Nate Allen
FAYETTEVILLE - Weather permitting as rain and dipping into freezing temperatures were forecast on Monday morning for Tuesday night, the Arkansas Razorbacks and Grambling State Tigers play baseball tonight at Baum-Walker Stadium. Originally set for 6:30 p.m. the game time start has been moved to 5 p.m. in deference to the plunging temperatures forecast.
Tonight’s game remains Internet video available on SEC Network+ and on the Razorbacks Radio Network.
Coach James Cooper’s Tigers are only 11-18 overall but 8-4 in their Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Coach Dave Van Horn’s nationally No. 1 Razorbacks, 30-6, stand 11-4 in the SEC leading the SEC West and sharing the SEC over-all lead with 11-4 SEC East leading Vanderbilt, face a SEC scheduling squeeze and conceivably could root for game-cancelling weather prevailing tonight.
Last Friday’s rainout condensed the 3-game SEC West series with Texas A&M at Baum-Walker into a Saturday doubleheader and Sunday slugfest finish with the next SEC 3-game series running Thursday through Saturday at South Carolina.
So already beset with normal first game starter Patrick Wicklander off his Friday no pitching to the next Friday routine shortened both ways with Saturday’s 4 2-3 innings start and Thursday night’s at South Carolina series opener, Van Horn would seem to prefer not having a Tuesday game spend his bullpen which got worked over in Sunday’s 11-10 loss after relief ace Kevin Kopps was spent throwing the last four innings of Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of the Aggies.
However Van Horn wants quickly to cleanse that Sunday “wasn’t a good day for us.”
“Yes, I’d rather play than not play,” Van Horn said Sunday of tonight’s game. “Get a chance to go out there and hopefully straighten a few things out. Hopefully we play well and hopefully we win a game. We would like to play Tuesday if at all possible.”
Arkansas and Grambling have a baseball history including at NCAA Regionals.
“It’s usually a pretty competitive game,” Van Horn said. “They have really good athletes. A lot of times it’s like where are we in out pitching and where are they in their pitching. We used a lot of guys this weekend. We still have a few guys that you know maybe we didn’t put on the 30-man roster that should be available. We have a short week as far as conference. So we have a decision to make on how we’re going to handle that.”
Left fielder Jahomi Percival, .352 batting average, three home runs and 25 RBI, and shortstop Cameron Bufford, .293, six home runs and 23 RBI, lead Grambling’s attack.