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One win away from getting to Omaha, Hogs staying focused

The Hogs are one win away from going to Omaha again, but Ole Miss has been in this situation, too and won … in Fayetteville just a few months ago.

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Isaiah Campbell saved one of his best pitching performances for his last outing at Baum-Walker Stadium on Saturday.

Getting some solid fielding and big hits helped.

Arkansas bombed Ole Miss in the first game of the super regional, 11-2. Now they find themselves a game away from getting to Omaha.

The last win and last out often are the hardest to get in these baseball series. Dave Van Horn and all the players know it, too.

“We’ve still got unfinished business,” Campbell said after 8.1 innings where he struck out seven while giving up five hits.

It was an emotional outing, probably even for Van Horn, who never shows a lot of that one way or the other. Many of the 11,350 announced crowd (it seemed like more) probably thought when he walked off in the eighth that was it.

He and pitching coach Matt Hobbs were talking about it when Campbell put in his two cents.

“He came running down around the corner and said, ‘I want to finish this up,’ and I said, ‘okay, you can go back out, but you’re going to get one out,’ and he said, ‘okay,'” was how Van Horn described it later.

Things started a little rocky, with Campbell giving up a homer to the Rebels’ second hitter, Grae Kessinger.

Nobody really expected Campbell to be rattled.

“Just because I got one out of the yard wasn’t going to mean he was going to give in,” Kessinger said later.

Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco knew it coming in.

“He is a true ace,” he said.

Sunday, Van Horn is going with freshman Connor Noland, who will be going against the Rebels’ best pitcher by the numbers in Doug Nikhazy.

Van Horn would probably be happy with a repeat of the way everybody played around Campbell.

“We played really good defense and our offense was clicking pretty good,” he said. “We did a nice job of fouling off a lot of pitches with a lot of good two-strike swings. We got pitch counts up on (Will) Ethridge.”

But the recurring theme Van Horn has been preaching comes into play again.

“Just like last week, I told the players after the second win they still hadn’t done anything,” he said. “It’s nice winning games, but I’ve been on both sides of it – coming back and winning them and not finishing them out.

“So same as always. Go home, take a shower, eat, hang out, watch some baseball and get up and do it again.”

The advice would probably hold true for the fans, too, who showed up in force Saturday.

In case you’re wondering, Bianco wasn’t too concerned about his team.

“They get it,” he said. “They realize that it comes down to controlling what you can control. I know it sounds so mundane and coach-speak, but it’s the truth.

“Tomorrow it is about winning the first pitch, winning the first out and moving on.”

Ole Miss probably won’t just show up and yield. In the postgame Saturday, Bianco wasn’t getting drawn into it talking about the series in March where the Rebels won the last two games in Fayetteville to take the series.

But for them, they have to win or their season is over.

For the Hogs?

They know how heavy the weight can get in a must-win game … all the way to the final out.

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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 TexasL, 20-10
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana Tech3:00 PM
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Sat, Nov 30@ Missouri2:30 PM
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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.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.