TEMPE, Ariz. - Arkansas junior Casey Coon was not in the starting lineup for only the second time this season on Wednesday night.

Freshman Jacob House started in left field in place of Coon, who was 0-for-5 in a 6-5 loss to Arizona State on Tuesday night, stranding seven runners baserunners. Coon struck out without swinging on three-straight pitches with runners on first and second base to end the loss.

The last time Coon didn't start a game this season was on Feb. 24 against Wright State.

"Right now he's in a little bit of a funk, and we've got to get him out of it," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "We need him."

Coon was second on the team in batting at .312 last season and had a .485 slugging percentage. He also led Arkansas with 71 RBIs, which was third in the Southeastern Conference and the eighth-highest single-season total in school history.

After Tuesday night's performance, Coon was hitting .196 (9-for-46) with 5 RBIs.

"He's going to be there for us," Van Horn said. "It might be good for him to sit off to the side. Sometimes guys sit off to the side and the game slows down a little bit for them."

Razorbacks Go West Coast

A vocal contingent of Arkansas fans could be seen engaging the locals in some (and some not-so) good old-fashioned heckling on Tuesday night.

"I was told by some people that it was fun up there, let's put it that way," Van Horn joked before Wednesday's game.

The group of Razorback fans included Doug and Patty Lyons, parents of Arkansas infielder Scott Lyons, as well as Lyons' grandparents. The junior is from Covina, Calif., and Patty Lyons said the trip to Tempe was "our closest road trip."

Doug Lyons said making the five-hour trip to watch Arkansas was an easy decision. He said the family will also make trips to Fayetteville to watch the two-game series with Centenary on March 25-26 as well as the following conference series at Vanderbilt March 28-30.

Home Sweet Home

The Sun Devils' games with Arkansas were the 13th and 14th-straight at home to open their season

In fact, ASU opens its season with 28-straight home games in Packard Stadium. The Sun Devils, who host No. 1 Arizona next week, won't play a road game until April 4 when they travel to Stanford.

Arkansas has already played five road games this season, including the two-game series at ASU. Van Horn said he prefers the early road trips to help prepare for conference play.

"I do like playing at home, obviously," Van Horn said. "It's a definite advantage because you get to sleep in your own bed and you don't get worn out from traveling.

"But it's good to go out on the road and play good competition because you get a real conference feel."

Murphree Continues Hitting

Aaron Murphree's streak of six-straight games with a home run came to an end on Tuesday night, but it's not quite time to declare a slump for the senior.

Murphree finished Tuesday night 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, raising his season average to .451. He also still had 12 home runs and 28 RBIs through 13 games after Tuesday's game.

"He's putting good swings on a lot of pitches and not trying to do too much," Van Horn said. "We've told him, 'Don't worry about hitting home runs. Hit the ball in the alley, hit the ball down the lines and take your walks.'

"If he does that, he's going to have a consistent season all year, and that's what we want from him."