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BASEBALL: Youth Is Served

Last updated Monday, February 25, 2008 5:40 PM CST
in Razorback Central

By Jerry L. Reed
THE MORNING NEWS

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FAYETTEVILLE -- One thing that was crystal clear over the weekend was that Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn's youth movement isn't suffering from any growing pains.

Having lived or existed for only a short time doesn't seem to matter in this particular scenario.

And having several true freshmen in the starting lineup did nothing to damage the Razorbacks' reputation of being competitive.

That trend continued Sunday as Arkansas used four freshmen to help it beat Wright State 7-3 to complete a sweep in Baum Stadium in front of 1,912 fans.

"I'd like to point out ... I'm sure you guys already know, we had some young guys really did a good job, got a lot of experience this weekend," Van Horn said. "It started with (Kendall) Koral. He did a good job. He kind of ran out of gas, started getting leaving it up a little bit and then (Brett) Eibner coming in, did a super job, and a couple of big hits by a couple of young guys.

"When you look back, our three, four and five-hole hitters were freshmen. That's some good experience. That's good for the future, too."

Perhaps making the biggest contribution was Eibner, who played three different positions Sunday. He started in center field, pitched and played right field.

Eibner worked three innings in relief, allowed three hits, gave up one earned run and registered four strikeouts.

He was 0-for-1 at the plate with two walks.

"I'm just up there trying to get hits, get walks, trying to get on base for my team and get our run production going," Eibner said. "Our goal every game is to win, you know."

Korbal started on the mound, worked four innings, allowed one hit, one earned run and struck out four. He threw 56 pitches.

"I think a lot young guys showed up this weekend," said freshman infielder/outfielder Jacob House, who had a double and 2 RBIs Sunday. "I think we can be a big contributing factor down the road and in SEC play. We got some experience out here in Baum. Having the whole experience and giving these older guys ... Hey, we can do this, too. So, it's a good confidence for us mentally and showing these older guys we can play for them."

First-year designated hitter/first baseman Andy Wilkins, who also had 2 RBIs Sunday, said this is a good freshman class.

"We've got a lot of young guys who can contribute," said Wilkins, who batted .455 over the weekend. "We're not looking too far down the road, just trying to take it one game at a time.

"We do thing we have a good future ahead of us."




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