Cole's average, confidence climbing after big weekend

FAYETTEVILLE — An unlikely source provided Arkansas' best offensive production during its three-game sweep of Georgia.

Sophomore switch-hitter Eric Cole went 7-for-10 with a pair of doubles over the final two games of the series to raise his batting average to .257.

Cole went 4-for-5 as the designated hitter in the Razorbacks' 5-4 win Friday. His final at-bat set in motion the series of events that led to Arkansas winning in the 10th inning. Cole's bunt was ruled a hit, and Georgia followed with a pair of errors to allow Evan Lee to score from first base.

Lee replaced Cole as the designated hitter in the Razorbacks' 11-3 win Saturday. Playing in right field and batting seventh, Cole finished 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored.

"It's good having a switch-hitter hitting from both sides of the plate and doing a good job, especially when I can hit him down in the order like that," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said.

Perhaps most impressive about Cole's series against Georgia was his performance from the right side of the plate. The switch-hitter entered the weekend with a .105 average against left-handers, but he was 5-for-6 against the Bulldogs' lefties.

"I hadn't had that many (right-handed at-bats)," said Cole, who was 2-for-19 from the right side prior to the series. "When I did have some was when I was in that big skid.

"I got treated right-handed, left-handed completely different, so getting confidence back on both sides was really nice."

Cole's switch-hitting ability adds an option to an Arkansas lineup that includes at least four left-handed hitters on most nights.

"For him to hit left-handers is big for us because we have so many left-handed hitters," Van Horn said. "Sometimes we might need another right-handed hitter or two, and Eric brings both to the lineup."

Cole entered the series with a .210 average, but even that was an improvement over a rough start to the season when he struggled and eventually was removed as the Razorbacks' leadoff hitter. Cole has at least one hit in 12 of his last 13 starts (his 10-game hit streak was snapped against LSU in the series finale) and he is 13-for-25 since an April 5 win over Grand Canyon.

Cole hit two home runs last week.

"Eric has been really good - both sides of the plate," Van Horn said. "He's a guy who we thought was pretty darn good hitter, but it wasn't happening for him. He wasn't even hitting .200 three weeks ago.

"Between Eric and (Chad) Spanberger, those guys have climbed out of the sub-.200 batting averages and have really helped us."