Van Horn: Hogs have ways to go
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas baseball Coach Dave Van Horn offered what amounted to a midseason analysis of his club in his Monday appearance at the Swatter’s Club at the Guest House International Hotel, and he took a straightforward approach as usual.
“We’re not nearly playing our best baseball,” Van Horn said, even after the Razorbacks finished a series victory over Mississippi State that gave Arkansas 14 victories in its past 17 games.
The Razorbacks (21-8, 6-3 SEC) moved up one spot to No. 11 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and one spot to No. 14 in the Baseball America poll Monday. Their highest ranking this week is No. 9 in the National College Baseball Writers Association poll.
Arkansas has no midweek game this week and will start its conference series Thursday at Alabama to accommodate a 7 p.m. broadcast on ESPNU.
Arkansas and Mississippi State scored nine runs each in their three-game series at Baum Stadium over the weekend, but the Razorbacks prevailed with a 3-1 victory over the No. 15 Bulldogs in the Sunday’s tiebreaker.
“Mississippi State is one of the best teams in the country, I’ll tell you that,” Van Horn said. “Why didn’t they look like one? Our pitching staff held them down.
“I think we did get their best shot, but we handled it. … Bottom line, our pitching was great.”
The Razorbacks rank No. 1 nationally with a 1.68 staff ERA.
Arkansas’ offense has not been as consistent.
The top of the order — Brian Anderson (.337), Tyler Spoon (.325), Matt Vinson (.320) and leadoff man Jacob Mahan (.319) — continues to maintain solid batting averages, but the Nos. 6-9 hitters have not been producing with consistency.
“I guess the way I look at it, they pretty much have nowhere to go but up,” Van Horn said. “They’re frustrated, like I said. And they’re working hard and they really want to help and they want to contribute.
“And it’s not always about batting average. It’s about atbats. Are you having a good at-bat? Are you a tough out? Are you advancing runners? Are you driving a runner in from third with one out by getting yourself out?”
Spoon, a freshman outfielder from Van Buren, was named the SEC freshman of the week after hitting .316 with 2 RBI and 3 runs against the Bulldogs.
Van Horn also made a couple of light-hearted comments about fundraising for a new indoor facility that is projected to accommodate baseball and track and field workouts.
“Our focus is to have a good practice today [Monday] at 4:30 in the rain,” he said, cracking a grin. “It’s not going to happen.”
He also gigged his team’s struggling defense, which ranks last in SEC with a .961 fielding percentage.
“Now to the strong part of our team — defense,” Van Horn said, giving club members a rundown of the season. “Bottom line, if we had that indoor facility we’d get more practice in.”