FAYETTEVILLE - Louisiana Tech. Eastern Illinois. Gonzaga. An undefeated start, 11-0, to the Arkansas baseball season has been tarnished by losses to those three teams.
Entering Baum Stadium now is Western Illinois. The Leathernecks from Macomb, Illinois, are like Louisiana Tech and Eastern Illinois before them: picked last or second-to-last in its respective conference. In this case, that conference is the Summit League.
The Summit League isn’t the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas still finds itself among the latter league’s elite, ranked No. 16 in the country. In theory, the Razorbacks shouldn’t have any trouble with Western Illinois. Arkansas handled the Summit League winners, Oral Roberts, last year in the Stillwater Regional.