HawgBeat - Van Horn's big weekend features series win, 3 new grandchildren
Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn had a big weekend that featured a series win and new triplet grandchildren.
arkansas.rivals.com
It would be an understatement to say it was a busy weekend for Arkansas baseball head coach Dave Van Horn, who saw his team pick up a series win over the No. 23 Auburn Tigers while also managing to be there to help welcome triplet grandchildren into the world.
The Head Hog made three flights in three days, coached two games Thursday and Saturday, plus he watched Friday's victory on whatever screen was nearby while with family, Van Horn said Saturday.
While the team arrived in Auburn, Alabama, on Wednesday evening, Van Horn stayed back with his family and daughter, Hollan, until he flew out to Auburn on Thursday.
"My daughter Hollan really wanted me to go," Van Horn said after the 1-0 win Thursday. "She kept saying, ‘You need to go.’ Even if (she) has the babies, I’m not going to be able to see them anyway. No one’s really going to see them. She can see them, but they’ll just be in NICU for a while. Really, there’s not a plan in place at the moment. (Laughs) We’ll just see what happens and go from there."
Just under two hours before first pitch Friday, the Arkansas baseball team released a statement that Van Horn would not be with the team as he attended to a personal matter, which featured a flight back to Northwest Arkansas.
"Yeah, I got a text at 7:02 that said 'Babies are coming in an hour,'" Van Horn said on the SEC Network+ broadcast. "I'm like 'Oh my goodness. It's supposed to be a couple days down the road at a minimum.' So, very fortunate to have a friend here that helped me out and flew me home and I got to be there when we got to see them last night."
Pitching coach Matt Hobbs filled in as acting head coach during the emotional 6-5 win over the Tigers that featured a go-ahead 400-plus foot solo homer from freshman Ryder Helfrick.
"It’s obviously tough for the team just because (Van Horn's) such a fixture in the dugout and the guys look to him when things are going a little haywire like they were early," Hobbs said postgame Friday. "He’s kind of a calming force in there all the time. It seem like every button the guy presses usually works out in our favor. So it’s never easy when he’s not there."
Hobbs seemed to press all the right buttons himself to help the Hogs extend their winning streak to 15 straight games, and more good news came shortly after the game in the form of a tweet from Van Horn.
"I felt like I needed to get something out because a lot of people commented," Van Horn said Saturday about his tweet. "A lot of people were wondering and didn’t know what was going on, which I really, really appreciate that. I just wanted to make a little comment there. I’m going let my daughter and her husband have it from here. But I told them I was going to do that. Just put that out and let everyone know that they arrive and there we are all super, super excited about it.”
The Razorbacks' skipper made his way back to Auburn on Saturday and made it clear that he wouldn't trade Friday's experience for anything.
"Just so glad I could be there," Van Horn said on pregame radio Saturday. "Last night, we got to go look at them. And my daughter's first time to see them, I was in there, so I got to really watch her. It was a special moment that I wouldn't trade for anything."
Van Horn spoke to the team at the busses prior to Saturday's game and said he was walking down halls watching Friday evening's game on his phone, and his youngest daughter, Mariel, also helped with pulling it up on a TV screen using an Amazon Fire Stick.
"Finished (watching) out at my house," Van Horn told his team. "My wife is super superstitious. When we got home it was probably 9 o'clock, so what was that, the 8th inning? Fireworks were getting ready to happen and she didn't move. She does not move, so I did the same. (I was) trying to get some stuff ready to come back. I was coming back no matter what. So that was kind of fun."
Despite the 8-6 loss to the Tigers on Saturday — the first SEC loss of the season and first loss since Feb. 24 — Van Horn still had high spirits postgame.
"It was a great weekend," Van Horn said. "When you step back and take a look at it, it was easy for me. My daughter had to carry three babies in her for a long time, and it’s not fun I’m sure.
"I’m really proud of her. It was just back and forth on the plane a few times. It was all worth it, though, and I feel great. I’m glad they’re here, glad they’re being taken care of and I’m looking forward to watching them grow up."
Up next, the Razorbacks will host in-state foe Little Rock on Tuesday evening at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
