Arkansas Baseball: Dave Van Horn made the final mistake

By: Randall Slifer

Arkansas Baseball comes to an end after a brutal loss against LSU Wednesday night. Arkansas Baseball played championship-level baseball throughout the entire postseason, only to come up just short by a couple of moments. The moments you may be thinking of may not be the moments I focus on, because Baseball has too many variables to blame the game on the ninth inning. We can talk about the double play, or the knuckleball ripped to left field. What should be discussed is that this team played for each other, and that is how they made it to the final four baseball teams remaining in the country.

Arkansas was far from the best pitching team this year, but the team clicked and pitched elite ball in the postseason. Arkansas gave us the greatest pitching performance ever in the College World Series. Arkansas was statistically the best defensive team in the country in fielding percentage and clutch plays. Arkansas Baseball made defensive mistakes when the game was on the line.

College Baseball is filled with moments like these because kids are playing the game, and human error and tense moments are what make college baseball one of the most exciting collegiate sports to watch. When the game is on the line, you rely on your pitching and hope the fielding is easy. This was Arkansas’ third game in a row, after suffering a loss in the first game of the tournament. Losing the first game in a double-elimination bracket is one of the most challenging holes to climb out of in a postseason tournament setup. The World Cup features group stages, where you play every team and can advance if you finish as the runner-up in your group.

The only time I truly felt Arkansas Baseball was mismatched throughout the whole entire season was during the LSU series. As I discussed before the College World Series began, Kade Anderson pitched the first game of the regular season series. Kade Anderson’s pitching was almost a carbon copy in game one of the College World Series. If he did not strike out an Arkansas batter, he forced ground balls or pop flys. Watching a game like that, you know in the back of your head it doesn’t look good when you’re rooting for a single, like betting $1000 on red 32 in roulette. Game one put LSU into the winner’s bracket to take on UCLA, which was easily less talented than both Arkansas and LSU. LSU was able to take down UCLA and become 2-0 in a double-elimination bracket, the most advantageous position you can be in sports, besides perhaps the NFL’s one-seed. Arkansas and LSU being in the same bracket to start the College World Series turned out to be a travesty, as I believe they were the two best teams in the tournament, and America deserved a proper three-game series in the finals.

Dave Van Horn is now 0-10 in Omaha, which is both impressive and devastating. I feel for Dave Van Horn because he puts together a great team year over year, and he seems to have the mental fortitude to overcome damn nearly anything. Dave Van Horn stated in the post-game press conference, “He now thinks he has seen everything”, and I think he is right. I did not believe Dave Van Horn would suffer anything close to the same heartbreak as the 2018 Arkansas Razorback missed foul pop fly, but this will take second place, with a significant gap among the rest. I believe Dave Van Horn made a crucial mistake in this game, which he only had to address quickly last night, and I don’t think it is receiving enough attention.

I am referring to when Dave Van Horn was asked about pitching to their power hitter, Jared Jones. Jared Jones hit the game-tying home run in the eighth inning on a low fastball to right center field. He was one of the hottest hitters in the tournament, and he was red hot in that game. The game was tied 5-5, and there was a guy in scoring position on second base with no one on first base. Being the bottom of the ninth, the next run ended the game, and walking Jones would have avoided his bat, along with other positive aspects. Arkansas would have now had a force out at 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd, and Jimenez would have been able to relax knowing it wasn’t do or die against someone who can hit a baseball anywhere, like Jones, who wants to hit it. It almost seemed like everything was lost, even though the game was still tied 5-5 and Arkansas could have taken LSU into extras. If Arkansas were able to make it to the 10^th inning by walking Jones and getting out the next batter, Arkansas would have had better hitters coming into extra innings.

Arkansas would have had their 3, 4, and 5 batters up while LSU would have had their 7, 8, and 9 batters up in the 10^th inning. Pitching was scarce, tensions were high, and there was plenty of evidence that hitting was going to roll into extra innings. Eight runs were scored in the final two innings, compared to three runs total in the first seven innings. Dave Van Horn said they didn’t think about it because the pitching was right-handed against a right-handed batter, so Arkansas had the advantage. The issue that I have with that remark is that Dave Van Horn knows how many elements it takes to win a baseball game. That could not have been the reason for the final decision. I think there was a lapse in judgment because of how much turmoil there had been in the final two innings, and that is what ultimately cost Arkansas Baseball another shot at LSU on Thursday.

This is not to say that Dave Van Horn should be fired because every player talks so highly of him; he is a pivotal piece to the Arkansas Baseball program. I believe that Dave Van Horn should make a strong push into 2026 and 2027 to secure a championship, as I am unsure how much time Arkansas will give him. Sustained success is excellent, but the program attracts the best talent and boasts one of the best facilities and resources to achieve a championship. If Dave Van Horn does not win a championship in the next two years, will he ever win one? I completely understand the majority of Arkansans who want a new coach for the upcoming season.

There is a fine line of understanding that if you keep kicking at the door, sooner or later the door is going to bust down, and understanding that sometimes certain stories don’t get the happy ending that everyone hopes for. Dave Van Horn deserves a national championship. Sports are built on fans and the money they spend to see their teams play. Arkansas deserves a championship. Give Dave Van Horn a couple more years. If the seasons are apparent failures, then move on and consider finding a role within the program to keep him around while a new coach takes over. At the end of the Super Regionals, it certainly seemed that Tony Vitello would take the head coaching position at Arkansas if it were to open up. Anyone who wins the first national championship for Arkansas Baseball will live in Infamy in the State of Arkansas.