FAYETTEVILLE -- A frustrating trip to Houston was extended by a day for Arkansas' baseball team.
Mechanical troubles with a charter plane forced the Razorbacks to stay in the city after a 3-2 loss to Baylor on Sunday night at Minute Maid Park. The team didn't return to Fayetteville until late Monday afternoon.
Arkansas vs. Illinois State
WHEN 3 p.m.
WHERE Baum-Walker Stadium, Fayetteville
RECORDS Arkansas 7-3; Illinois State 3-7
RADIO Razorback Sports Network
INTERNET SEC Network-Plus
The travel delay added to a long weekend for the team, which lost all three games it played in the Shriners College Classic. A combined seven unearned runs on six errors were the difference in Arkansas' losses to Oklahoma and Texas on Friday and Saturday, and the Razorbacks were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position in Sunday night's loss to Baylor.
For the weekend, Arkansas went 4 for 32 with runners in scoring position, committed 7 errors and lost the three games by a combined 5 runs.
"I made the comment last week to the team and the media that this was going to be a learning experience for us, win or lose," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said Monday. "Unfortunately we lost two one-run games and a [three-run] game, and easily could have won them all. We ended up losing them all because there is such a fine line when you're playing good teams, especially on the road.
"I don't think we handled the road too well. I just hope this experience for our team will help us win some games down the road."
Arkansas, which fell from No. 5 to No. 10 in this week's USA Today coaches poll, will have a chance to rebound quickly when it hosts Illinois State at Baum-Walker Stadium today at 3 p.m. It is the first of six consecutive home games for the Razorbacks (7-3), who follow with three games against South Alabama and two against Grand Canyon before opening SEC play at Mississippi State on March 13.
Van Horn said he plans to play several of his primary starters against Illinois State (3-7). That includes shortstop Casey Martin, who sat out the Baylor game after a combined 1-for-9 performance against Oklahoma and Texas that included 6 strikeouts.
Martin's absence from the starting lineup Sunday broke his streak of 102 consecutive starts, including 75 straight at shortstop. It was just the third time that the junior hasn't played in 145 career games, although Van Horn said he planned to use Martin as a pinch runner had an opportunity arose late in the game.
"I just wanted to give him a day to sit and watch, and slow it down a little bit," Van Horn said. "We talked about it, and I thought he handled it real well.
"I think he felt like sitting down and watching was a good thing. Sometimes you get into a funk, so to speak, where you just can't get out of your own way a little bit, and you need to clear your mind and watch and see how other guys are doing it."
Van Horn said coaches have been working on modifications to Martin's batting mechanics. He is batting .182 this season and has struck out 14 times.
"He's going to have to be receptive, and so far he has," Van Horn said. "We'll start working on that -- we already have been -- so we'll see how it translates into the game."
The Razorbacks plan to start freshman right-handed pitcher Blake Adams against the Redbirds today. Adams has allowed five runs in 3⅓ innings this season.
Adams gave up 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk in a 3-inning start against Eastern Illinois on opening weekend, and he hasn't pitched since he allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and a walk in one-third inning relief outing against Gonzaga on Feb. 23. Opponents are batting .471 against him.
"I'd like to see him give us some innings," Van Horn said. "His first outing was OK, and his second outing was not great. He didn't pitch this weekend, so hopefully he can give us some quality innings and we can go to the next guy."
Van Horn said several pitchers will be available for the game and that he might throw some pitchers who have yet to see game action this season. Tonight's game is Arkansas' first of 13 scheduled midweek games this year.
Illinois State will throw junior right-hander Jack Anderson, who allowed three runs in a 3⅓-inning start at Oklahoma on Feb. 23. In that game, the Redbirds scored 5 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings against the Sooners' Dane Acker, who threw a no-hitter in his next start against LSU on Sunday.
"If you can get to a guy like that, you know you can get to some other guys that are going to be on our schedule," Illinois State Coach Steve Holm said. "We've just got to use that as kind of a positive for our guys and build from there."
Illinois State is playing its 11th of 24 consecutive road games to open the season. The Redbirds are in the midst of a two-plus-week road trip that includes games in Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida. They aren't scheduled to play at home until March 24.
"That's just what we have to do with where we come from," Holm said after a practice in Fayetteville on Monday. "Getting outside at a place like this and practicing, these are our first practices we've had outside. Back at home, we have yet to really get outside at all."
Sports on 03/03/2020