There’s a reason Dave Van Horn has lasted as long as he has in Fayetteville.
When things get hard, when the losses start stacking up and the fan base starts grumbling, his teams have a habit of finding themselves.
Thursday night at Baum-Walker Stadium, in front of 10,320 fans who badly needed something to cheer about, the Arkansas Razorbacks gave Van Horn another chapter worth remembering.
The Hogs beat fifth-ranked Georgia 6-3. It’s their sixth win in a row.
Not long ago that kind of run felt like a long shot.
The man behind the streak
Van Horn didn’t have an easy hand to play heading into this week.
His team had stumbled through a losing skid that left Arkansas sitting in uncomfortable territory in the SEC standings.
He’d watched his ace left-hander Hunter Dietz throw more than 100 pitches in back-to-back weeks and now he needed him again on short rest. He had a top-five opponent coming into Fayetteville for the Hogs’ first home SEC series in 18 days.
Most coaches would’ve played it safe with Dietz.
Van Horn sent him back out there.
Dietz answered with 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out 6 and throwing 61 of 85 pitches for strikes before giving way to right-hander Gabe Gaeckle in the sixth.
That’s the kind of roster decision that separates coaches who manage rosters from coaches who know their players.
Fast start that set the tone
Van Horn’s teams tend to be aggressive and opportunistic and Thursday’s first inning was a perfect example of what that looks like when it works.
Georgia right-hander Joey Volchko walked Carter Rutenbar and Ryder Helfrick on just 10 pitches to open the game and both runners moved up on a wild pitch.
Camden Kozeal’s sacrifice fly to right scored Rutenbar. Damian Ruiz followed with an RBI double and then advanced on a passed ball.
When Volchko’s second wild pitch of the inning scored Ruiz the Razorbacks led 3-0 before Georgia had recorded a single out after that chaos settled.
Volchko threw 16 of his first 32 pitches out of the strike zone. Arkansas made him pay for every one of them. That’s not accident — that’s a Van Horn-coached lineup doing what it’s been trained to do.
Georgia got one back in the third when Ryan Wynn hit a leadoff homer to left to make it 3-1 and remind everyone the Bulldogs came in at 30-9 for a reason. But the Razorbacks answered in the fourth and it looked like a Van Horn special.
Execution when it counts
Ruiz led off the fourth with a single and Souza drew a walk.
Then the two pulled off a double steal to put runners in scoring position with nobody out — exactly the kind of aggressive, smart baserunning that defines what Van Horn wants from his offense.
Maika Niu’s sacrifice fly to right scored Ruiz and moved Souza to third.
Reese Robinett came through with a 2-out infield single to score Souza and push the lead to 5-1.
Volchko finished the night having allowed 5 runs on 5 hits with 4 walks and 8 strikeouts across his outing.
The runs were a season high. Arkansas had gotten to him early and never let him settle.
Bullpen management done right
When Dietz gave up a 340-foot leadoff homer to Daniel Jackson in the sixth to make it 5-2 and Rylan Lujo followed with a single Van Horn turned to Gaeckle.
It proved to be the right call. Gaeckle retired every batter he faced over the first 1 2/3 innings of his outing and threw just 24 pitches — efficient enough that he should be available again later in the series.
That’s the kind of bullpen management that wins SEC series.
Then came the freshman moment Van Horn has been waiting to see from Carter Rutenbar.
In the bottom of the seventh the freshman launched a 404-foot home run off the top of the video scoreboard in right-center field — his second career homer and his first in SEC play — to push the Hogs ahead 6-2.
Closer Ethan McElvain slams door shut
It wasn’t clean at the end. Closer Ethan McElvain walked a pair and had a wild pitch score a Georgia run in the eighth to cut the lead to 6-3.
He loaded the bases and briefly made Fayetteville nervous but got out of the jam when pinch hitter Cole Koniarsky grounded out to third on a 3-2 pitch.
McElvain came back for the ninth worked around a walk to Kolby Branch and got Tre Phelps to fly out to right with Branch stranded at third base.
It was McElvain’s third save of the season. He walked 2 and struck out 2 in 1 2/3 innings.
What Van Horn has built
Arkansas is now 26-13 overall and 9-7 in SEC play. The Bulldogs came in at 30-9 and 11-5 in conference and this was no soft opponent.
Beating them in a series opener in front of a packed Baum-Walker crowd is exactly what Van Horn needed from his team at exactly the right moment.
Six straight wins doesn’t erase a rough stretch overnight.
But it’s the kind of run that reminds everyone in Fayetteville that when Dave Van Horn’s teams find their footing they’re dangerous. Game 2 is Friday at 6 p.m. and the Hogs will be looking to make it seven.
