FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 6 Arkansas will be home this weekend to host Florida for an SEC three-game series.

Arkansas (19-7, 4-2) and Florida (20-6, 3-3) are among the teams expected to be near the top of the SEC this season. Arkansas has defeated Mississippi State and South Carolina 2-1 in each of its first two conference series. The Gators were flying high after sweeping South Carolina to open SEC play, but then fell on hard times in Tuscaloosa last weekend losing all three games to Alabama. Dave Van Horn knows Florida will come into Baum-Walker Stadium this weekend with a purpose after what happened at Alabama.

"A lot," Van Horn said. "They went and shut out Florida State midweek. Florida State’s ranked in the top 10, had a great week last week, they’ve had a couple really good weeks, and came in Tuesday and Florida shut ‘em down. That was midweek guys that can shut down one of the best offenses in the country.

"The SEC, it’s the Wild, Wild West, man. Anything can happen any weekend. They went into Alabama, who just got swept on the road to open the season in conference, who played outstanding and beat them three times. So yeah. Like I said, anything can happen in this league. I don’t expect anything (else). It always happens. You’re going to get everybody’s best shot and when you get a chance to win a game, win it."

Colin Fisher struggled some at South Carolina last weekend, but Van Horn plans to stick with Gabe Gaeckle on Friday, Hunter Dietz Saturday and then Fisher. Kuhio Aloy is another player who has struggled. He's hitting .274 on the season with four home runs and has knocked in 23 runs. In his only two at bats on Tuesday against UCA, Aloy struck out. Van Horn replaced him at designated hitter with Carter Rutenbar. The true freshman immediately delivered with a double and home run. On Thursday Van Horn was asked why Aloy is struggling?

"Well, his struggles are he’s trying to do too much," Van Horn said. "He’s not taking what you give him. Just like the other night: second and third, one out, full count, wasn’t going to get a fastball, and he swung at it like he was going to get a fastball and it was a foot and a half off the plate. No one could hit that pitch. Just trying to drive in those runs instead of letting the next guy do his job when he takes his walk.

"That’s kind of what I’ve been seeing. A lot of three- and four-pitch at bats with no contact, or first-pitch contact, pull-side ground ball. Out front. Trying to take it to the game instead of sometimes just letting some things happen and working the count. That’s usually what you do as you get older, you learn that as a hitter, that’s part of development. So he’s trying to put up big numbers and … he’lll be fine, I hope. We had some guys throw live yesterday in practice and first at-bat didn’t go great, the next two or three went really good and this his last at-bat he hit a change-up 440 feet. So you just … it’s in there. We need it. Sometimes you just have to maybe sit off to the side a little bit and watch. Calm down."

Rutenbar is hitting .406 with a home run while knocking in six runs. Rutenbar struggled in the fall, but has turned into a gamer since the season started.

"Well, a little bit all of what you just asked," Van Horn said. "So start with fall ball. I felt like he had some really good at bats. He was a little out front, really on his front foot too much. Coach (Nate) Thompson and Coach (Bobby) Wernes really worked with him on it — videos and different things — and he worked on it. He came back after the holidays and he wasn’t so far out front and he’s getting to drive the ball a little more. But we always thought he could hit. We loved his compete in the batter’s box, so to speak, his toughness and you’re seeing it now. We knew it was coming. We’ve watched it in practice and a few scrimmages we had before the regular season. We felt like he was going to help us."

Earlier in the season, third baseman TJ Pompey was struggling and Van Horn opted to sit him for a few games. Since returning to the lineup he has looked like when he was at Texas Tech previously. Pompey hit two home runs against UCA including a grand slam. Van Horn was asked what factors go into sitting a player who is struggling at the plate?

"Well, it depends on who you have, how many guys you’ve got that can either play that position or hit in that spot in the lineup or whatever," Van Horn said. "So it’s different. But if you’ve got a hot hitter and he can DH too, go with him. Let the other guy relax a little bit. Position player and you can move him around, you do that, maybe let him swing their way through it. But they also have to show you they’re getting better at the plate, they’re changing their approach a little bit, they’re making adjustments with two strikes, they’re moving up in the box, they’re choking up on the bat. Whatever you need them to do, they need to do it. And if you’re asking them to do it and they don’t do it then they need to have success. That’s kind of where we’re at right here. So we’ll just … we’re going to keep working and try to get him back in the lineup."

With Aloy batting right and Rutenbar swinging from the left side is platooning them being considered?

"Could, yeah. It’s something we’ve definitely thought about and Kuhio’s like 1 for 13, 14, 15 against lefties," Van Horn said. "So a right-handed hitter that’s not hitting lefties means he’s pulling off. You’ve got to stay through the middle of the field and you’ll usually have better success against lefties, should be able to see it a little better, should be able to hit the off-speed a little bit better. Now a good left-handed changeup to a right-hander, that’s a tough pitch. But yeah, that’s something we’ve definitely been looking at."

Van Horn is expecting a lot of scouts to be in attendance for this series. Florida features designated hitter Brendan Lawson and pitchers Aidan King as well as Liam Peterson. Lawson is hitting .370 with 10 home runs. King is 3-2 with an ERA of 1.27 while Peterson is 1-1 with ERA of 4.15.

"Yeah, there’s obviously a lot of talent on the field just about every time we play somebody in conference play," Van Horn said. "This weekend maybe more than a few. But yeah, our guys are heavily scouted. The SEC is heavily scouted. Then you bring guys like Liam Peterson to town, and King and Lawson along with our guys that are draft eligible, you’re going to have some of the higher-ups in the organizations in to see guys. It won’t just be the area scout. Might be a cross checker, sometimes a GM, whatever. But it’s just part of it. It’s a good thing."

Arkansas lefty Dietz has really pitched well particularly in SEC. Dietz is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.86 but has struck out 54 hitters in just 30.1 innings. Van Horn was asked if having Dietz pitch on Saturday is like having a Friday night starter that day?

"Yeah, I think so," Van Horn said. "Friday guy’s usually a guy you want to give you five, six-plus innings every time out. Give you a chance to win, keep your bullpen calmed down a little bit, and I feel like he’s done that."

Van Horn went into more detail about Dietz's season to this point.

"Yeah, I’m really pleased with what I’ve seen," Van Horn said. "No. 1, he’s staying healthy. I see a confident pitcher out there. He likes to work fast. He’s been throwing a lot of strikes lately. He just comes at you, and you know, he had a little bit of a learning experience a few weeks ago when he wasn’t getting some calls. I think that it’s made him better, now. You’ve got to learn how to fight through that.

"Last weekend at South Carolina when he went out of the game, I think we were down a run, and he pitched fantastic, honestly. He didn’t get a decision, but he definitely gave us a chance to win that game and we didn’t do much offensively until late in the game, and we were very fortunate to win that game. I like right where he is. You know, if you look at his numbers, they’re getting better every week. The wins and losses maybe don’t look like he’s done much, but he’s really helped us, and he’s given us some quality innings and given us some good, quality starts."

Van Horn is impressed with the Florida hitters. They have Lawson and others hitting over .300.

"Well, you know, they're a team that they're scary like all of them," Van Horn said. "I mean, they've hit a lot of doubles, over 50 doubles. They've got in the thirties in home runs. Their part can be jumpy, but it also you know, the wind can blow in a lot there, especially early. I think the second half of the season is where you start seeing the ball fly in Florida a lot more. You know, Lawson, he may be one of the best or the best hitters in the league, because he can hit for average Dan Power. He's a threat to hit the ball. I mean, the kid can hit at 450 feet, and I've seen him do it. So, you know, he's playing shortstop now, which is a prime position, especially for a guy that can hit like that, and that's why he's such a big prospect. So, but they've got other guys.

"They got 4 or 5 guys hitting over 300, and, you know, they'll kinda like us. If you give them a chance to run, they're gonna run. They got 32 out of 35 bases, I think, something like that. And, they always seem to field the ball pretty well. And it might not have been as well as normal this year, but, again, it's still early. Yeah. But they're a dangerous team. They were preseason top 10. It's Florida. There's a lot of great players down there, and they have a really good coaching staff."

Friday's game at 6 p.m. and then Saturday at 1 can be streamed on the SEC Network+. Sunday's game starts at noon and will be on the SEC Network.