FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ fall season went into full swing earlier this week.
To cap its first set of practices, the team will be scrimmaging today through Saturday inside Baum Stadium.
Today’s scrimmage is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m., while Friday’s will start at 4 p.m.
Saturday’s scrimmage before the football game will be at 10 a.m. All scrimmages will be played at Baum Stadium.
In the case of any inclement weather, the team will move the scrimmage indoors to the Fowler Center and it will be closed to the public.
Thursday Scrimmage – 7:05 p.m.
Friday Scrimmage – 4 p.m.
Saturday Scrimmage – 10 a.m.
Arkansas opened its 2017 fall practice on Tuesday and head coach Dave Van Horn welcomed back 28 returning players and 16 newcomers.
Among those returning players, seniors Carson Shaddy and Luke Bonfield, as well as junior Blaine Knight headline the squad that hopes to improve on the team’s 45 wins from a season ago.
In what will be the second season under pitching coach Wes Johnson, Arkansas brings back a number of arms from a year ago that helped the team reach the SEC Tournament final and host the NCAA Regional for the first time since 2010.
Knight comes back after making 16 starts and compiling a 3.28 ERA over 90.2 innings. His eight wins were good for most on the team and was the most by a Razorback pitcher since 2014.
Joining Knight, Arkansas will get to utilize a healthy Isaiah Campbell and Keaton McKinney, who both were shut down early in the spring with arm injuries.
McKinney was a freshman all-american two years ago and Campbell made six starts as a freshman and looks to be able to shore up a strong rotation.
Offensively, Arkansas returns some of its best bats in recent years. Both Shaddy and Bonfield will be back in the lineup as both hit over .270 last year with 17 home runs and 89 RBIs combined.
Along with them, junior shortstop Jax Biggers returns as the Razorbacks’ top hitter, coming off a year where he hit .338 in 63 games with four home runs and 37 RBIs.
Freshman All-American Dominic Fletcher will captain the outfield as Arkansas’ returning centerfielder. Fletcher was one of the best hitting outfielders in the SEC last season.
His .291 average was second among all SEC freshmen, while his 12 home runs were first and was the most by an Arkansas freshman since Zack Cox hit 13 in 2009.
The baseball team will play its annual Fall World Series at Baum Stadium next month with dates still to be determined.
All practices and scrimmages are open to the public throughout the fall, weather permitting.
