Action packed: Hogs welcome more fans, SEC title shot

FAYETTEVILLE -- The nation's unanimous No. 1 team will juggle its pitching rotation yet again this weekend as the University of Arkansas hosts No. 8 Florida before what is expected to be the first set of 100% capacity crowds this season at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Coach Dave Van Horn announced Wednesday that junior Caleb Bolden (2-0, 4.67 ERA) will rejoin the rotation and start Game 2 on Friday against Gators' left-hander Hunter Barco (9-2, 4.13).

The series will open tonight at 6, with Florida right-hander Tommy Mace (5-0, 4.40) up against Arkansas lefty Patrick Wicklander (4-1, 1.93). UA officials have announced Baum-Walker Stadium can have full capacity up to 11,531 for the final regular-season series, and the NCAA revealed Wednesday that NCAA baseball regionals can host up to 100% capacity, based on local health guidelines.

The Razorbacks (39-10, 19-8 SEC) hold a one-game lead in the conference race with a chance to win every weekend series on the season. Florida (35-16, 17-10) opened the year ranked No. 1 and is currently playing its best baseball of the season with consecutive series wins over Missouri, at Auburn, No. 2 Vanderbilt, at Kentucky and Georgia.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ILYdBv4Ok]

"It's a good feeling," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "At least we don't have to sit around and watch the scoreboard and hope for things. We have a chance to go out and play our way into the championship or whatever.

"There'll be a lot going on this weekend in other games that could hurt us or help us, but at least we know we can go out there and control our own destiny. Obviously Florida is probably the most talented team in the country on paper. That's what we've been told. People tell us how good they are, and we know that we have our hands full with Florida."

Arkansas has won two SEC regular-season titles (1999, 2004) since joining the league.

Florida has won 15 of its past 20 games. The Gators are one of six teams still eligible to win the overall SEC title.

"We've still got a lot to play for," Florida Coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "We're right in the middle of this thing. It'll be a great challenge to play Arkansas at their place, but at the end of the day, if we want to get to the final destination and have an opportunity to play for a national championship, we're going to have to play Arkansas and teams like Arkansas."

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uto_YqTtA9M]

Bolden allowed one run on a solo home run in 3 1/3 innings in relief of Peyton Pallette in Saturday's 8-7 loss at No. 5 Tennessee. The Razorbacks rallied from a 3-0 deficit into a 5-4 lead with the right-hander in the game.

"We figured we want to give Bolden a start," Van Horn said. "He deserves it. He pitched really well and gave us a chance to get back in that game the other day, a chance to win it. And we just felt like he's older and he deserves it."

Van Horn said the Razorbacks are leaning toward starting southpaw Lael Lockhart (2-2, 4.53) in Game 3, based on his strong Sunday start in Knoxville, Tenn., in a 3-2 Arkansas win. However, he wants to see how the first couple of games play out. Lockhart allowed 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk with 7 strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings against the Vols.

Arkansas has managed to stay No. 1 in the USA Today coaches poll for six consecutive weeks and win all 12 three-game series despite having an ever-evolving cast of weekend starters.

"Basically what you're saying is you don't have three lock-down starters all year and you're still changing things up, and you've got a chance to win the SEC championship," Van Horn said to summarize a question about tweaking his Game 2 starter again. "I mean, it's just been a great group effort. It's about the team.

"The team really pulls for each other. Yeah, there's guys that are disappointed they don't get to start, whether it's in the field or on the mound. But bottom line, they just want to win. They just want to help the team.

"I think it's one of the reasons that we're where we are. We don't really have a selfish team. We just want to win."

The Razorbacks' team statistics would bear out Van Horn's take.

They are ranked 10th in the SEC with a .276 team batting average, but they lead the SEC and are ranked No. 14 in the country with 7.8 runs per game. They are sixth in SEC ERA (4.00) but have OK starting pitching and a phenomenal bullpen, led by the nation's ERA leader Kevin Kopps (9-0, 0.80 ERA, 7 saves), who is a strong candidate for national pitcher of the year.

Arkansas also leads the SEC with 83 home runs, a figure that is third nationally, and is fourth in the country with 279 walks drawn.

The Razorbacks' series-winning streak is up to 16 in a row dating to late 2019. Only Vanderbilt in 2013 and Florida in 2018 won their first nine SEC series in a season, and only the Commodores team in 2013 won all 10.

Van Horn said that is not a topic of conversation.

"We want to win the series because it keeps us at the top," Van Horn said. "If we don't, we don't.

"It's kind of neat. I think it could be something you talk about down the road. Something you probably don't expect going into the season because the league is so good. Something's going to happen. You're not going to play well one weekend or somebody's going to play really well.

"It's kind of unique obviously with the league being what it is, and it hasn't been done very much. We're just trying to win Thursday, and bottom line we're trying to win the series."