Razorbacks to take on Longhorns in a rematch.
FAYETTEVILLE - If things stayed the same from their March meetings at Baum Stadium, then the Arkansas Razorbacks would be heavy favorites in today’s rematch with the Texas Longhorns.
But obviously the stakes, venue and time of year has changed drastically from those 13-4 and 7-5 Arkansas victories at Baum to Sunday’s 1 p.m. (CDT) first round game of the double-elimination phase of the College World Series on ESPN at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. where Coach Dave Van Horn’s SEC West co-champion and Fayetteville Regional and Fayetteville Super Regional champion host Razorbacks, 44-19, and Big 12 champion and Austin Regional and Austin Super Regional host champion Longhorns, 42-21 are bracketed with Sunday night opponents Florida, 47-19, the SEC champion and reigning national champion and Texas Tech, 44-18 and third in the Big 12.
The other bracket, with the bracket winners eventually meeting 2 of 3 for the national championship, opens Saturday afternoon with Oregon State of the Pac 12 vs. North Carolina of the ACC and Mississippi State of the SEC and the Washington Huskies of the Pac 12 playing Saturday night.
Other than North Carolina, Oregon State and Washington, Arkansas has played all its potential opponents among the CWS’ elite eight having beaten Texas twice in two tries at Fayetteville, beating Texas Tech with the other of a 2-game set rained out in Fayetteville, losing 2 of 3 to Florida in Gainesville, Fla. and falling three times in three games with Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss.
Van Horn obviously can firsthand assess all the teams in Arkansas’ bracket and Mississippi State in the opposite bracket but mainly limited Thursday’s conversation to Texas since second-year Coach David Pierce’s Longhorns loom first.
Pay no attention to that then 9-9 version of the Longhorns the Razorbacks met in March.
“I think they’re a lot better,” Van Horn said. “I think we’re better. … We caught them right after they’d just played Stanford four games and I think they won the first game of that series and then lost three straight. They were a little upset. I think we caught them in one of those weeks or two that just about every program has where things aren’t going your way and you just lose some games. We had that week and weekend. Just from watching them, they’re a lot more confident. What they did there at the end of conference play and got on a roll and won the conference championship was big for them. That’s carried over into postseason.”
Texas rolled 10-0, 8-3 and 3-2 in the Austin Regional over Texas Southern, Texas A&M and Indiana then recovered from a 5-4 loss to Oxford (Miss.) Regional winner Tennessee Tech to beat Tennessee Tech, 4-2 and 5-2 in the Austin Super Regional.
Arkansas advanced to Omaha via Baum beating Oral Roberts and Southern Miss both 9-3, and Dallas Baptist, 4-3 in the Fayetteville Regional then splitting two, a 9-3 and 8-5 loss, to SEC rival
South Carolina in the Fayetteville Super Regional before arriving at Omaha via trouncing South Carolina, 14-4 in the Super Regional championship game.
Arkansas All-American/All-SEC 12-0 right-hander and third round Baltimore Orioles draft choice Blaine Knight of Bryant, starts for Arkansas tonight against, Van Horn surmised but guessing Thursday, Texas junior right-hander Nolan Kingham, 8-4.
“They haven't announced him yet really,” Van Horn said Thursday shortly before the Hogs caught a plane to Omaha. “We kind of heard that's who they're going with. We've seen all the numbers on him and his velocity. We've got a scouting report on him. I've seen him pitch a little bit. As far as we know they're going to throw him. Wouldn't surprise me if they change their mind. Whoever we get, we'll just prepare the best we can for them and try to get them.”
Kingham or whoever must contend
with an Arkansas lineup that has slugged 91 home runs and whose top four hitters Casey Martin, senior second baseman Carson Shaddy freshman left fielder Heston Kjerstad, freshmen hitting and junior right fielder Eric Cole, hit .344, .341 and .340, and .329.
Arkansas appears to wield too strong top to bottom one-through nine lineup for Kingham to keep the Hogs off balance a complete game, but Knight must pitch around a potential 1-man wrecking crew, Texas second baseman Kody Clemens, the son of former Texas and Major league pitching great Roger Clemens. Clemens ht five home runs during regionals and super regionals, .356, 24 home runs and 72 RBI.
“First off, he doesn’t get cheated,” Van Horn said. “When he sees a pitch he likes, he lets it go, and he hasn’t been missing it. He’s in a groove right now. I think he’s really learned how to work the counts and look for a pitch, and if he doesn’t get it, he takes it. Especially early in the count. I think when you’re going as good as he is, when he gets something in his zone he’s just hammering it.”