series opener at Kentucky with big wins on Friday and Sunday … the 16-6 Razorbacks are tied for the SEC West lead with a 2-1 record in SEC play … Kentucky entered the series undefeated on the season with a No. 12 national ranking, a 29-game regular-season home winning streak at Cliff Hagan Stadium and a gaudy .368-team batting average … the Hogs’ pitching staff posted a 3.81 ERA against the Wildcats and held them .125 points below their season batting average at .243 … offensively, the Razorbacks posted a .424 on-base percentage for the series … UA was hit by 10 pitches over the weekend and drew 22 walks while stealing all three bases attempted … Danny Hamblin’s bat appears to be awaking after hitting .400 with three home runs, two doubles, nine RBI, a .950 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage over the last six games … Hamblin’s two home runs on Sunday at Kentucky was his third multiple-home run game as a Razorback and tied him for third place all time at Arkansas with 39 career home runs … he ranks fifth in career RBI with 176 … Logan Forsythe has taken over the team lead with a .344 batting average … he has a six-game hitting streak going and has hit in 16 of the last 17 games and 16-of-19 games this season … Forsythe already has career highs in hits (21), doubles (2), home runs (3) and RBI (14) in just 61 at bats … Casey Coon extended his team RBI lead to 31 with four RBI at Kentucky while Hamblin and Tschepikow are second with 18 each … Nick Schmidt continues to roll along on the mound with a 5-0 record, including a career-best four straight wins, after beating Kentucky on Friday night … he has a 1.47 ERA with 40 strikeouts on the season and has allowed just three earned runs in his last 30.2 innings of work … he is nine strikeouts shy of David Walling’s No. 2 all-time mark of 283 … Duke Welker earned two wins in two starts this week, beating ORU on Tuesday and No. 12 Kentucky on Sunday … he worked a career-best six innings in both games and allowed just two earned runs in 12 innings while fanning 12 … left-handed reliever Dallas Keuchel was outstanding out of the bullpen, pitching five innings in two appearances … he allowed just one hit, a bunt single, and struck out seven … he earned his first career save with four innings of scoreless baseball to close out Schmidt’s win on Friday at Kentucky … Ben Tschepikow paced the Razorbacks at the plate this past week, hitting .500 (6 for 12) with a double, home run and eight RBI … he had a career-best four RBI in both the ORU game and the Friday night game at Kentucky … Brian Walker connected for his first home run since Feb. 10 at Troy on Sunday with a monstrous 450-foot blast to right-center field on Sunday against the Wildcats … one of the best pitching match-ups in college baseball this season will take place on Friday night at Baum Stadium when No. 1 Vanderbilt comes to town … the Hogs’ southpaw Nick Schmidt (5-0, 1.47 ERA) and the Commodores LHP David Price (5-0, 2.36 ERA).

Pitcher of the Week Nominee

Duke Welker * Junior

Puyallup, Wash/Seminole [Okla.] JC/Woodinville High School

· Duke Welker earned two wins in two starts this week while posting a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings of work

· He lasted a career-high six innings in both of his starts and struck out 12

· Opponents managed just seven hits for a miniscule .156 batting average off of the right-hander

· Welker posted his first win on Tuesday against Oral Roberts. He held the Golden Eagles to three hits while fanning three and allowing just two runs – one earned.

· He followed that up with the first SEC win of his Razorback career on Sunday at Kentucky. He held the previously hot-hitting Wildcats to one earned run on four hits

· Welker struck out a career high nine Cats while improving to 4-0 on the season.

Hitter of the Week Nominee

Ben Tschepikow * Junior

Fayetteville, Ark. / Fayetteville High School

· Ben Tschepikow hit .500 with a double, home run and eight RBI in four games this week

· Tschepikow hit .571 (4 for 7) with runners in scoring position for the week, raising his RISP average to .483 (14 fro 29) for the season

· He posted an .833 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage with a hit by pitch, a walk and no strikeouts in 12 official at bats

· Tschepikow began the week going 3 for 4 with a home run and a career-high four RBI and two runs scored in a route of Oral Roberts

· He then came off the bench on Friday at Kentucky to go 2 for 2 and matched his career high with four RBI on two, two-RBI singles

· Tschepikow went 1 for 4 with a double on Sunday against the Wildcats as the Hogs clinched the series with a 14-5 win

Freshman of the Week Nominee

Dallas Keuchel * Freshman

Tulsa, Okla. / Bishop Kelley High School

· Dallas Keuchel pitched five-scoreless innings in relief in two appearances this week, allowing just one hit and striking out seven while holding opponents to a .059 batting average

· He started the week with one-scoreless inning out of the bullpen on Tuesday against Oral Roberts. He struck out two of the three hitters he faced

· Keuchel then finished off Nick Schmidt’s fifth win of the season on Friday at Kentucky for his first career save

· He pitched four-scoreless innings against the Wildcats with a career-high five strikeouts and just one walk

· The only hit allowed by Keuchel in his two appearances this week was a bunt single to lead off the ninth inning vs. the Wildcats

· Keuchel has allowed just one run in his last 8.2 innings out of the bullpen. In that span he has struck out 10 and walked just one

Next Week

The Razorbacks travel to Shreveport, La., for a single game at Centenary on Wednesday, March 21, at2 p.m. Arkansas then comes home for a SEC showdown with No. 1 Vanderbilt over the weekend at Baum Stadium. Friday’s game is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Friday in the anticipated showdown between the Commodores’ LHP David Price and the Razorbacks’ Nick Schmidt. The Saturday game is slated for 2:05 with Sunday’s series finale at 1:05 p.m.

Wednesday, March 21: Arkansas at Centenary,2 p.m.

Friday, March 23: Vanderbilt at Arkansas, 6:35 p.m.

Saturday, March 24: Vanderbilt at Arkansas, 2:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 25, Vanderbilt at Arkansas, 1:05 p.m.