Arkansas finally gets past righty kryptonite in LSU series finale

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Daniel Shi | Last updated May 12, 2025 5:30 PM ET

For the first two games on the road against now No.1 LSU, nothing went right for Arkansas. The Tigers outscored the Razorbacks, 18-7, and coach Dave Van Horn's team suffered its first run-rule loss in nearly a year, a 13-3 defeat in Game 2.

The Hogs reversed their fortunes with a 7-4 win Sunday, but the team's 41st win of the year may hold more significance than just another win in the ledger. They did something that eluded them for the first three months of the season — hit a right-handed pitcher with velocity.

LSU's Game 3 starter, Casan Evans, came into the game with a 1.24 ERA in 36 1/3 innings with 49 strikeouts. His fastball hit as high as high as 95 miles an hour on the TV radar gun.

For the first inning plus, it looked like Arkansas' old nemesis was back. Evans mowed through the first inning, recording back-to-back strikeouts of Charles Davalan and Wehiwa Aloy.

Arkansas' faced eight pitchers with a similar characteristic prior to facing Evans, a right-hander with a fastball in the mid 90s or better.

Those pitchers allowed just 10 earned runs in 46 1/3 for an ERA of 1.94 against the Razorbacks line-up with 57 strikeouts and just 13 walks. For reference, the Hogs' opponent ERA in all SEC games is 8.28.

Arkansas' fortunes finally turned in the third inning against Evans, putting up a four spot and charging him with all four runs, nearly half of the production that the Hogs managed in over 4 1/2 games worth of innings. The Razorbacks strung together five hits and two doubles, sending nine men to the plate.

"A big two-out hit by Cam," Van Horn said. "All of a sudden we’re up 4-2. Then we just kind of held on. It was 4-3, and then we punched one in, in the fifth. They’ve got some really good arms. Everybody they threw at us that was right-handed was 95-100, and even the lefties were pretty good, as well. We did a good job.

Count on Cam pic.twitter.com/DtJLDTDn3b
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 11, 2025

LSU coach Jay Johnson pulled Evans after just 3 2/3 innings and 87 pitches.

“Arkansas is probably the favorite to win the whole thing,” coach Jay Johnson said postgame. “What a great starting point. Like that's a pretty tall ask of Coach Johnson of that young man, but if there's any pitcher I've had at that age that was ready for it, it was him.”

Arkansas has another tough righty with a high-octane fastball likely in the second game of the series against Tennessee to close out the regular season in Marcus Phillips. Phillips has pitched to a 3.55 ERA in 63 1/3 innings and his heater can reach triple-digits. First pitch of the series is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

You can hear Inside Arkansas' Andrew Ellis talk about the issue in depth below: