@RazorbackBSB Set to Host Mississippi State

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Fresh off a series win against the No. 1 team in the country, the No. 25 Arkansas baseball team (24-17, 9-9) returns home to host Mississippi State (22-19, 6-12) this weekend at Baum Stadium.

Tickets
Single game tickets to the series can be purchased by clicking here.

Follow Live
All three games will broadcasted live on SEC Network Plus and the WatchESPN App with Alex Perlman (PXP) and Troy Eklund (Analyst), while Phil Elson (PXP) and Rick Schaeffer (Analyst) will have the call on the IMG Razorback Sports Network.

Weekend Promotions
Friday 
•  The first 1,000 fans receive an ‘A’ logo car decal.
Saturday
•  Dollar Hot Dog Day at Baum Stadium. Limit two hot dogs per fan, per transaction, while supplies last.
•  Baggo Tournament (Tickets)
Sunday
•  The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a set of Razorback baseball trading cards.

Probable Starters
Fri. | 6:35p | (ARK) RHP Trey Killian vs. (MSU) LHP Lucas Laster
Sat. | 6:05p | (ARK) RHP Dominic Taccolini vs. (MSU) RHP Preston Brown
Sun. | 1:05p | (ARK) RHP Keaton McKinney vs (MSU) TBA

Friday Probable Starter – RHP Trey Killian
Trey Killian looks to rebound after the toughest start of his career last weekend against Texas A&M and get back on track as the ace of the Arkansas staff. The junior has made 17 career starts in SEC play and allowed two earned runs or less in 10 of those 17 starts, including twice this season against No. 5 Vanderbilt and Kentucky. In his only career start against Mississippi State in 2014, Killian allowed six hits and three runs in 5.2 innings of work.

Saturday Probable Starter – RHP Dominic Taccolini
Dominic Taccolini will look to pick up a win for the first time in his last five starts this weekend in game two of the series against Mississippi State. After earning back-to-back wins against No. 1 LSU and Ole Miss, the sophomore has picked up a pair of no decisions against Auburn and Texas A&M, while suffering a loss to Kentucky in his shortest outing of the year. Taccolini threw a season-high 108 pitches last week against the Aggies in 5.1 innings and has recorded 19 strikeouts in his last 20.1 innings of work.

Sunday Probable Starter – RHP Keaton McKinney
Keaton McKinney has picked up back-to-back SEC victories to clinch series wins over Kentucky and No. 1 Texas A&M. He is the only freshman in the league to throw a complete game this season and has allowed three earned runs or less in nine of his 10 starts this year. Arkansas has won each of his last six starts and McKinney has tallied eight strikeouts over his last two outings, while only giving up two extra base hits.

Leading Off

• The Razorbacks made appearances in three national polls this week, checking in at No. 25 in D1Baseball and Baseball America, while coming in at No. 30 in Collegiate Baseball.

• The Razorbacks handed consensus No. 1 Texas A&M its first series loss of the year last weekend, taking two of three from the Aggies in College Station.

• Arkansas is the only team in the SEC to win each of its last four conference series, posting a league record of 8-4 over the last month.

• Arkansas is 3-3 this season against the No. 1 team in the country and 5-4 against the nation’s top team over the last two years.

• The Razorbacks have only committed one error in the last six games, fielding at a .995 clip over the last 51.0 innings and 225 chances in the field and turning 41 double plays to rank second in the SEC.

• The Razorbacks have opened the month of April with a 10-3 record, including a pair of road SEC series wins.

• Arkansas has three wins in SEC play when trailing after seven innings, picking up two comeback victories at Auburn and one at Texas A&M.

• The Razorbacks are currently alone in third place in the SEC West standings, sitting behind top-ranked LSU and No. 2 Texas A&M.

Series History
Arkansas is 40-48 all-time against Mississippi State, including a 17-17 record in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks dropped two of three to the Bulldogs last season in Starkville, picking up a 4-0 victory in the opener before dropping consecutive 5-1 games. Arkansas has not dropped a series to MSU in Fayetteville since 2007, winning each of the last three series at Baum Stadium.

Benintendi Bullets
• Is the reigning SEC Player of the Week and NCBWA National Hitter of the Week.
• Leads the country with 14 home runs on the year.
• Has seven home runs in the last 13 games.
• Has 15 RBI in the last 13 games.
• Has hit safely in 22 of the last 24 games.
• Leads the SEC with 107 total bases.
• Leads the SEC with a .733 slugging percentage.
• Has scored 10 runs over the last four games.
• Has gone 7-7 in stolen bases in the last five games.

#BennyBomb Recognition
Andrew Benintendi garnered SEC Player of the Week and NCBWA National hitter of the Week honors after hitting .444 last week and reaching base in each of his final nine plate appearances.

Triple Threat
Andrew Benintendi is one of three players in the country with double-digit home runs, a .370 or higher batting average and 30 or more walks on the year. He is joined by Wake Forest’s Will Craig and Cincinnati’s Ian Happ as the trio has dominated opponent pitching this season.

Dishing it Up
Tyler Spoon is 11 for his last 23 over the last six games, hitting .478 with seven runs batted in and six runs scored. He has recorded a hit and RBI in each of the last six games and is closing in on his third 10-game hitting streak of the year. Spoon has hit safely in 33 of 39 games played this season.

Teague Turning a Corner
James Teague has emerged as one of the top pitchers on the staff over the last month, tossing 22.1 innings and giving up just three earned runs for a 1.21 earned run average. He has allowed just two extra base hits, recorded 17 strikeouts and opponents are hitting .224 against the right-hander in his last six appearances.

RPI Watch
Arkansas improved its RPI by 32 last week with a series win on the road against the No. 1 team in the country, jumping from 84 to 52 according to the NCAA. The Razorbacks have also played the 16th toughest schedule in the country according to WarrenNolan.com.

DVH Hits Milestone Win
Head coach Dave Van Horn picked up his 500th victory at Arkansas in the series finale at Auburn and currently has 1,091 career wins in his 27-year career as a head coach. Van Horn joins Razorback legend Norm DeBriyn as the only two coaches in program history to record 500 wins during their tenure at Arkansas. Debriyn and Van Horn have combined for 81-percent of the wins in Arkansas’ history. He is also one of only three active coaches in the SEC with 500 wins at his current institution.

Coming Up
Arkansas hits the road next weekend, traveling to Hoover, Alabama for a three-game series with the Crimson Tide. The first two games will televised on SEC Network, followed by the finale on ESPN2.

For more information on Arkansas baseball, follow @RazorbackBSB on Twitter.