FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas hits the road for three games this weekend against a talented Auburn squad.

Arkansas (34-11, 14-7) is on top of the SEC West standings, but Auburn (31-14, 12-9) is one of the teams breathing down their neck. Auburn, Texas A&M and LSU are all just two games behind the Razorbacks in the SEC West with three weekend series remaining. The Hogs have already played LSU and Texas A&M so Auburn may have the best chance to move up. Dave Van Horn's Razorbacks are just 4-5 in road games this season and now have to go to Auburn where the Tigers are 19-7, including 6-3 in SEC play, at home. Van Horn said he won't spend a lot of time talking to his team about their road record.

"I don’t really talk about this being bigger than that," Van Horn said Tuesday night. "I don’t feel like I need to put that on them. They know that every game is big from here on in, especially where we sit. I don’t feel like I need to give these guys any speeches. I think they get it. We’ve done pretty well here the last four or five years and have been in the race down the stretch. I think about ‘18, we had to fight to win the West. ‘19, it was the same way. Even last year, we were winning a lot, but there were some teams that were right there with us until the very end. It’s nothing new, so it’s not like I really have to tell them how to think. They know what we’re in for. They know that we’re going to get everybody’s best shot, and teams are trying to catch us. And it’s their home series. They don’t play tonight, they don’t play [Thursday]. They may be taking finals. They’ll be ready for us."

Arkansas is coming off a 6-4 loss to Missouri State on Tuesday night. Arkansas struggled to win two of three against last place Ole Miss this past weekend and then fell to the Bears on Tuesday. How will the team bounce back against Auburn?

"Well, you never know how you’re going to play coming off one emotional weekend, you’re going into another big series," Van Horn said. "It’s the last week of regular class. Just told them what I saw and just that we have to learn from this one and move on."

Van Horn and the Hogs will host Vanderbilt next weekend and then finish up the regular season at Alabama. Vanderbilt is in a battle with Georgia for second place behind Tennessee in the SEC. Alabama is currently five games behind the Hogs in the SEC West. Van Horn knows all nine remaining games will be tough and talked about the SEC West standings.

"I think it’s really even," Van Horn said. "I think a lot of the teams are very talented, especially on the weekends. They’ve got teams that I think are very experienced. I think it’ll probably go down to the last weekend, probably the last game."

Auburn is coming off a weekend series against No. 1 Tennessee. They were beaten 17-4 in the first game, but bounced back to take the second game 8-6 before falling on Sunday 5-3. The Vols are 41-4 on the season and the Auburn loss was just one of two for them in the SEC. Auburn is 7-6 against ranked teams this season. Van Horn was impressed with Auburn's showing against the nation's top team.

"Very offensive," Van Horn said of the Tigers. "Really can hit. Added a couple of guys into that lineup that was good last year. I think they have a switch-hitter and a left-handed hitter, but the rest of them are right-handed, but they can really hit. They’ve been playing good. They’re hard to beat. They’re not scared. They’re not intimidated. Like I said, they’ve got older kids and it’s going to be tough down there."

In 2021, Auburn lost a lot of close games. Van Horn though isn't surprised they have been able to turn it around this season.

"Well, I don’t really know what they did last year," Van Horn said. "I mean, I couldn’t tell you. I just focused on this year. As far as a bounce back, I thought they had a pretty good team last year. When we played them, it was a great series and it was tight. It could’ve gone either way like a lot of the series. So, there’s really not much separation between one team and the other in our league. It doesn’t surprise me a bit that they’re having a really good year because they have a lot of experienced players."

Arkansas and Auburn are tied in the overall series between the two with each winning 48 games. Auburn is 24-18 at Plainsman Park against the Hogs. Friday's game will begin at 7 p.m., Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and be televised on the SEC Network and then Sunday at 1 p.m. The Friday and Sunday games are available on the SEC Network+.

At the plate, Auburn is led by first baseman Sonny DiChiara. He is hitting .436, 13 home runs and 40 RBI. Another standout is third baseman Blake Rambusch who is hitting .362, three home runs and 32 RBI. He leads the Tigers with 13 stolen bases in 18 attempts.

The pitching matchups are junior right hander Mason Barnett (2-1, 4.19) against Arkansas senior righty Connor Noland (5-3, 2.77) on Friday. Saturday will see Auburn junior right-handed pitcher Trace Bright (2-4, 4.29) take on Arkansas freshman left hander Hagen Smith (6-2, 3.75). Sunday will have Auburn right-handed pitcher Joseph Gonzalez (6-1, 2.30) taking on righty Jaxon Wiggins (5-1, 5.75).