Arkansas to host S. Carolina in Super Regional
FAYETTEVILLE Beating the South Carolina Gamecocks three of four times this past 2018 SEC season helped Arkansas (42-18) secure its No. 5 national seed and Baum Stadium home berth beating Oral Roberts, Southern Miss and Dallas Baptist in last weekend’s Fayetteville Regional.
And it helped make a difference in the SEC West co-champion Razorbacks hosting at Baum rather than visiting the Gamecocks (36-24) in this Super Regional beginning at 5:30 this evening on ESPN2 and continuing at 2 p.m. Sunday on ESPN and if necessary, 6 p.m. Monday on ESPN.
But while buoyed with the comforts of home, the Razorbacks are uncomfortably aware that if they don’t beat South Carolina twice by Monday night’s end that their season will end, and that the Gamecocks, winners of the Greenville (S.C.) Regional over Ohio State, top-seeded host East Carolina and North Carolina-Wilmington, will advance to play for the national championship at the College World Series in Omaha.
So there seems scant Arkansas public dwelling that after losing to coach Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks 3-2 on April 12 in the only SEC game that Arkansas lost at Baum this season, coach Dave Van Horn’s Razorbacks prevailed 2-0 and 3-0 at Baum, sweeping an April 14 SEC doubleheader before outslugging the Gamecocks 13-8 during last month’s SEC Tournament at a neutral site.
“It’s going to be tough,” Arkansas fifth-year senior second baseman Carson Shaddy said of matching up against South Carolina. “They know us, we know them. There’s no surprises about that. We’ve done well in our series against them, but we know how good of a team they are. They’ve got a lot of really good guys. A lot of guys that were drafted (in this week’s Major League
baseball draft). We’ve going to have a big test this weekend. It’s going to be fun.”
Van Horn stressed how the Gamecocks, 17-13 for third in the SEC East, improved as the year went under first-year coach Kingston.
“They’ve always had great talent there,” Van Horn said. “They had some injuries early, had a coaching change and I think really the second half of the season, you’ve seen more of what they’re all about. They’ve been really good down the stretch and won a lot of series and have made a move. It’s kind of what everybody expected this year from them. It’s going to be a great series. They know us, we know them. We’ve seen their pitching, they’ve seen ours. I could go on and on. It’s just about winning two out of three now, so we’re just going to play.”
In the three games at Baum, Arkansas starter Blaine Knight didn’t win, but obviously didn’t lose either. The Bryant native brings an 11-0 record into Saturday night’s start.
In the final two games, a doubleheader of seven innings each since the schools lost a day to rain, Arkansas winning starters Kacey Murphy and Isaiah Campbell each pitched shutouts.
Murphy threw a one-hitter for six innings, and Campbell had a two-hitter for five.
Lefty reliever Matt Cronin closed both victories, but had not pitched the first game when the bullpen was charged with the loss.
Knight and Murphy both posted eight-inning brilliant starts at the Fayetteville Regional.
Campbell didn’t survive loading the bases on the game’s first three hitters Sunday against Dallas Baptist, but long reliever Jake Reindl won with Cronin closing Sunday.
Van Horn anticipates Campbell coming back strong if needed Monday night.
Arkansas built a 10-1 lead for Murphy against the Gamecocks in the SEC Tournament, but they came back strong, scoring six in the sixth.
The Gamecocks feature four plus .300 hitters: Justin Row (.345), Madison Stokes (.331), LJ Tolbert (.322) and Jonah Bride (.302).
South Carolina second baseman Carlos Cortez has 15 home runs.
Kingston has three solid starting pitchers in Cody Morris (8-3), Logan Chapman (3-3) and Adam Hill (7-5), though Hill comes off a recent back ailment.