SEC Tournament Report

Hogs take rain delays in stride

Jake Arledge (from left), Chad Spanberger, Grant Koch and Dominic Fletcher jump for the ball as Arkansas players loosen up with a football Tuesday, May 23, 2017, during practice at Jerry D. Young Memorial Field on the campus of UAB in Birmingham, Ala.
Jake Arledge (from left), Chad Spanberger, Grant Koch and Dominic Fletcher jump for the ball as Arkansas players loosen up with a football Tuesday, May 23, 2017, during practice at Jerry D. Young Memorial Field on the campus of UAB in Birmingham, Ala.

HOOVER, Ala. -- Due to Tuesday's weather-induced schedule disruption at the SEC baseball tournament, the Arkansas Razorbacks spent their fifth consecutive night in central Alabama without playing a game.

The No. 13 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (39-15) flew to Alabama directly from College Station, Texas, on Saturday after taking two of three games from Texas A&M to earn the fourth seed in the SEC Tournament.

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When the Razorbacks take the field this morning -- weather permitting -- at 9:30 against Mississippi State at the Hoover Met, they will have gone four days without a game, while practicing the past three days at Samford University in Homewood and the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

"This is the third time this year this has happened to us, and maybe more," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We've been on the road, and we've had to battle rain and sit around for a day or two or play a bit of a game and then sit a day. It's not like we haven't experienced it before. The guys are taking a good attitude."

Arkansas had series against Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee affected by rain delays.

"In baseball, just due to the fact you play outside, you deal with weather," Van Horn said. "If you let it bother you, then you ought to be doing something else because it's going to happen. It's that time of year when a lot of storms roll in and out and the temperature fluctuates. It's just the way it is. We're not uptight about it."

The Razorbacks are ready to play, however.

"Oh my gosh, we're ready to go," pitching coach Wes Johnson said. "We've got cabin fever. I've got cabin fever, and I don't even play."

The Razorbacks have kept it loose, throwing an ever-present football around before and after workouts. The pitchers picked up bats for a friendly competition while the hitters were in the batting cages at Samford on Wednesday.

"We're having a good time, playing fungo golf right now," pitcher Blaine Knight said at Samford's Joe Lee Griffin Baseball Field. "We just kill the time and get ready to go tomorrow."

State slate

Arkansas swept three games against Mississippi State in a conference-opening series at Baum Stadium on March 17-19 by the scores of 3-1, 5-4 and 6-1.

The Bulldogs went on a tear after leaving Fayetteville, with a 13-2 run in conference games vaulting them to the top of the SEC West until they lost three of their final four SEC series.

"I think when they left our place, they probably couldn't believe they got swept," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "It was a great series, really close ballgames. We were fortunate to win all three of them, much less the series."

Another crack

Mississippi State Coach Andy Cannizaro, speaking on the SEC Network postgame show after his Bulldogs beat Georgia 3-0 on Wednesday, said the Arkansas series benefited his team.

"I think we're a different ballclub today than when we went there two months ago," Cannizaro said. "It kind of took getting into Fayetteville and seeing [Blaine] Knight and seeing [Trevor] Stephan -- big stuff, fastball velocity and breaking stuff -- that kind of taught us this is what this league is going to be about.

"I thought we kind of grew up as a team after that weekend. I know [Brent] Rooker and all of our guys are excited about getting another crack at these guys."

Another venue

The Razorbacks have yet to take the field at the Hoover Met this week, but they've hopped around to other facilities in the area.

Arkansas returned to the Samford University ballfields Wednesday after working out at Alabama-Birmingham on Tuesday.

The Razorbacks did their on-field drills at Samford's Seibert football stadium as the baseball field was spongy due to the frequent rains in central Alabama. For parts of the practice, the Arkansas outfielders practiced over-the-shoulder catches in the south end zone right next to a group of Samford football players enjoying a game of pickup football.

Who's on third?

Dave Van Horn indicated Wednesday that he's likely to start freshman Jack Kenley at third base this morning.

"We haven't gotten a lot of production from that position," Van Horn said. "I'm kind of just thinking about putting the better defensive guy out there, and if it gets to a certain point of a game where we're tied or behind and have to pinch hit, maybe bring in a guy who's got a better chance of getting a hit. I think, as of now, I'll probably start Kenley at third."

Jared Gates, who missed the early portion of the season while recovering from a hamate bone injury in his hand, is hitting .232 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI in 29 games, including 28 starts. Kenley is 0 for 19 at the plate, but he scorched a couple of balls Saturday against Texas A&M.

Rooker crank

Mississippi State first baseman Brent Rooker hit a two-run home run against Georgia in the first inning to give the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish in a 3-0 victory.

Rooker's SEC-leading 21st home run delivered his 75th RBI, also tops in the SEC.

The SEC player of the year, Rooker has a league-high .423 batting average in his quest to win the SEC triple crown.

Sports on 05/25/2017

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