College Baseball: Fall Practices Begin for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks

The Arkansas Razorback baseball team began its fall preparation for the 2012 college baseball season with its first practice Friday. The fall practices include seven intrasquad games called the Cardinal-White series. The first game of the seven-game series will be played Saturday, Oct. 15, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

The Razorbacks finished the 2011 baseball season ranked No. 14 in the nation after posting a 40-22 record. Hopes are high for the Razorbacks to surpass last year’s team that won the SEC West division but lost in the Tempe, Ariz. regional after going 2-2 in regional play. This was the Razorbacks' second straight season-ending loss to Arizona State University in the NCAA tournament (first, the 2010 super regional.

Arkansas head baseball coach Dave Van Horn will rely heavily on a young team and young pitching rotation; the Razorbacks only had one senior in 2011, Kyle Robinson. Junior pitcher DJ Baxendale and the rest of Van Horn’s returning staff will have to carry the Hogs as they replace four everyday starters from last year’s squad.

Baxendale was an All-SEC player in 2010 after posting a 10-2 record with three saves in 19 appearances. He posted a 1.58 ERA, which was second best on the team behind freshman Colby Suggs' .90 ERA in 20 innings of work. Sophomores Astin Barrett—who was second on the team with five wins—and Nolan Sanburn, who had a team-high eight saves, return to help fill out the pitching staff.

The four everyday players returning for the Hogs in 2012 include seniors Tim Carver and Bo Bigham, junior Matt Reynolds and sophomore Dominic Ficociello. Arkansas has 12 players from last year’s team who saw significant playing time during the season. Those 12 players, along with a talented group of incoming recruits, will fight for the final four starting positions during fall practices.

Three highly regarded recruits and four position players were lost to the 2011 MLB draft.

Players with University of Arkansas ties that were drafted in the 2011 Major League Draft:

*#13 OF   Brandon Nimmo, Arkansas Signee, NY Mets, R1

*#44 P      Michael Fulmer, Arkansas Signee, NY Mets. R1

*#67 P      Dillion Howard, Arkansas Signee (Searcy), Cleveland Indians, R2

*#76 C      James McCann, University of Arkansas, Detroit Tigers, R2

#179 1B   Greg Bird, Arkansas Signee, NY Yankees, R5

#385 SS   Joe Serrano, Arkansas Signee, Cincinnati Reds, R12

#505 OF   Connor Costello, Arkansas Signee, Cincinnati Reds R16

*#531 OF  Collin Kuhn, University of Arkansas, Detroit Tigers R17

#628 IF     Brian Anderson, Arkansas Signee, Minnesota Twins, R20

#707 P      Trent Daniel, University of Arkansas, Detroit Tigers, R23

#815 P      Chris Oliver, Arkansas Signee (Shiloh Christian) B. Orioles, R27

*#861 OF   Kyle Robinson, University of Arkansas, Chicago White Sox, R28

#917 P       Greg Milhorn, Arkansas Signee (Arkansas High School), Detroit Tigers, R30

*#940 OF   Jarrod McKinney, University of Arkansas, Houston Astros, R31

#1298 P     Geoffrey Davenport, University of Arkansas, Cleveland Indians, R43

*Signed a Major League Baseball contract

R=Round Drafted

Razorback baseball facts:

• Arkansas has made six College World Series appearances. Its last appearance was in 2009.
• Dominic Ficociello, Nolan Sanburn and Barrett Astin were Freshman All-Americans in 2011. The last Razorback to earn Freshman All-American honors was Brett Eibner in 2008. Eibner earned All-American honors in 2010.
• Nineteen Arkansas players have been awarded All-American honors.
• Jeff King 1985-1986, Kevin McReynolds 1980-1981, Nick Schmidt 2006-2007, Phillip Stidham 1990-1991 and David Walling 1998-1999 were awarded All-American honors multiple times.