FAYETTEVILLE --Arkansas’ baseball team will have to wait at least one more day to play another game and get its loss to Maryland off its mind.
Continued frigid weather in Northwest Arkansas, which forced the cancellation of a four-game series with California that was supposed to start Thursday, has bumped the Razorbacks return to action back to Sunday afternoon at the earliest.
Sunday's game
ARKANSAS VS. E. ILLINOIS
WHEN 1 p.m.
WHERE Baum Stadium, Fayetteville
RECORDS Eastern Illinois 0-3, Arkansas 4-2
RANKINGS Neither team is ranked
PITCHING MATCHUP Eastern Illinois: Matt Wivinis (RHP, 0-0, 0.00). Arkansas: Dominic Taccolini (RHP, 1-1, 4.50)
SHORT HOPS Arkansas swept three games from the Panthers last season by scores of 6-2, 8-3 and 8-3. … Sunday’s scheduled starters are Garrison Stenger (LHP, 0-1, 13.50) for Eastern Illinois and Zach Jackson (RHP, 1-0, 1.29) for Arkansas. The Panthers have named Andy Fisher (LHP, 0-0, 9.00) their Sunday starter against Keaton McKinney (RHP, 0-0, 2.16). … Arkansas leadoff hitter Clark Eagan went 8 for 14 with 5 runs scored and 7 RBI in the opening series against North Dakota, then 1 for 15 with no runs and no RBI in the South Alabama round robin. … Arkansas right-hander Trey Killian (tendinitis) is not expected to pitch in the series.
It was announced late Friday that today’s 2 p.m. game against Eastern Illinois (0-3) would not be played because of continued inclement weather and cold temperatures forecast for the next 24 hours.
The teams will play 1 p.m. Sunday and 2 p.m. Monday, weather permitting.
Arkansas (4-2) has been eager to get back on the field since the Razorbacks saw a 6-1 sixth-inning lead turn into a 13-6 loss last Sunday to the 16-ranked Terrapins in the final game a round-robin tournament in Mobile, Ala.
Four errors by the Razorbacks and other defensive lapses led to the Terrapins’ game-turning inning.
“The concern is we haven’t been able to play since then, and you have to think about it,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “In baseball, you like to just play.”
Arkansas was on the verge of going 2-1 in the round-robin series at South Alabama before the defensive and pitching disasters.
“It was like a 45-minute or hour-long inning,” left fielder Joe Serrano said. “It just seemed like nobody wanted the ball, nobody wanted to throw strikes, and when the ball was hit everyone was kind of scared not to make another error.
“It just compounded and the mistakes added up and fear kind of took over.”
Right fielder Tyler Spoon said the Razorbacks had to absorb the lesson.
“I was part of a team two years ago that was No. 1 in the country and went out to California and went 0-4,” Spoon said. “We just didn’t play well and we bounced back really well. We’ve just got to take it for what it is and get better and learn from our mistakes.”
Eastern Illinois was scheduled to play a series at Kansas State this weekend. Projected winter weather knocked out that series, and Kansas State rescheduled to play at California after Cal decided against making the trip to Fayetteville.
Eastern Illinois has played one series, getting swept by Georgia on Feb. 13-15.
Sports on 02/28/2015