FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will have a new series-opening starter against Vanderbilt this weekend.
Junior right-hander Trevor Stephan will start Friday's game in place of sophomore right-hander Blaine Knight, who will start Saturday. Both games are scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Knight (6-3, 3.63 ERA) has started all 12 series openers for the No. 18 Razorbacks, while Stephan (5-3, 3.14 ERA) has been the team's No. 2 starter on the weekend.
The move comes after Knight pitched on two separate occasions last weekend at Tennessee because of rain delays. Knight threw 11 pitches before last Thursday's game was suspended, then threw 76 pitches in the completion of the game two days later.
Stephan is coming off a stellar outing against the Vols last Saturday- a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a game shortened to seven innings. Stephan was named pitcher of the week by the SEC and by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.