HOOVER, Ala. The 13th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks will finally get to play their opening game as the No. 4 seed in the second round of the 2017 SEC Tournament Thursday morning against the No. 5 seed Mississippi State. First pitch is slated for 9:30 a.m. After other tournament games from earlier in the week were delayed because of weather, the Hogs were able to get an extra day of rest and will face the Bulldogs, who beat Georgia in an elimination game on Wednesday.
The second, third and quarterfinal rounds are double elimination, while the semifinals and the championship game are single elimination.
Arkansas comes into the tournament as winners of four of their last six games, including series wins over Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. The Hogs finished conference play with an 18-11 record to earn a top-four seed and a first-round bye. Its an 11-game turnaround in SEC play from a year ago that saw the Hogs finish last in the conference and not qualify for postseason play.
Arkansas won six of its 10 conference series this year, including a sweep of Mississippi State to kick off conference play. In those six series wins, the Razorbacks went 14-4 and hit .298 as a team with 27 home runs and 109 runs scored.
Sophomore Eric Cole led all Hog hitters over that span with a .367 average (18-of-49) with four doubles and a .456 on-base percentage. Jax Biggers, Luke Bonfield, Dominic Fletcher, Chad Spanberger, and Carson Shaddy all hit over .300 during the same span, combining for 22 home runs and 75 RBIs.
The Razorbacks are 28-37 all-time in the SEC Tournament and 3-1 against Mississippi State in tournament games. Thursday will be the first time the two programs have faced in the conference tournament since 2012.
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