By Otis Kirk
FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas is preparing to host the Fayetteville Regional in hopes of beginning its road to Omaha.
Arkansas (41-16) will take on No. 4 seed Santa Clara (35-18) at 2 p.m. Friday in the first game. Friday night at 8 p.m. it will be No. 2 TCU (37-22) against No. 3 Arizona (33-24) televised on ESPNU. Arkansas is coming off a trip to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and also being co-champions of the league. Arkansas finished up the SEC Tournament on Saturday and Dave Van Horn was asked Monday where this team is mentally?
"Well, I’ve only been around them 45 minutes, an hour so far," Van Horn said. "I think that mentally we’re in a good place. We went 3-3 against some really really good teams on the road. We did what we needed to do to get where we are today. I hope they take a little time to sit back and realize what a good season we’ve had and that we’ve put ourselves in position to play here as long as we win. But I think the mood’s good you know? I mean some of our goals at the beginning of the year were obviously to get to this point and have an opportunity and continue to play in a regional and here we are."
The Razorbacks lost two of three to Vanderbilt to close the regular season. They defeated Texas A&M and LSU 5-4 each in the SEC Tournament. On Saturday when the tournament shifted to single elimination the Hogs fell 5-4 to the Aggies, a team they had beaten four times previously. While many positives came out of the close to the regular season, one negative was several key hitters at the top of the order are struggling at the plate.
"Well really it’s more individual," Van Horn said. "They need to mentally clear their head, try not to do too much because I think that’s what’s going on a little bit with some of those guys. They’re swinging a little too hard, a little too aggressively or swinging at pitches they normally don’t swing at and gotten themselves behind in the count.
"Sometimes just a day or two off can help that a lot and then some instruction, but really more just going back to what they normally do and that’s staying within, kind of the pass-the-baton mentality, just do what you can do and let the next guy do what he does. It’s called a team, it’s team offense, and if we do that, we’ll have a good weekend. If we don’t, it’s going be a fight."
Van Horn was more direct on Saturday about some key hitters struggling at this time and the need to get them going.
"I don't know," Van Horn said. "I feel good except we've got to get our offense going. It's the older guys. They've got to do it. If we don't get the offense going, it'll be a quick weekend for us."
Van Horn wasn't ready to name his starting pitcher against Santa Clara. Hunter Hollan or Hagen Smith would seem the choice since Brady Tygart pitched on Saturday. The Hogs will face either TCU or Arizona on Saturday.
"We’ll go look at all that and then just attack it with whoever," Van Horn said. "They’re both outstanding pitchers. Again, it’s not like a righty or lefty situation. They’re both left. We could go Tygart if we felt like it. We’ll figure that out here in the next day or two. I don’t know if we’ll announce that until Thursday. Inside we’ll figure it out."
The winner of the Fayetteville Regional will oppose the winner of the Terre Haute Regional hosted by Indiana State in the super regional.
NCAA Fayetteville Regional
Friday, June 2
Game 1 – Arkansas vs. Santa Clara – 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
Game 2 – TCU vs. Arizona – 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, June 3
Game 3 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 2 p.m.
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 4
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser – 2 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 8 p.m.
Monday, June 5 (If Necessary)
Game 7 – If the Game 5 Winner Wins Game 6 – TBD
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Action Sports
