Dave Van Horn says Mason Molina will miss Arkansas-Florida weekend series
Arkansas starter Mason Molina will miss this weekend’s SEC series against Florida at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Coach Dave Van Horn told WholeHogSports’ Matt Jones Thursday that Molina had twisted his right ankle during a recent workout. Molina is coming off his shortest outing of the season. The left-hander completed just 3 1/3 innings in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to No. 21 South Carolina. He threw only 30 of 70 pitches for strikes and issued a season-high seven walks.
Van Horn said he expects Molina to be back in the rotation when the second-ranked Razorbacks (35-6 overall, 14-4 SEC) head to Kentucky the following week. The Wildcats are ranked No. 5 in this week’s USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.
In the meantime, who will Arkansas turn to with Molina out? Van Horn isn’t yet sure. Hagen Smith is the team’s scheduled Friday night starter and will start the series opener against Florida (21-19, 8-10). Brady Tygart will start the second game with Game 3’s starter still up in the air.
From Jones’ story:
Van Horn said right-hander Ben Bybee was limited to two innings against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday with Molina’s injury in mind. Bybee and freshman left-hander Colin Fisher have started multiple midweek games this season.
“We’ll go with the best option,” Van Horn said of a Game 3 starter. “We could staff it. We could pitch it like a Tuesday game. We’ll figure it out after we finish a couple games on who we’re going to throw, or at least start….Whoever we start is only going to go a few innings anyway.”
Friday’s first pitch against Florida is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT at Baum-Walker Stadium. The game can be seen on SEC Network.
