FAYETTEVILLE -- A big plus for the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team having seven regulars back in the batting order with a nice influx of freshmen is it will give Coach Dave Van Horn plenty of options.
Van Horn, entering his 16th year at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, will have the luxury of playing matchups, platooning at certain spots and juggling the order to suit the opponent.
Van Horn didn't announce the lineup he'll run out for Friday's 3 p.m. season opener against Bucknell at Baum Stadium during his Wednesday media session, but he suggested he'll mix things up all weekend.
"We wrote up three lineups today and moved guys around, trying to figure out how to handle this righty on Friday and back some of our lefties up with another lefty," Van Horn said. "The thing about it, the right-handers in our lineup are experienced."
Van Horn is likely to spread his veteran right-handed hitters -- designated hitter Luke Bonfield, catcher Grant Koch and second baseman Carson Shaddy -- around the middle part of the order.
"That's definitely a point coach has talked about and I'm sure he's thought about because we all know that a lot of guys can hit in a lot of different places and do a lot of different roles and jobs," Koch said. "So if one guy's not getting the job done in a certain spot, then it's just next man up and maybe that role will fit them better.
"I think the flexibility of it all is going to be a strength with our team."
At the top of the order, Van Horn could go with speed in switch-hitting right fielder Eric Cole and shortstop Jax Biggers, the left-handed hitting leading returner with a .338 average. He also could throw a curveball with freshman left fielder Heston Kjerstad, a 6-3 speedster who bats left-handed. One or two of those guys could hit at the bottom of the lineup to wrap speed around the end of the order.
Cole (.282 in 2017) hit leadoff in 21 games last year, second on the team behind Jake Arledge's 41 starts at leadoff. Biggers hit in the nine hole in 39 games and spread his other 23 starts among the second spot (2), fifth (3), sixth (5), seventh (5) and eighth (8).
"It's nice to have that flexibility, and then after that first inning or the first two innings, the lineup really doesn't matter," Cole said. "I mean it's gonna roll through no matter who's hitting leadoff or who's hitting wherever. It's easier on Coach Van Horn, I know that."
The Razorbacks were not a big running team in 2017, with only 27 stolen bases in 44 tries. Arledge, who exhausted his eligibility, led the club with seven steals. Shaddy is the team's leading returner with six steals, followed by Biggers and Cole with three apiece.
Bonfield (.294) batted in the three hole in 63 of his team-high 64 games.
Koch (.264) tore it up early in the season while batting mostly cleanup (51 games), but he moved around some, splitting his other 12 games in the three spot (1), fifth (2), seventh (6) and eighth (3), particularly later in the season when his average dipped.
Sophomore center field Dominic Fletcher (.291) hit cleanup in nine games and could be targeted for that spot again, as he returns with more power. Fletcher finished with 12 home runs, third on the team behind Chad Spanberger's 20 and Koch's 13.
Fletcher tied Biggers for fifth on the team with 37 RBI, behind Spanberger (67), Bonfield (49), Koch (42) and Shaddy (40).
Shaddy (.279) split time in the order from fourth to seventh -- mainly fifth (14) and sixth (45) -- and is probably headed for that area again.
Van Horn suggested third base could be a platoon situation between Jared Gates (.246), Hunter Wilson (.310) and Jack Kenley (.133), who is one of the team's top defenders. Gates, a left-handed bat, split 35 starts, all at third base, between the fourth and eighth spots in the order, but mostly fifth (11).
At first base, Evan Lee (.333), Jordan McFarland (.271) and Gates are the top options. Lee, a left-handed hitter, made seven starts at designated hitter, one start at pitcher and one start in the outfield last season. The right-handed hitting McFarland is likely to make starts against left-handed pitchers, Van Horn said.
Bucknell, picked to win the Patriot League, is expected to start right-handed ace Connor Van Hoose (6-6, 2.28 ERA) on Friday against Arkansas right-hander Blaine Knight (8-4, 3.28).
"We're probably going to mix and match a little bit," Van Horn said. "They're going to throw a righty at us game one who had great numbers from last year.
"Game two they're going left. I'll put a couple of right-handed hitters in that second game. Game three we'll just kind of see how the first two went.
"I'm going to do the best I can to get as many guys in the lineup ... throughout the weekend. But we just want to win the games and try to get better and move on out to the West Coast and see how we can handle it out there."
UA baseball opener
BUCKNELL AT ARKANSAS
WHEN 3 p.m. Friday WHERE Baum Stadium, Fayetteville 2017 RECORDS Bucknell 21-28; Arkansas 45-19
Sports on 02/15/2018