— 2:51 p.m. —

Arkansas and LSU players are on the field running and stretching in advance of today’s contest.

—2:30 p.m. —

We’ve just gotten word in the press box that today’s College World Series game between Arkansas and LSU is tentatively set to start at 3:38 p.m. The tarp is being pulled off as I’m typing. We initially had been told that the contest would not start for 80 minutes after the tarp was pulled. That apparently isn’t the case.

— 12:35 p.m. —

Steady rain has begun to fall here at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, and there will be a substantial delay to the start of Arkansas’ game with LSU. From the time the tarp comes off until first pitch, 80 minutes must pass for field preparation and warmups. So, ideally, we’ll get started by 4 p.m., maybe? We’ll see. I’m going to go watch some U.S. Open golf now. Check back in a bit.

— 11:30 a.m. —

Welcome to baseball’s version of the Final Four.

The College World Series field has been cut in half, and it’s possible that it cut be sliced in half again by the end of the day. Arkansas and Arizona State must beat LSU and Texas, respectively, to force elimination games tomorrow. The Tigers and Longhorns, meanwhile need only one victory to qualify for the best 2-of-3 championship series that runs Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Not sure if we’ll get started on time here at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. A few minutes, I watched from the press box as the stadium’s grounds crew placed the tarp on the infield. That was at about 11:15. As I’m typing at 11:25, a steady rain has started to fall. Delays look quite possible at this point.

When the teams do get play underway, they’ll do so coming from different perspectives: LSU rested, Arkansas not so much. The Tigers are starting 6-7 sophomore right-hander Anthony Ranaudo, who lasted only 3.1 innings Saturday against Virginia in LSU’s CWS opener. Ranaudo also struggled on May 2 in Fayetteville when Arkansas beat the Tigers 11-4. The Razorbacks beat him up for five earned runs in six frames, but they struck out seven times against him, fueled by a four-run fourth inning. So they won’t be intimidated facing the pitcher who has 150 strikeouts in 113 innings.

The Razorbacks will go with a lineup coach Dave Van Horn hasn’t used often, beginning with his decision to start closer Stephen Richards. The junior left-hander will make his first start this season, only the second of his career. As for the batting order and position assignments, Van Horn is really thinking outside the box.

With senior Ben Tschepikow out with a broken finger, Van Horn will give freshman Zack Cox his first career start at shortstop. Sophomore Andy Wilkins slides over to third base to make his first start there since March 6, only his sixth start at third this season. Sophomore Jacob House will start at first, his first start May 12.

Well, scheduled first pitch is about 90 minutes away. Here are today’s lineups:

LSU (53-16)

1. DJ Lemahieu, 2B (.350, 52 R, 4 HR, 40 RBI, 11 SB)

2. Ryan Schimpf, LF (.339, 69 R, 20 HR, 66 RBI, 18 SB)

3. Blake Dean, DH (.332, 62 R, 16 HR, 68 RBI)

4. Micah Gibbs, C (.295, 54 R, 6 HR, 41 RBI)

5. Mikie Mahtook, CF (.328, 39 R, 7 HR, 34 RBI)

6. Sean Ochinko, 1B (.323, 43 R, 8 HR, 53 RBI)

7. Jared Mitchell, RF (.327, 60 R, 9 HR, 44 RBI, 35 SB)

8. Derek Helenihi, 3B (.293, 19 R, 4 HR, 22 RBI)

9. Austin Nola, SS (.241, 25 R, 3 HR, 17 RBI)

on the mound — RHP Anthony Ranaudo (10-3, 3.03 ERA)

Arkansas (41-23)

1. Chase Leavitt, LF (.298, 39 R, 1 HR, 30 RBI, 12 SB)

2. Scott Lyons, DH (.300, 37 R, 8 HR, 46 RBI)

3. Zack Cox, SS (.272, 41 R, 13 HR, 39 RBI)

4. Andy Wilkins, 3B (.325, 53 R, 19 HR, 58 RBI, 8 SB)

5. Bo Bigham, 2B (.296, 16 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI)

6. Jacob House, 1B (.271, 12 R, 2 HR, 15 RBI)

7. Brett Eibner, CF (.224, 33 R, 11 HR, 32 RBI)

8. James McCann, C (.240, 18 R, 1 HR, 11 RBI)

9. Andrew Darr, RF (.257, 18 R, 4 HR, 18 RBI)

on the mound — LHP Stephen Richards (6-1, 1.90 ERA)