Eastern baseball team has to re-do its schedule over the weekend due to snow and cold temperatures last weekend.

The Panthers were scheduled to play Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan., Friday to Sunday, but the weather too bad to play baseball.

Eastern coach Jimmy Schmitz had to find games to play this weekend.

The Panthers were lucky enough to find games this weekend and now play the University of Arkansas Saturday to Monday.

“We are excited to go to Arkansas,” he said. “Not to be able to go somewhere is really hard on the guys, but to even go to Arkansas, we were there last year. We’ve been there many years. It’s a beautiful place. It’s good to get back on the field.”

The Eastern starting pitchers of red-shirt junior Matt Wivinis, senior Garrison Stenger and freshman Andy Fisher will face an Arkansas lineup that has a team average of .371.

Wivinis and Fisher will make their first starts at Eastern. Wivinis, a transfer from Kansas State, worked as a starter and a reliever. He threw two innings at Georgia two weeks ago without allowing a run and striking out two batters.

The Razorbacks top three hitters are batting .440 or higher. Junior Rick Nomura is batting .440 through six games. Junior Tyler Spoon is batting .444, and junior Bobby Wernes leads the team in average with .474.

The biggest thing Schmitz wants from his starting rotation is for them to locate pitches.

“I want them to get the ball down,” Schmitz said. “I think anybody would want that. I thought we elevated the ball a little bit too much against a good hitting team (Georgia). I was really happy we didn’t walk many people at Georgia. You have to take that next step in competition and locate better than we did.”

Arkansas is coming off 1-2 record in its three weekend games against Central Florida, Southern Alabama and Maryland. The Razorbacks defeated Maryland 13-6 in the lone win.

The Panthers are coming off a weekend series two weeks ago in Athens, Ga. against the University of Georgia when they lost by a combined score of 39-6.

Schmitz said his hitters did not have a good approach at the plate in the games against Georgia and wants a better one this time out.

“When you get down early, you tend to think the game is over and lets just go hit,” he said. “I tell them all the time, until we start hitting doubles the other way, we are not going to be a true hitting team. Hopefully we got all the jitters out and get the chance to get back out there and see some pitching.”

The Panthers and Razorbacks will get underway Saturday at 2 p.m.; the game on Sunday at 1 p.m.; and Monday at 2 p.m. All three games are set to air on the SEC Network Plus.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].