HawgBeat - Arkansas baseball's plan entering SEC Tournament
Dave Van Horn talked about his team's mindset and plan entering the SEC Baseball Tournament.
arkansas.rivals.com
The No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks enter the SEC Baseball Tournament as a virtual lock to be a top 8 national seed for the NCAA Tournament. With a 39-15 overall record and a 20-10 SEC record that earned them share of the SEC regular season title, the Diamond Hogs are entering the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, with a different approach.
Head coach Dave Van Horn, who was named the 2023 SEC Coach of the Year on Monday, spoke Tuesday about his team's plan entering the week in Hoover.
"Obviously we do want to win," Van Horn said. "I guess the importance would be to continue to get these pitchers some work but not too much work. Keep them sharp. The same with the hitters. They need some live at-bats, especially with a couple of of the guys who have been injured, to get those guys in the lineup and swinging the bat and try to get them right."
For a team like Arkansas, which doesn't have much to play for in the SEC Tournament, the subject of how to approach a week like this is always interesting. For Van Horn's squad this season, it seems like the goal is to just take on the task at hand and play good baseball.
"Well that’s the message to the team," Van Horn said. "Let’s just take care of the game we have in front of us and let’s just play good today and let’s not go backwards. If you lose, you lose. You’re losing to a good team. If you win, you’re beating a good team.
"You just want to play good. If we do that and it doesn’t go good, you can live with that and get back to your home base and rest up and get ready for an exciting weekend."
The question most are probably wondering is what the pitching plan will be for the week. Arkansas is set to play a minimum of two games, as it is the No. 2 seed in the tournament, which means it is automatically in the double elimination portion.
Van Horn said left-hander and ace Hagen Smith, who was named a First Team All-SEC staring pitcher Monday, will start Thursday's game. The Razorback skipper did not reveal a starter for Wednesday's matchup, which will be against the winner of 7-seed Tennessee and 10-seed Texas A&M.
"Today we’re just getting ready to go work out," Van Horn said. "I’ll probably be able to announce that in two to three hours. We’ve just got to double check on a couple of things just as far as making sure everybody’s okay and then we’ll have our pitcher for tomorrow."
Smith will be throwing exactly a week from his last start to stay on schedule, but that isn't necessarily the plan for everyone else.
"Well, not necessarily looking forward to the next weekend because we don’t know who we’re going to play and who we’re going to pitch," Van Horn said. "All of the guys are going to have plenty of rest so we’ll be able to make that decision after the regional…after the selection committee lets us know who we’re going to play.
"But we will go Smith in Game 2 and I’m not sure who…Hopefully we’ll get a chance to play a Game 3 or more so we’ll try to get some guys some work."
If anything, the SEC Tournament will give pitchers — such as Christian Foutch, Ben Bybee and others — who haven't thrown a ton of live innings the ability to get freshened up before the NCAA Tournament. It will also allow hitters to get live at bats, which is needed for names such as Tavian Josenberger and Jared Wegner, both of whom are still trying to build back from injury.
Other players who are filling in for injured guys — Harold Coll at shortstop for John Bolton (ankle) and Peyton Holt at second base for Peyton Stovall (torn labrum) — also could benefit from in-game action.
Arkansas hit the road last Wednesday for Nashville to play Vanderbilt over the weekend and it then got on buses and drove from Nashville straight to Hoover. With all this time away from home, the players have a great opportunity to bond before the postseason.
"I think this team is extremely close, Van Horn said. " mean, we left last Wednesday, practiced in Nashville Wednesday night, so we know we’re going to be here at least through Wednesday and hopefully longer.
"I think it’s good for the guys to be together like this. They don’t have to go to school, worry about school right now. It’s more about just getting healthy and being a good baseball player and being a good teammate. I think it’s going good and I think it is important."
Van Horn also added that there his team's mindset is good right now, but they sure were quiet on the bus ride to Hoover following a series loss to the Commodores.
"It wasn't like we just won a championship," Van Horn said. "They're disappointed that we lost, and we just feel like we let it slip away. They were probably doing a lot of thinking. Maybe it'll help us down the road. The team has still got a little edge, definitely got some edge and attitude."
Arkansas will play the winner of Tennessee and Texas A&M in the second game on Wednesday, which will start approximately 30 minutes after the first, which starts at 9:30 a.m. CT. The matchup will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
