Arkansas Baseball earns the number 1 spot in National Rankings

By: Randall Slifer

Arkansas Razorbacks just earned the number one spot in the College Baseball National Rankings. We just finished up a sweep against Missouri while putting up 51 runs. That is right, 51 runs! Arkansas’ bats are on fire with Left Fielder, Charles Davalan, batting .400 and leading the team with 11 home runs. Arkansas is 5^th in home runs this year with a total of 72 as of today and 3^rd in runs scored. Razorbacks pitching has a solid rotation in Root, Gaeckle, and Beidelschies. We are 10^th in the nation in ERA at 3.53. They have had our shootouts giving up runs but managed to come through with only three losses. The last gaudy stat I will have for you is that Arkansas is also leading the nation in fielding percentage and their defense has been outstanding. There is not much to complain about when it comes to Arkansas Baseball.

Arkansas has had two good series wins against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. It was the first time since 2010 Arkansas beat Vanderbilt in Nashville, and the first time since 1994 to sweep The Commodores at their park. First Baseman, Cam Kozeal transferred from Vanderbilt this year and put up three home runs in the first two games. Our pitching showed out against Vanderbilt leading with Zach Root who did not allow a run in his start that went 100 pitches. Gaeckle has had an up-and-down start to this season including a nine earned run game but came through against Vanderbilt and turned the corner giving up only two runs in his outing. Ole Miss was a tougher battle with losing the first game and needing a late-game comeback in the final game. Arkansas had a three-run lead going into the bottom of the 7^th and eventually lost the lead in the 8^th inning. Arkansas fortunately put on four runs thanks to a three-run shot by Wehiwa Aloy. The Aloy brothers, one as a designated hitter and one at shortstop have been an incredible duo together. Wehiwa is great on the defensive side while both brothers are hitting .375 (Wehiwa .372) with a combined 80 RBIs.

Our toughest battle comes this weekend against number seven-ranked Georgia. Arkansas does have to travel to Georgia and even though the Razorbacks only have three losses this year, they play their best at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Bulldogs are leading the nation with 87 home runs attributed to many batters, especially Robbie Burnett and Ryland Zaborowski. The duo has combined for 29 home runs and 98 RBIs. Georgia scores over 10 runs per game and has firepower down the whole starting lineup. Georgia did get stunted by the impressive Texas pitching and gave up a 4-0 lead in the second game for Texas to take the series before game three. Arkansas’ pitching is not up to par with Texas, but we have the juice to keep it under their 10-run average for at least two of those games. If the Razorbacks can get a solid performance out of Gaeckle in this series, then they have a good chance of making it a little easier on themselves. Gaeckle should pitch game two after Zach Root leads game one who is leading the starting pitchers with a 3.48 ERA and 60 strikeouts. Dave Van Horn will be patient on pulling starting pitchers due to the offensive firepower on each side as I predict both teams will score over 5 runs every game of the series. Georgia’s starting pitchers have been known to let some runs in early, and Arkansas needs to get their bats hot. DJ Radtke is a very good reliever who can freeze bats at times, but if Arkansas can have a lead going into Radtke’s innings, the Razorbacks can maintain a close game or a lead with their defensive efficiency and keep it a stalemate in the middle innings. Arkansas has had late-game heroics in multiple games, so the pressure is something they are familiar with this season. One thing is for certain, Arkansas cannot let Zaborowski and Burnett stay hot throughout all three games, or the best thing to come out of that weekend is the nice weather.

The Razorbacks’ lineup and the way they are playing are exciting for the city of Fayetteville and the state of Arkansas. Dave Van Horn has been an incredible winning coach throughout his 23 years as Arkansas’ head coach, but his impressive accolades do not include a national championship. Dave Van Horn has attributed Arkansas with three SEC titles, four top 5 finishes, and one runner-up finish in the College World Series. If I can take you on a quick trip to 2018 where we were a pop fly in foul territory away from winning the National Championship. A high pop fly that got lost in between three players near the first base line, that ended up hitting the dirt. All Arkansas needed to do was catch that ball to win the championship. Arkansas ended up losing that game in the bottom of the ninth inning setting up for a deciding game-three loss. Almost every Arkansan can remember where they were when that ball hit the dirt. Arkansas loves its baseball and Baum-Walker Stadium is one of the most electric parks in the country. Dave Van Horn knows how to get there; Arkansas just needs to put it all together in the postseason. Is this year their year? The firepower and balanced play lead me to believe we have a legit chance for Dave Van Horn to win his first National Title in his tenure at Arkansas.

I will continue to write about Arkansas Baseball throughout this season and beyond hoping for that National Championship. Reach out to me on Twitter/BlueSky or comment here if you are a college baseball fan. Go ‘Backs!