One of the strangest pieces of information from Dave Van Horn’s tenure as coach at Arkansas is that the Razorbacks have more appearances in the College World Series than in the SEC Championship.
That’s a testament to two things: how great Van Horn has been as Diamond Hogs head man and how insanely deep the SEC is in baseball.
Arkansas will rediscover that Wednesday afternoon. The No. 2-seeded Razorbacks will play No. 10 South Carolina in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament at 1 p.m. South Carolina beat No. 7 Alabama on Tuesday in a single-elimination round to get to that point, while the Razorbacks drew a bye.
The Diamond Hogs took two of three games against USC during the regular season just about a month ago, winning the opener and then the second of a doubleheader the next day. Van Horn used ace Hagen Smith, who was recently announced as a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, in the opener.
Smith is out this time, as Van Horn will need him to fight off elimination or clinch a spot in the final. Instead, Ben Bybee will get the nod. Bybee carried a 6.00 earned-run average in nine games, six starts, this year and opponents are batting .274 against him.
All he needs to do is hold the fort, though, as Arkansas’ spot in the NCAA Tournament is guaranteed. A good showing against South Carolina, and the rest of the SEC, this week, however, could lock the Diamond Hogs into a top-eight seed.
Here we go.
- Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
- Time: 1 p.m. (CT)
- Network: SEC Network
- Streaming: fuboTV (watch here)
Cole Messina – .320 AVG, .451 OBP, .675 SLG, 17 HR, 56 RBI, 19 2B
Ethan Petry – .306 AVG, .473 OBP, .658 SLG, 21 HR, 52 RBI
Blake Jackson – .292 AVG, .444 OBP, .485 SLG, 9 2B, 35 R
Peyton Stovall – .339 AVG, .404 OBP, .548 SLG, 9 HR, 37 RBI
Peyton Holt – .311 AVG, .410 OBP, .432 SLG, 6 XBH
Ben McLaughlin – .301 AVG, .452 OBP, .470 SLG, 7 HR, 34 RBI
The Knoxville News-Sentinel
- 7th season at South Carolina, 15th overall
- Five NCAA Tournament appearances (3 with South Carolina)
- Two Super Regional appearances (both with South Carolina)
Jun 22, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Dave Van Horn walks off the field after defeating the Ole Miss Rebels at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
- 22nd season at Arkansas
- 20 NCAA…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Arkansas baseball | Razorbacks Wire…