This weekend’s series will be the third meeting between Arkansas and Bucknell.
The Razorbacks defeated the Bison 10-7 at the 2003 NCAA regional in Austin, Texas, and 10-0 in an elimination game at the 2014 NCAA regional in Charlottesville, Va. Bucknell coach Scott Heather said he and Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn began discussing a series shortly after the most recent meeting.
“When we played in the regional a few years ago, it started the dialogue,” Heather said. “I was trying to get on the schedule for last year, but (Van Horn) does a good job of scheduling ahead. We had to push it back one year and it ended up working out.”
The trip to Arkansas is one of 15 consecutive road games to begin the season for Bucknell. The Bison are scheduled to play in five cities in four states before their first home game on March 17.
Handling distractions
Heather said he is interested to see how his team handles all aspects of the Baum Stadium atmosphere this weekend, including the pom squad known as the RBI girls, who perform between innings.
“I don’t know if they’re ready for the RBI girls to dance on the dugout,” Heather said. “I’ve got a feeling they’ll be distracted. We’re not used to that.”
Starter in the bullpen
Bucknell sophomore right-hander Jeff Gottesman started 10 games last season and is expected to be in the weekend rotation this year, but he’ll be a reliever against Arkansas.
Gottesman, who had a 3-5 record and 6.33 ERA as a freshman, is behind some of the Bison’s other pitchers in pitch count, Heather said.