Connect with us

Baseball

Can Hogs be team that figures it all out at end of season?

Razorbacks head to Stillwater for postseason, where “anything can happen” and has in past and everyone hopes does again.

Published

on

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Maybe getting a break is the answer Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn has been seeking.

After struggling to the postseason, it’s about the only thing he’s had available.

“You just try to get ’em right,” Van Horn said in a Zoom press conference after drawing a trip to the Stillwater Regional to open play in the NCAA Tournament. “Sometimes it’s nice to not have a schedule.”

He’s been trying to get this team right for a month.

One of the things this team doesn’t have is a vocal leader. A guy that can just take over the locker room isn’t on this team.

“They want to lead by example,” Van Horn said. “We’ve got a lot of leaders. I just don’t know if we have that vocal guy.”

Van Horn knows this team needs to do. He’s just not real sure what he can do to have it start happening.

“We need to just change our mindset a little bit,” he said. “We need to score earlier in these games..

Just over a month ago, fans and the media assumed there would be a regional at Baum-Walker Stadium. That sailed into the ditch along with the Razorbacks in final two series of the year, then couldn’t get out in the SEC Tournament.

Van Horn wasn’t expecting to get a regional. He did think the Hogs would be headed to Stillwater to play in a new stadium that hasn’t hosted postseason play.

And going on the road right now might not be the worst possible thing for this team.

“We want to flip it,” he said. “Maybe going on the road provides less distraction.”

The Hogs have still gotten to Omaha from the road. The initial objective going into every season is still in front of this team.

Some fans determine the entire fate of the program based on every game. This isn’t football. One game doesn’t exactly determine anything in football.

But the road will be tougher. Every team they play in Stillwater got to that point by being a pretty good team.

“You never know how it’s going to go,” Van Horn said.

Which, of course, is the beauty of the postseason in baseball and how teams that get hot and figure it all out at the end can sometimes cause big problems.

Can the Hogs be that team this year?

Advertisement

2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
Sat, Nov 2vs Ole MissL, 63-31
Sat, Nov 16vs Texas11:00 AM
ABC
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana Tech3:00 PM
ESPN+/SECN+
Sat, Nov 30@ Missouri2:30 or 3:30 PM
TBA
Advertisement

Advertisement

2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (25)10-02681
2.Greenwood (2)10-02343
30Conway9-12022
4.Little Rock Parkview9-11714
5.Bentonville7-31625
6.Benton9-11486
7.Fayetteville8-21117
8.Pulaski Academy8-2898
9.Rogers7-3439
10.Joe T. Robinson9-122
Others receiving votes: Valley View 8, Mountain Home 7, Cabot 6, Little Rock Catholic 6, Shiloh Christian 6, Elkins 1, Farmington 1.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (27)10-01351
2.Conway9-11022
3.Bentonville7-3813
4.Fayetteville8-2454
5.Pulaski Academy8-2395
Others receiving votes: Rogers 3.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (27)10-01351
2.Benton9-11082
3.Mountain Home8-2623
4.Shiloh Christian7-3494
5.Little Rock Catholic9-1345
Others receiving votes: Marion 6.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (27)9-11351
2.Joe T. Robinson9-11062
3.Valley View10-0793
4.Farmington9-1484
5.Hot Springs Lakeside8-2205
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 7, Harding Academy 7, Morrilton 3.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (20)10-01261
3.Arkadelphia (5)8-2913
2.Little Rock Mills (1)10-0682
4.Warren8-2554
5.Dardanell (1)9-123
Southside Batesville10-023
Others receiving votes: Malvern 12, Gravette 5, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
1.Bismarck (12)10-01051t
2.Fordyce (10)10-0961t
3.Prescott (1)9-1704
4.Osceola (2)8-1543
5.Booneville (1)9-1395
Others receiving votes: Mansfield (1) 23, Rivercrest 10, Rison 4, Salem 4.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (20)10-01271
2.Conway Christian (7)10-01152
3.Des Arc8-2595
4.East Poinsett Co.7-352
5.Bigelow6-4183
Murfreesboro7-3184
Others receiving votes: Mount Ida 6, Junction City 4, Cross County 3, Poyen 3.
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (27)5-0811
2.Midland9-0532
3.Cedar Ridge8-1253
Others receiving votes: Woodlawn 3.

© COPYRIGHT 2017-24 BY PEARSON BROADCASTING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.