Beware of Volunteers, coach warns Hogs
FAYETTEVILLE — Now, after rest, comes the rest.
Tennessee tonight, Friday night and Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, Tenn. then home for three at Baum Stadium the following weekend against Vanderbilt and finally three at Texas A&M comprise Arkansas’ final three Southeastern Conference series after last week’s doubleheader split with Ole Miss completed the Razorbacks’ nine games in 11 days.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn mandated his Hogs stay away from Baum and rest Saturday and Sunday could take Monday, too, if they wanted, though none did before back for practice Tuesday.
They needed all the rest they allowed themselves.
“I slept a lot the last two days,” Arkansas junior left fielder Luke Bonfield, who has started all of the Razorbacks’ 46 games said Tuesday. “Then yesterday (Monday) everyone came to the field and kind of just hit a little BP, got in the weight room, got moving a little bit. I think a lot of guys just took the two days off to get their mind right and their body right. I know I did. “
Some might think the Hogs, 34-12 overall/13-8 in the SEC West, took it easy because of their opponent. Though with homecrowd advantage at 6 p.m. today, 5 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, coach Dave Serrano’s Tennessee Volunteers are only 23-18 overall and 6-14 in the SEC East.
In counterpoint, the Vols, also, Van Horn asserted,were among the SEC’s highest rated teams in preseason and lived up to it early rampaging through Loyola Marymount, Seton Hall, San Diego State and California-Irvine, to win the Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego.
Only some close- and extra-inning losses, Van Horn said, separate Tennessee from most of the league still contending for the SEC overall championship.
Currently SEC West co-leaders Mississippi State and Auburn, both 14-7, and SEC East leader Kentucky, 14-7, all share the SEC Overall lead with Arkansas, Texas A&M and LSU in the West and Florida in the East right behind at 13-8 in the league.
On paper the Vols are with them all, Van Horn asserts.
“They’re just a team that is very athletic,” Van Horn said. “Their starting pitchers throw nothing but strikes. They’re going to come at you 90 miles per hour with good sliders and changeups. Position player wise, they have really good range in the field because they can really run. They will steal a base if you give them a chance. They like to hit and run and they will bunt a lot, bunt for a hit as well. We have to be on our toes. We have to play really good defense against them.”
Tennessee regularly starts senior righthander Hunter Martin, 4-5k 3.07 earned-run average, freshman lefty Garrett Stallings, 3-1, 2.83 and junior right-hander Zach Warren, 2-4, 5.04.
Third baseman Jordan Rogers, .361, 7 home runs, 31 RBI, and second baseman Jeff Moberg, .337, 7 home runs and 27 RBI, lead the Vols’ attack.
Tennessee only hits .274 as a team with 25 home runs compared to Arkansas hitting .287 with a SEC-leading 58 home runs but the Razorbacks got out-powered twice last week by the Ole Miss Rebels, whose power and averages didn’t stack up to Arkansas’ pregame.
Van Horn intends to start the same rotation that pitched against Ole Miss, regular first and second SEC starters Blaine Knight and fellow right-hander Trevor Stephan, and give sophomore lefty Kacey Murphy 4-0, 3.45, Saturday’s start. Sophomore right-hander Jake Reindl and freshman lefty Evan Lee in relief respectively won and saved the lone Arkansas victory in three tries against Ole Miss last week.
Regarding both the SEC West and SEC East so bunched at the top with only nine SEC games left for all, Van Horn said, “I thought the league was going to be really deep. I don’t know if we have that superstar team. Kentucky is awfully good, a bunch of older kids that have been through it, but we have a lot of really good teams. There’s not one that really falls off.”