FAYETTEVILLE -- Clark Eagan's position on the baseball field is a mystery.
He may be the heir apparent to SEC Player of the Year, Golden Spikes Award winner and first-round draft pick Andrew Benintendi in center field for Arkansas.
Or he could play first base, the position where he was the Razorbacks' primary starter as a sophomore. Or he might contribute at third base.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior from Appleton, Wis., is the most versatile Razorback.
"I've been moving around my whole life," Eagan said. "Being able to play three positions, I just look at it as being able to help the team."
He appears to be the likely starter in center and may hit in the three hole previously filled by Benintendi when the Razorbacks open the season at 3:05 p.m. in Baum Stadium against Central Michigan on Friday. But a wealth of depth and options in the outfield, along with the potential need at the corners in the infield, may lead to him playing elsewhere down the road.
"There are five or six guys trying to make that outfield, start in that outfield," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We could platoon."
Sophomore Luke Bonfield will start the season in left field, with Eagan flanking him in center and a combination of sophomore Chad Spanberger and true freshman Eric Cole potentially alternating in right field and as the designated hitter. Redshirt freshman Jack Benninghoff and junior college transfer Jake Arledge are competing for playing time in center field.
Van Horn and the Hogs have options, even if they don't have the luxury of starting an outfield of Benintendi, Joe Serrano and Tyler Spoon, a trio which combined to hit .327 with 30 home runs and 146 RBI last year.
To replace Benintendi's offensive production -- .376 average, 20 home runs, 57 RBI and .488 on-base percentage --
the Razorbacks will use a by-committee approach.
"Very rarely can you plug in a guy like that," Van Horn said. "If you could go out and make a trade like MLB does, go out and get another team's superstar, pay a lot of money and get them here. Here you just have to recruit kids and develop kids. We just have to have more of a collective effort."
Eagan hit .288 with 31 RBI last year. Bigger numbers could be in store now that he's had surgery to repair an injured left shoulder he played with last year.
"No one's going to be able to replace Benintendi," Eagan said. "That guy's a freak of nature. But we're going to have to have multiple guys step up and improve their game and their level of play just a little bit, rather than having someone come in here and hit 20 home runs."
Bonfield is poised for a bounce-back sophomore season. He broke his ankle in the fall before his freshman year and was sidelined for four months. He came back just before the season started, but he hit just .177.
"It helped me get my body stronger, and it helped me to just watch a little bit," Bonfield said. "It did put me behind, but you can't look at it that way."
His work ethic during rehab before last season caught the coaches' eyes.
"No one outworks him offensively," Van Horn said. "Comes early, stays late. Almost to the point where we tell him, you need to go home. We had that problem with Zack Cox a few years ago."
Spanberger, a left-hander, has enough pop in his bat that a net was installed in front of the scoreboard in right-center field to protect the new high-definition screen.
"When there's no wind, he hits them over the scoreboard," Van Horn said of Spanberger's batting-practice prowess. "That's a pretty good poke. He's one of those guys, we hope he puts it together before he leaves here. Because he could be such a force."
Cole, 5-11, 190, may hit leadoff or in the 2-hole as a true freshman after leading the team in hitting in the fall. His skill at the plate -- he is a switch hitter -- has put him in a position to earn playing time while he works to improve his base running and defense.
"He's continued to hit, and he's 10 pounds bigger than he was in fall baseball," Van Horn said. "He's done a tremendous job in the weight room, and he can run. He's got a very good eye, and he can bunt a little bit."
Eagan's versatility could come in handy if either Benninghoff or Arledge play well enough to allow him to float around as needed. Last year, Benninghoff became the rare redshirting freshman to travel on the road with the team, even to SEC away games where the roster is limited to 25 players.
"[Van Horn] liked how I handled myself out on the field and how I was live in the locker room and kept everyone up," Benninghoff said. "He's like, 'I want you to experience all that we do this year so that you're ready for next year.' It was awesome. Best experience of my life."
Sports on 02/17/2016