LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock senior
Hayden Arnold has been named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week following his impressive outing at Louisiana last Thursday. It is the first weekly honor of the year for Arnold and the third of his Trojan career.
Arnold put together one of the best performances of his career against Louisiana Thursday, earning a complete game 2-0 shutout against the Ragin' Cajuns to solidify Little Rock's postseason seeding. Arnold allowed just five hits with no walks over nine innings and struck out a career-high 12 batters, becoming the first Trojan in program history to surpass 300 career strikeouts.
The Rison native continues to solidify his name among the program's all-time greats, being named a second team All-Sun Belt selection Monday. Arnold leads the Sun Belt in innings pitched (90.0), ranking sixth in ERA (3.10) and opposing batting average (.233) and third in strikeouts (81) with nine quality starts.
Arnold has also made his mark on the national stage, ranking 34th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.79), 27th in walks per nine inning (1.40) and 46th in WHIP (1.03). He is among the top-eight all-time in eight statistical categories in program history, including first in strikeouts (310), second in innings pitched (309.0) and third in both appearances (75) and games started (45).
Arnold and the rest of the Trojans begin their final Sun Belt postseason quest this afternoon in Montgomery, Alabama, taking on ninth-seeded App State in the first round play-in game. Opening pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. from Riverwalk Stadium.
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