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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team will face a tough early-season test this weekend when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for a three-game series at No. 3 Arkansas.  The Purple Aces return to the Natural State, as they went 1-2 last weekend in their season-opening series at Arkansas-Little Rock.  UE is slated to play the Razorbacks Friday at 3:05 p.m., Saturday at 1:05 p.m. and Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
 
Evansville (1-2) was involved in a trio of one-run decisions last weekend against UALR, winning the opener, 2-1, behind a strong start from sophomore Kyle Freeland, before falling, 8-7, in game two and , 6-5, in the series finale.
 
The Aces hit .298 as a team last weekend and had six players recorded four or more hits in the series.  Redshirt sophomore Kevin Kaczmarski led UE offensively by extending his on-base streak to 22 games and going 5-for-12 at the plate with three doubles, three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases.  Junior Jake Mahon also posted five hits, going 5-for-14 at the dish with a double and a solo home run.  Senior Jason Hockemeyer drove in a team-high four runs and scored twice, going 3-for-11 with a triple.
 
On the mound, Freeland earned Evansville’s only win by allowing just one run on five hits with eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings in the season opener.  Senior Kyle Lloyd also put together a solid start for the Aces, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts and exited the game with a 5-0 lead, but did not factor in the decisions, as UE’s bullpen surrendered six runs over the final four frames.
 
Evansville’s bullpen struggled against the Trojans, allowing 10 runs, eight earned, in 9.0 innings last weekend against the Trojans.  Senior Jake Naumann earned the save in Friday’s opening, but suffered the loss in the series finale, allowing an unearned run.  Freshman Connor Strain was the only Aces reliever to recorded at least one out and not give up a run, as he tossed a scoreless frame in Sunday’s series finale, striking out two and walking two.
 
Arkansas (4-1) is ranked in the top three in all four major national polls and swept visiting New Orleans in a doubleheader on Tuesday, taking game one, 14-0, before posting a 3-0 win in the nightcap.  The Razorbacks’ lone loss came in their season-opening series against Western Illinois, as Arkansas won the first two games of the series, before the Leathernecks salvaged a win in the finale.
 
The Razorbacks are hitting .302 as a team and are led by Brian Anderson, who is hitting a team-best .467 with four RBI.  Jacob Mahan boasts a .462 average and has driven in five runs, while Tyler Spoon owns a .444 batting average with a home run and a team-leading six RBI.
 
The Arkansas pitching staff has been superb in its first five games and enters the series against the Aces with a 1.47 ERA.  Preseason All-American Ryne Stanek is slated to start the series opener for the Razorbacks, while Arkansas will turn to Barrett Astin for game two and Tyler Killian for the series finale.  Stanek is 1-0 on the season with a 2.25 ERA, four strikeouts and just one walk in 4.0 innings.  Astin is also 1-0 on the year with a 1.80 ERA, as he earned the victory in his first start this season by going 5.0 innings and allowing just one earned run on three hits, while striking out three and issuing a walk.  Killian is scheduled to make his first collegiate start Sunday, but has tossed 3.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen with all of them coming in Arkansas’ season opener against Western Illinois.
 
The Razorbacks lead the all-time series with Evansville, 6-2, with all eight of the previous meetings taking place in Fayetteville.  The last meeting between the two sides was in 2001, when each team won a game of a two-game series.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups (Evansville listed first)
FRIDAY – LHP Kyle Freeland (1-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. RHP Ryne Stanek (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
SATURDAY – RHP Sam Johns (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. RHP Barrett Astin (1-0, 1.80 ERA)
SUNDAY – RHP Kyle Lloyd (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Trey Killian (0-0, 0.00 ERA)