FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas is sitting pretty as the consensus No. 1 team in five of the six college baseball polls, but that doesn’t mean the Razorbacks are fully situated on the mound, at the plate and in the field with SEC play looming in two weeks.
In fact, a case could be made that the Razorbacks have unsettled issues at just about as many positions as they do locked-in jobs.
These positions look largely settled: catcher Casey Opitz (.381, 3 doubles), shortstop Jalen Battles (.379, 8 RBI), second baseman Robert Moore (.286, 1 HR, 4 RBI), center fielder Christian Franklin (.276, 3, 7), weekend starter Peyton Palette (1-0, 0.00 ERA in 9 1/3 innings), and virtually everyday at-bats for Matt Goodheart (.500, 1, 3) and Brady Slavens (.357, 3, 8). Infielder Cullen Smith (.304, 4 RBI) and right fielder Cayden Wallace (.200, 2, 3) might be on the cusp of that status as well.
Goodheart has played designated hitter in both games since his stomach issue improved. Slavens has bounced between designated hitter and first base, while Smith has played first and third base in the early going.
Otherwise, coach Dave Van Horn has been mixing, matching, auditioning and rotating a group of players in left field, and at third base, first base and designated hitter. He is also searching for a dependable clean-up hitter. The pitching staff has been largely impressive since the season opener, but roles are still being defined.
Van Horn said he’d like to get the bats of veteran outfielder Braydon Webb (.063, 2 RBI) and infielder Jacob Nesbit (0 for 6) going. Webb batted cleanup to open the season, but Wallace moved into that spot in recent games.
Younger players Zack Gregory (.250) and the .333-hitting trio of Dylan Leach, Ethan Bates and Charles Welch have all made one start. Welch hit a two-run home run against Southeast Missouri State, and Bates drove in a run with his only hit while starting in left field.
“I’m looking for somebody in left field — obviously he needs to play defense — but we need a bat there,” Van Horn said. “We need to start swinging the bat. A corner outfielder has got to hit. If you’re not going to hit for average, you need to hit for power.”
Van Horn indicated two weekend pitching slots look solid, presumably Pallette and left-hander Lael Lockhart (0-0, 4.50). Considering the work two-year starters Connor Noland (1-0, 0.00 in 4 2/3 innings) and Patrick Wicklander (0-0, 0.00 in 4 innings) provided in long relief during the sweep of SEMO last week, Van Horn and pitching coach Matt Hobbs have decisions to make regarding the rotation and the end of the bullpen heading into this weekend’s three-game set with Murray State.
Zebulon Vermillion (0-0, 5.14) has issued 6 walks and 5 hits in his 7 innings across two starts, a 1.57 WHIP (walks plus hits, divided by innings pitched) that is troublesome. A brilliant closer in last year’s shortened season, he might transition back to the pen prior to SEC play.
Speaking at a virtual Swatters Club event Monday, Van Horn said Vermillion might be “holding back a little bit because he’s starting,” and suggested he could go back to closer or spot start in the coming days.
The Razorbacks have used Elijah Trest (1-0, 3.00), Caleb Bolden (0-0, 6.23 ERA, 1 save), Kevin Kopps (1-0, 3.38, 1 save) and freshman Jaxon Wiggins (1-0, 0.00, 5 strikeouts in 2 IP) at the end of tight games.
“I like what I’ve seen so far, and we might rearrange the things, you know, the order,” Van Horn told the Swatters Club. “But we’ve got guys that are ready to go and, overall the pitching has been outstanding. They’ve given the offense a chance to catch up so to speak, and I think it’s going to just continue to get better and better from what I’ve seen.”
Van Horn said this week has been good for the team to catch its breath after playing seven games in nine days to open the season. Arkansas has come from behind in four of its wins, including three games in which the Razorbacks trailed in the eighth inning or later. Two of those comebacks came against Texas Tech and TCU to open and close the College Baseball Showdown, and the third was a rally from a 5-2 ninth-inning deficit to outlast SEMO 6-5 in 10 innings in the series opener.
“I learned a lot about the makeup and the personality of our club in Texas, when we were behind in games and we fought to come back,” Van Horn said.