The No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks (10-1) have significant momentum after rising one spot in the rankings and sweeping the weekend series against a feisty and talented Charlotte 49ers team. Today, the Hogs will enter a two-game series against the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-5) in Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
After the series against Charlotte, the Arkansas Razorbacks know they must return to excellent relief pitching. The Warhawks provide the Hogs with a great chance to achieve that goal. Jackson Fuller, staff writer at the Fort Smith Southwest Times Record, said, "The Warhawks (5-5) won one of three games this weekend against Missouri State. Louisiana Monroe is 1-4 in its last five games." Therefore, the Warhawks do not enter this game with any momentum.
Arkansas vs. Louisiana-Monroe Baseball Series Injury Report
As Jackson McAfee, Contributor at FanSided's Razorbackers, reported, Cooper Dossett, a junior Arkansas right-handed pitcher, will miss the entire season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery: "He tore his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) last season on May 18th in the season finale against the Texas A&M Aggies." Also, McAfee disclosed that Carson Willis, a freshman Arkansas catcher, will miss the entire season. McAfee stated, "He is recovering from shoulder surgery and will redshirt."
Matt Jones, staff writer at Whole Hog Sports, reported that Dave Van Horn, Arkansas Razorbacks head baseball coach, gave positive news about two of his injured pitchers, Gage Wood and Hunter Dietz. At the March meeting of the Swatters Club at the Fayetteville Public Library, Van Horn shared, referencing Gage Wood, "He's already playing catch with the football...and the other day he actually threw a baseball. He's not feeling any pain. We've got to bring him back slow." Without question, this is encouraging news for the Razorbacks.
Adding to the encouraging news, Van Horn communicated that Hunter Dietz will throw to live batter this week as part of his recovery from a bone injury in his arm sustained last April. Van Horn noted, "His jump the last couple of weeks has been big to where he started to throw the ball in the 90s again, and maybe 92-93." Wood and Dietz will bolster Arkansas's excellent pitching when they return.