We know which three teams are participating along with Arkansas in the Fayetteville Regional. If you missed it, that would be No. 2 seed Washington State (34-20), No. 3 seed Kansas State (36-20) and No. 4 seed Grambling (22-30). And we know the Razorbacks will open with Grambling on Friday, though the time is to be determined.
What we don’t know is this: Which Razorbacks will be in the lineup Friday.
Arkansas is carrying plenty of banged up and injured players into the NCAA Tournament this week. It’s something that has hampered the Hogs for much of the past two weeks, beginning with the South Carolina series. It continued at the SEC Tournament. But we got a few updates when we met with Dave Van Horn today.
So here’s the latest:
• 3B Zack Cox — Van Horn said Cox is improving, but Arkansas won’t know if he’s ready until this week. He has been hitting some off the tee and did field a few groundballs today. Cox will get some live batting in tomorrow. That is truly when the Hogs know whether he’ll be in the lineup or not. “We just have to really be careful with him. We don’t’ want to tweak that at all,” Van Horn said. “If he does he could be out for another one or two weeks. We’re hoping that he’ll hang in there.” If Cox is in the lineup, look for Cox to move up in the order to, perhaps, the No. 2 slot. Van Horn mentioned it earlier today in hopes of going righty-lefty-righty-lefty-righty at the top of the lineup with Collin Kuhn, Cox, Brett Eibner, Andy Wilkins and Monk Kreder. It would move Bo Bigham back to the bottom half of the lineup.
• CF Brett Eibner — Van Horn revealed like Eibner does have a hairline fracture in his hand, which has limited him since the Ole Miss series. His ability to play in the field, hit, pitch throughout the weekend will largely be determined by his pain tolerance. Is it too much? Can he manage it? Eibner was wearing a brace on his hand in the clubhouse Friday and said the time off last week was important. “I’ve been playing three weeks now with it and it just takes a toll,” Eibner said. “Your body can only hold up so long.” If Eibner can handle the pain, he will be in centerfield and in the heart of the order for the Hogs. Van Horn said he could pitch, too.
• 1B Andy Wilkins — The junior is fine after leaving the second game of the SEC Tournament after a nasty collision in the field. At first, Wilkins said he first thought his nose was broken as a result of the run-in with pitcher Drew Smyly. There were no broken bones though. Wilkins did say it was painful to eat for a couple of days, but is ready to go. In fact, he said the worst part about it was the “embarrassment” of running into someone else on the field at the SEC Tournament. “It hurt like crazy. But I was more embarrassed. I ran into somebody on the field. But it happens. Weird stuff like that is going to happen.”
• LHP Drew Smyly and RHP Mike Bolsinger — The team’s top two starting pitchers have been dealing with a couple of issues as well, but should be fine. Smyly was questionable for the SEC Tournament because of a blister but did work in relief in the elimination game against Florida and everything checked out well. Van Horn said Monday that Bolsinger only lasted three innings in the elimination game because of some soreness in his shoulder. He didn’t expect it to be a problem this week, though.
Obviously, we’ll be keeping a close eye on these injuries throughout the week and will provide any news and notes as we get closer to Friday’s game vs. Grambling.
Make sure you follow me on Twitter (@NWARobbie) for all kinds of news and notes from the Fayetteville Regional this week. Also, continue checking the Arkansas News Bureau website (ArkansasNews.com/category/sports/Razorbacks) for breaking news, features and other stories as Arkansas begins NCAA Tournament play.
