FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will lose its top hitter and pitcher in the Major League Draft, but at least the departures won’t be as severe as a year ago when nine Razorbacks signed professional contracts.

Junior third baseman Logan Forsythe and junior pitcher Cliff Springston are the top Razorbacks prospects in the two-day draft, which begins at 1 p.m. Central today. Forsythe is rated by Baseball America as the best player in Arkansas and the 76 th overall prospect in the draft. Forsythe (. 351, 7 home runs, 34 RBI ) could go as high as the second or third round, while Springston (5-3, 3. 90 ERA ) is projected to be taken between rounds 8-10.

Springston, a left-handed transfer from Baylor, will leave Arkansas after one season.

“We’ll lose Forsythe, obviously, and Springston,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “I talked to Cliff on the phone and he thanked us for everything we’ve done for him. I just wish him the best of luck.” Arkansas’ losses last season included pitchers Nick Schmidt, Jess Todd and Duke Welker, who were among the first 82 players selected. The Razorbacks finished 34-24 this season, going 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament and failing to make the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2001.

A handful of current Razorbacks could be selected Friday in the later rounds of the draft. Casey Coon will sign if he’s drafted and Chase Leavitt could be selected, although Arkansas is hopeful he’ll come back after leading the Razorbacks with a. 366 batting average this season.

Arkansas hopes to keep most of its recruiting class and add them to an impressive group of freshmen who contributed to this year’s team. Andy Wilkins, Brett Eibner and Jacob House were among the team’s top offensive players, and Eibner also contributed as a pitcher.

“I project between nine to 11 of our signees will get drafted, maybe more,” Van Horn said. “We know we’re going to lose some kids, but I hope we’re not devastated [by the draft ]. If we can keep half of our signees, at least the right ones, it’s really going to help us.” The Razorbacks don’t expect possible first-rounder Tyler Sample of Denver to make it to Fayetteville, but they will keep a close eye on other recruits who are draft tweeners —those not drafted quite high enough to sign for the big money offered in the first or second rounds but have the kind of skills teams are willing to pay above the standard to get.

Sample, 6-7, is a hard-throwing righthanded pitcher and one of four Arkansas recruits ranked among Baseball America’s 200 draft prospects. The list also includes a couple of coveted two-way high school players who have signed with Arkansas: Zack Cox of Louisville, Ky., and Bobby Bundy of Sperry, Okla.

Bundy tore knee ligaments while playing basketball in the winter but remains a viable prospect to be taken in the early rounds. Cox said Tuesday he hasn’t been thinking too much about the draft since his high school team is still playing for a state championship.

“I have some idea of where I’m going to get drafted, but there are 30 teams that could pick me,” Cox said. “But it’s fun because I look at it as they’re going to pay me now or pay me later. If they don’t, I’ll come to Arkansas and work on getting my degree and then I’ll go play professional baseball.” Hughes Springs (Texas ) High School outfielder Jarrod McKinney was mostly mum about his future. McKinney reportedly wants third-round signing bonus money, but some projections have him going between rounds 5-8.

“I’m really not sure right now, but it’s going to take a lot to keep me from coming up there [to Arkansas ],” McKinney said.

Two junior college transfers from the College of Southern Nevada, pitcher Colby Shreve and catcher Braden Schelhuber, are high on the scouts’ radar, though Shreve is one of the draft’s unknowns since he’ll be rehabbing from Tommy John surgery over the next nine months. Before the injury, Shreve figured to go as high as the first round. Information for this article was contributed by Chris Cocoles of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.