Arkansas returns to the field to play Gonzaga on Thursday. Here’s a preview of the four-game series…

Schedule (TV)

Thursday, Feb. 20 - 2 p.m. CT (SECN+)

Friday, Feb. 21 - 3 p.m. CT (SECN+)

Saturday, Feb. 22 - 2 p.m. CT (SECN+)

Sunday, Feb. 23 - 1 p.m. CT (SECN+)

All four games will be streamed on SEC Network-plus, meaning they can be watched online on ESPN3.com or on the WatchESPN app. Links to each individual game are included in parenthesis above.

Also, note that first pitch of Thursday’s game has been moved up an hour. It was previously scheduled for 3 p.m., but will now start at 2 p.m.

Weather Report

Much like Opening Day, the first game of the series was moved up an hour because of an expected drop in temperature later in the day. It will be 39 degrees at first pitch, according to the Weather Channel, with temperatures dipping below freezing once the sun goes down.

There will also be winds of 12-14 miles per hour out of the north-northeast - or blowing out to right field - during the game.

It will be a little warmer - with a high of 46 degrees - and sunny on Friday, followed by a high of 54 degrees on a partly cloudy day Saturday. The good news is that the rain has been removed from Saturday’s forecast.

Instead, all of the rain is expected to move into Fayetteville on Sunday, with a 70 percent chance of precipitation throughout the day. Because of that, Van Horn said they are considering playing a doubleheader, with Friday being the most likely day for that, but that decision won’t be made until sometime Thursday.

Arkansas’ Starting Rotation (season stats)

Thursday - Jr. RHP Kole Ramage (1 game/0 starts, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 K/1 BB, 2 IP)

Friday - So. RHP Connor Noland (1 game/1 start, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 K/1 BB, 6 2/3 IP)

Saturday - So. LHP Patrick Wicklander (1 game/1 start, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 K/2 BB, 5 IP)

Sunday - TBA

In order to keep its two sophomore aces on normal rest, Arkansas will give Ramage his fifth career start in Game 1 of the series.

As expected, he’ll be followed by Noland and Wicklander in the rotation. Van Horn didn’t name a starter for Game 4, but - as previously mentioned - it might be hard to get all four games in this weekend.

Freshman Blake Adams was in the opening weekend rotation and a possibility to start again in the Gonzaga series, as are veterans Kevin Kopps and Caleb Bolden. However, Van Horn could use any of them out of the bullpen before Sunday if it’s needed to win a game.

For more on Van Horn’s decision to start Ramage and thought process behind the rotation, click here.

Last week, the starters were on pitch counts of 70-75, which isn’t uncommon for the first weekend of the season. Van Horn said they’ll still be on pitch counts against Gonzaga, but didn’t give a hard number.

He mentioned they might be able to go five more pitches this week, but a lot of that depends on how they pitch, if they’re constantly dealing with stressful innings and what the weather does.

“There’s a lot that goes into that and how they feel, but yeah, we’ll keep a close eye on these guys,” Van Horn said. “I want these guys to go out and have a really good outing and show us what they can do, but at the same time, we’ve got to keep these guys healthy and keep them ready for conference play and down the road.”

In the first game of the season, Noland actually blew past that pitch count. He threw 86 pitches in a masterful 6 2/3-inning performance that earned him SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.

“For sure, I felt good,” Noland said. “I had more in the tank to go and I definitely could have gone more innings if I needed to, so that’s good for the first game.”

In the Polls

Arkansas is still a consensus top-15 team, with all but one of the major college baseball polls also having it in the top 10. With the USA Today Coaches Poll not updating until after the third week of the season, it was not included in this week’s HawgBeat Composite Poll. As a result, the Razorbacks fell two spots to No. 8.

Gonzaga is unranked after a 2-2 opening weekend, but it is picked to win the West Coast Conference by the conference’s coaches.

Scouting the Opponent

2019 record: 31-24 (18-9 WCC)

2020 record: 2-2

Head coach: Mark Machtolf (17th season)

Gonzaga’s starting rotation (season stats)

Thursday - R-Jr. LHP Keaton Kneuppel (2018: 4 games/1 start, 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 7 K/7 BB, 8 IP)

Friday - Sr. LHP Mac Lardner (1 game/1 start, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 K/2 BB, 6 IP)

Saturday - Jr. RHP Alek Jacob (1 game/1 start, 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 6 K/4 BB, 4 IP)

Sunday - Sr. RHP Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (1 game/1 start, 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 6 K/0 BB, 4 IP)

Gonzaga is coming off a 2-2 showing at the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz., in which it split a pair of games with Oregon State, lost to BYU and beat New Mexico.

The Bulldogs’ win over the Beavers was by a convincing 10-4 score Saturday, while their win over the Lobos was more dramatic. They blew a 2-0 lead in the top of the ninth, but responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to win in walk-off fashion.

This will be the second straight year Gonzaga will play a weekend series at an SEC school, as last year it lost two of three at Texas A&M. It is a resume-building opportunity for the Bulldogs, who are traditionally strong in the WCC. Between 2017-19, they won at least a share of the regular-season title or the conference tournament.

“They’re all big series, but I imagine when you come to an SEC school and you’ve got a chance to play three or four games, it can really boost your resume,” Van Horn said. “They’ve played really good competition, neutral site, so I don’t really feel like the travel or the atmosphere is probably going to bother them too much.”

Much like Arkansas, Gonzaga has tweaked its weekend rotation to account for the series starting a day earlier than opening weekend.

Not only will Kneuppel be making his first start of the year, but it will be his first appearance since March 14, 2018. He missed all of 2019 because of Tommy John surgery and has pitched in just six games in his collegiate career.

The next two pitchers in the Bulldogs’ rotation are the headliners.

Lardner, a left-hander, was sensational in the first game of the season. Facing BYU, the team picked second in the WCC, the senior gave up just one hit and two walks while striking out nine in six scoreless innings.

Gonzaga saved its ace for Saturday’s game against Oregon State. Jacob picked up preseason All-America honors from multiple outlets, including a first-team nod from the NCBWA.

The right-hander was a closer in 2019, earning 12 saves with a 2.17 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 78.2/3 innings. As a freshman in 2018, Jacob was a starter who posted a 2.88 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 103 innings. Opponents have hit just .200 against him over both years, but he’s struggled with his command at times with 88 free passes (61 walks, 27 HBP).

Although he kept the Beavers scoreless through four innings, those issues eventually came up again and he failed to record an out in the fifth. All three runners he put on eventually scored and he was charged with three earned runs.

“They’ve got a left-hander that’s going to throw the ball anywhere from 86-91 with a really good changeup,” Van Horn said. “The right-hander has a little better velocity.”

The Bulldogs’ fourth starter is slated to be Trogrlic-Iverson, a senior who gave up a couple of earned runs on seven hits - including three doubles - in the loss to Oregon State. There’s a chance Arkansas could see freshman right-hander Gabriel Hughes, but his six scoreless innings against New Mexico came on Monday and he’d be throwing on short rest.

Offensively, Gonzaga had four players hit above .300 on opening weekend.

Jack Machtolf, the son of the Bulldogs’ head coach, led the way with a .364 average and .533 on-base percentage. Ryan Sullivan went 5 for 16 (.313) with one double, triple and home run, plus a team-high five RBIs. Including Tyler Rando and Hughes - who also threw six scoreless innings as a pitcher - the quartet went a combined 19 for 58 (.328).

There was a significant drop off behind those players, as the rest of the team hovered around the Mendoza Line, going 15 for 75 (.200). Both of the Bulldogs’ preseason All-WCC selections, Brett Harris and Ernie Yake, struggled at the plate. They were a combined 7 for 32 (.219) after both hitting over .300 last year.

Series History

Despite Arkansas’ success through the years, Gonzaga actually leads the all-time series between the two schools. The Bulldogs have won five of eight matchups, including four straight.

The last three of those games were midweek matchups - one in 2016 and two in 2015. The first game in that streak was a 3-0 loss to future big leaguer Marco Gonzales in Surprise, Ariz.

“I know in 2015 they came in here for a couple of midweek games early and we did everything we could to not win games,” Van Horn said. “We were walking people and hitting people and couldn’t hold the lead. They really frustrated us.”

Lineup Change?

The Razorbacks averaged nine runs and hit .324 as a team against Eastern Illinois, but Van Horn said he might still tinker with his lineup this weekend in an effort to protect some hitters and “lengthen” it.

He said he understands he’ll be met with criticism if he makes changes and the offense doesn’t produce as much at the plate, but he is looking at the big picture down the road.

Although he didn’t provide any specifics, it sounds like Christian Franklin - after going 5 for 12 against EIU - could move out of the 2-hole.

“I just like Christian Franklin's approach right now and he may be a guy we move a little bit,” Van Horn said. “He'll take a walk, but he's also hit the ball a long way. He uses the whole field.”

Van Horn told Franklin before the season that he could hit at the top or in the middle of the order this year. Moving him back in the lineup would add some speed to the middle of the order.

Stat of the Week

No one in the SEC had as dominant of an opening weekend as Heston Kjerstad. The junior slugger went 7 for 12 with one double, four home runs, two walks, 10 RBIs and six runs scored while striking out just once.

That gave him a .583/.643/1.667 slash and earned him National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball, as well as SEC co-Player of the Week accolades.

“They put me behind Kjerstad so maybe he wouldn’t get walked quite as much, but with the performance he put on this weekend, it’s probably not going to matter,” teammate Matt Goodheart said. “I mean, just from a joking standpoint, I’m just tired of hearing the home run music instead of my walk-up song.”

With almost an entire season ahead of him, Kjerstad has not only cracked the top 10 of the UA’s career home runs list, but he’s already climbing and passing past legends.

The four home runs against Eastern Illinois give him 35 in his career, moving him past Kevin McReynolds (33, 1979-81), Ryan Fox (33, 2001-03), Dominic Fletcher (33, 2017-19) and Jake Dugger (34, 2004-07). He’s currently tied with Greg D’Alexander (1987-90) and Rodney Nye (1998-99).

Danny Hamblin holds the career record with 57 home runs, but he hit them over a four-year career - as did Ryan Lundquist with his 56. The three-year record - which will apply to Kjerstad because he’s a projected first-round pick in this summer’s MLB Draft - is 42, held by Jeff King, Andy Wilkins and Brett Eibner.

Kjerstad needs only eight more long balls to break that mark, but needs 23 more to break Hamblin’s record. That would mean 27 home runs this season.

The single-season UA record is 24 by Lundquist in 1997, followed by Eibner (2010) and Hamblin (2007) with 22.