FAYETTEVILLE — Frustrated by defensive errors and a lack of offensive production, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn is making a change at first base this week when the No. 6 Razorbacks host No. 20 Texas A&M.
Van Horn said he plans to take rotating starters Jared Gates and Jordan McFarland out of the lineup, and insert a better defensive player at the position. The most likely candidates are Jack Kenley or Hunter Wilson, who have played mostly on the left side or in the middle infield this season.
"We’ve got to get a little bit better production over there and a little better defense," Van Horn said. "We’re not getting the production. You look at the numbers and there’s not a lot of RBIs there, and that’s a position that needs to produce and make plays. It just hasn’t happened.
"It's pretty safe to say I'm going to make a change."
McFarland has started 18 games at first during SEC play and Gates, who nursed an injured hamstring for much of April, has started six times, including twice at LSU over the weekend.
McFarland is hitting .290 and Gates .250 in SEC play, and they have combined for 9 RBI in 24 games. Gates has an RBI hit in two of his past four SEC games, but McFarland has not had an RBI hit in a conference game since April 7 against Auburn.
McFarland's average with runners in scoring position has slipped to .212. He also has recorded an error in each of the past three games he has played.
"You just figured between one of those two first basemen, somebody was going to take that job and run with it," Van Horn said. "Competition usually drives you. It's like it hasn't happened.
"It's just time. Now it has turned into a defensive position for me....It's frustration more than anything because this is a position that in most cases is going to be a position where guys produce."
Kenley and Wilson have started seven SEC games combined, and are hitting .273 and .286, respectively, in SEC play. Van Horn indicated he has liked their batting practices and their approach when they have gotten into the lineup in recent weeks.
Kenley went 1-for-7 in two games at LSU after going 3-for-10 with 3 RBI in three games against Alabama. Wilson was 1-for-3 in his last appearance against Mississippi State on April 21.
"Kenley's hitting good. Wilson's been swinging it pretty good, too," Van Horn said. "He's a team player, can lay down a bunt, can hit and run, take a walk. If I ask him to take a pitch or two he won't get upset. He'll hit from behind in the count."
One other possible player at first is Heston Kjerstad, who has started every game this season in the outfield. Kjerstad was recruited as an infielder/outfielder.
Van Horn said if Kjerstad starts at first, Luke Bonfield could start in left and Evan Lee could start at designated hitter. Lee and Bonfield have split time as the designated hitter this season, and Bonfield was the team's everyday starter in left field last year.