The No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks will be entering the SEC Baseball Tournament with another injury affecting the team.
Starting shortstop John Bolton's status is doubtful for the entirety of the tournament after he suffered a sprained ankle during a collision with second baseman Peyton Holt in Friday's loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Head coach Dave Van Horn confirmed Tuesday that Bolton will "for sure" not play in Wednesday's matchup — which will be against the winner of 7-seed Tennessee and 10-seed Texas A&M.
"He won’t play tomorrow for sure,” Van Horn said. “They have tried to accelerate this as far at treatment, lot of treatment, keeping it elevated. He walked with a boot on it and now he is not in a boot and he walked to the bus yesterday. He did not hit or field. I think he will maybe play some catch today."
Bolton has been a mainstay at shortstop this season and he's made some incredible plays in the field. His bat has picked up as of late, too, after a slow start to the season at the plate.
The graduate transfer from Austin Peay owns a .956 fielding percentage, a .202 batting average and a .348 on-base percentage. Bolton's batting average was .300 over the last four weekends of SEC play in the regular season and he drove in five runs across that span.
Van Horn did not put Bolton in the lineup during Saturday's loss to Vanderbilt and it sounds like if Arkansas is still playing this Saturday, Bolton might have a shot to go.
“If we are here on Saturday, I think there would be an opportunity to play," Van Horn said. "That’s guessing. If he is not ready, like 90 to 95 percent ready, I am not going to play him. So we will see how that turns out."
Another thing to consider for Van Horn is the possibility of another middle infielder suffering an injury, which can never be ruled out with the way this season has gone on the injury front for Arkansas.
“The other issue is if we have another middle infielder go down, then we will see who is playing there," Van Horn said. "It could get interesting if that happens.”
Filling in for Bolton — at least on Wednesday — will be Harold Coll, a transfer from San Jacinto College. Coll has slashed .250/.309/.472 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season. He was 0 for 2 at the plate during Saturday's loss to Vanderbilt, but he did drive in a run on a sacrifice fly out.
Getting live at bats for a guy like Coll, along with Tavian Josenberger and Jared Wegner (both returning from injury), will be crucial in this tournament to get guys right ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
"They need some live at-bats," Van Horn said. "Especially with a couple of of the guys who have been injured, to get those guys in the lineup and swinging the bat and try to get them right."
Arkansas will play the winner of 7-seed Tennessee and 10-seed Texas A&M on Wednesday at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. The game will start approximately 30 minutes after the first game, which starts at 9:30 a.m. CT, and it will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
