Dave Van Horn offers injury updates on multiple Arkansas players

As Arkansas gets ready for the final six games of the regular season, the Razorbacks are still working on getting healthy. They’re dealing with multiple injuries entering the final stretch, and Dave Van Horn had some key updates on Thursday.

Centerfielder Tavian Josenberger, left fielder Jared Wegner and second baseman Peyton Stovall have all been dealing with injuries. Josenberger suffered a hamstring injury against Georgia April 22, and Van Horn sounded optimistic about his chances of coming back soon.

Wegner seems to be coming along well after fracturing his thumb, and Van Horn said he got his pins out this week. That said, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play right away as he deals with soreness. Both players appear to be on track to be on the 27-man roster, according to Van Horn, although Wegner likely won’t play.

“Josenberger’s looking good,” Van Horn said. “Worked out with us yesterday, he’ll be out there again today. So he’ll be on roster again. Wegner, obviously, got his pins out on Monday. Thumb’s still pretty sore. He’ll be on the roster. Still not sure about playing yet. Not swinging the bat with the team at all yet. Probably highly unlikely this weekend.”

As for Stovall, he’s dealing with shoulder tendinitis. He hasn’t played since April 29 against Texas A&M, and Van Horn said he won’t make the roster at this point.

“Stovall, shoulder’s not doing great, so probably not going to, as of now, put him on the roster,” Van Horn said. “We’ll see how that goes.”

Wegner ranks second on the Arkansas roster with a .351 batting average to go with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs in 33 games this year, including 32 starts. Josenberger isn’t far behind him with a .322 batting average while Stovall has a .253 average in 38 starts this year.

Arkansas enters its series against South Carolina this week off a three-game sweep of Mississippi State last week. That helped the Razorbacks improve to 36-12 overall and 17-7 in SEC play, which puts them in first place in the SEC West heading into the weekend. Van Horn’s group has a half-game advantage over LSU, which is preparing for a series of its own against Mississippi State this weekend.

After the South Carolina series, Arkansas will wrap up the regular-season schedule with a three-game set against SEC East-leading Vanderbilt before turning its attention to the SEC Tournament. That starts May 23 in Hoover, Alabama.