HawgBeat - What Dave Van Horn said after Arkansas' loss to South Carolina
What Arkansas' Dave Van Horn had to say about Wednesday's loss to South Carolina at the SEC Tournament.
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HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said his team had a game of missed opportunities Wednesday in a 6-5 loss to South Carolina at the SEC Tournament.
The Razorbacks had more hits, less runners left on base and more strikeouts, yet they were unable to overcome the 10-seed Gamecocks at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama.
South Carolina's Cole Messina drove in five of his team's six runs via three hits, including a pair of two-run homers. The Gamecocks also added solid relief outings from Ty Good and Garrett Gainey in order to overcome the 2-seeded Razorbacks and advance to the winners' bracket in Hoover.
Arkansas second baseman Peyton Stovall led the Hogs with three hits, while Ben McLaughlin added a pair of knocks and two RBIs. The Razorbacks threw five different pitchers Wednesday, none of which threw more than 42 pitches. The duo of Jake Faherty and Christian Foutch combined for 3.2 innings over scoreless ball with six strikeouts.
Here's a box score, plus what Van Horn had to say about his team's loss, which set Arkansas back to a Thursday losers' bracket matchup with 3-seed Kentucky at 9:30 a.m. CT on SEC Network.
Box Score
Opening statement
"Just on our side, just kind of a game of maybe missed opportunities," Van Horn said. "We had a couple of chances to blow it open. Instead of a two-run inning, maybe three or four, one hit away. That was disappointing. Give them credit for pitching out of a couple of jams.
"On the other side, as far as our pitching, we hit a guy, hit a two-run homer; hit a guy, hit a two-run homer. First inning, two quick outs and two walks, base hit, he's behind in the count, throws a fastball; 2-0, base hit, they score a run. Free passes are -- at this time of year when everybody plays good, they'll come back and get you, and they got us today."
Who will start against Kentucky?
Van Horn kept things short and sweet with his decision to start junior ace Hagen Smith (9-0, 1.52 ERA) on Thursday against Kentucky. The Razorbacks' skipper did not give details on the specific plan or planned pitch count for Smith, who was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year on Monday.
What's different about South Carolina from earlier this season?
Arkansas won two of three games at South Carolina during April to pick up a road series win in Columbia, South Carolina. The Gamecocks evened the season record against the Hogs at 2-2 on Wednesday.
"I don't know if there's a whole lot of difference," Van Horn said. "Baseball, there's a lot of ups and downs. They didn't score a lot of runs that weekend, but we played three games in about 24 hours. It was quick, in and out. Because of the weather that was supposed to come in, we played Friday night and two games on Saturday, and we were out of there.
"I don't probably have a great answer for you. They're talented. They have a good team. The lineup is right, left, right, left. They don't really have too many holes in that lineup. We maneuvered through it pretty good except for one guy, and he killed us."
On South Carolina slugger Cole Messina
A junior catcher out of Summerville, South Carolina, Messina was 3-4 at the plate with five RBIs and two homers Wednesday. He's hit three home runs in two games in Hoover so far.
"He's dangerous," Van Horn said. "When we played them over there earlier in the season, he was the guy that we would not let beat us. As a matter of fact, I know we intentionally walked him in one big situation when the game was on the line we felt like. But we also had first base open. Might have been runners at second, third, two down, and we went ahead and put him on. Yeah, you know, he made us pay when we made a mistake."
Kendall Diggs had his first hit in three games, thoughts?
While Arkansas junior right fielder Kendall Diggs was just 1-5 at the plate, he did score a run and he also had a few foul balls that were near-hits. It was a positive development for Diggs, who has been struggled through injuries most of the year.
"I thought he had a good day," Van Horn said. "They had him play up the middle a couple times. He hit a couple balls there, got that big two-strike hit in the inning we almost got after it a little bit. We scored a couple, left some out there.
"Took some pitches, laid down a bunt that just barely went foul. I loved seeing that. I feel good about what I saw. Throw the batting average out is what I tell them. Just go out there and from here until the end of the season, just be a tough out."
Thoughts on Will Edmunson?
Arkansas junior Will Edmunson was able get in Wednesday's game — his fifth game to appear in this month — and he made some solid contact in a pair of at bats, one of which resulted in single.
"The first one he got to a full count, and the pitcher actually was throwing a lot of changeups and curveballs, and he threw him a fastball in," Van Horn said. "Watched the replay, got his hands inside the ball, hit it to right center, obviously it dropped in, got us going that inning. His last at-bat he got behind in the count and he was just a little bit out front on a breaking ball, hit it off the end of the bat. But I felt like he was on it, so that was good to see."
