FAYETTEVILLE — Cold weather can make it challenging to stay hot at the plate.

Tim Smalling knew the feeling when the Arkansas sophomore shortstop began the season 1 for 24. Less than three games later, his batting average has jumped 193 points to a more respectable. 235 heading into today’s game with Siena.

Aaron Murphree’s three home runs highlighted the Razorbacks’ 14-5 victory over the Saints on Friday, but Smalling and fellow middle infielder Ben Tschepikow combined for 8 hits (4 apiece ), 3 RBI and 4 runs scored.

So they didn’t mind shivering with temperatures in the high 30 ’s with a stiff wind at game’s end.

“This cold weather is tough on everybody,” said Tschepikow, who is batting. 484 overall and. 542 (13 for 24 ) during a fivegame hitting streak. “On a day like this, the cold weather is one of the worst things to play baseball in. We have to try and outwork them.” Hitting in the Nos. 7 and 8 spots, respectively, Tschepikow and Smalling made Arkansas ’ lineup even tougher from top to bottom.

“They all swing the bats,” Siena Coach Tony Rossi said. “We knew they were going to swing the bats. We just didn’t think we’d get into a situation where they score runs almost every inning.” Credit Tschepikow and Smalling for contributing to run-scoring rallies in the second, fifth, sixth and eighth innings.

In the fifth, after Siena had pulled within 8-4, Tschepikow led off with a sharp double into the right-field corner and scored on a Chase Leavitt single. Tschepikow and Smalling then delivered consecutive RBI singles in a two-run sixth.

Tschepikow also singled in the eighth. Then, while attempting a steal of second, he never stopped running and came around to score on Smalling’s bloop base hit to left-center.

Arkansas hitting coach Todd Butler said he was confident Smalling would break out of his funk after being limited during the preseason by a tender left shoulder, but it wasn’t so easy for Smalling.

He had seen his average plummet to. 042 after two hitless trips to open Wednesday’s first game of a doubleheader against South Dakota State. Smalling bounced back with two hits that day and now has seven in his past 10 at-bats.

“I was hitting the ball hard and right at people,” Smalling said. “It was a matter of time before some of those hits started falling in.

“ You always try to be aggressive.”