Arkansas baseball head coach Dave Van Horn is no stranger to Omaha. He's been in the College World Series a total of eight times as the Razorbacks' head coach, but there's just one thing missing — a National Championship.
He's gotten close. No one wants to remember how the 2018 National Title ended, but he's been on the cusp of greatness before. Now, his players want to finish that job.
"It would mean the world to him and it would mean the world to us to be the first team to get it done for him," Arkansas ace Zach Root told reporters Thursday. "He's one of the best coaches in the business. It shows. Everyone respects him and everyone thinks of him as one of the best. There's just one last thing that's missing from his trophy case, and we're going to go get it for him."
Root was joined at the podium with second baseman Cam Kozeal, who said he "couldn't have said it any better. Let's get the job done."
Van Horn said throughout the season, it feels like his players have been on a mission to play as long as possible.
"These guys, I wouldn't say so much chip-on-their-shoulder-type team but just really determined team to play and not have the season end because they like playing, man," Van Horn said. "They want to play, they want to win. It's been fun."
To get that elusive trophy, though, the Diamond Hogs are going to have to go through the LSU Tigers first. This is the fourth time the two have matched up this season, and the Tigers took two of three down in Baton Rouge.
Arkansas will trot out lefty ace Zach Root to start the game. In the first matchup, he threw six innings of five-hit ball and allowed two runs with six strikeouts. He's only gotten better in recent weeks — save for a rough first inning against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament that mostly wasn't his fault.
Root said the key for Saturday night is just to keep on doing what he's been doing. In his last outing against Tennessee in the Super Regionals, he went seven innings with two runs and six strikeouts.
"Just keep the train rolling," Root said. "I want to go out there, set the tone for however long we're here and just put my team in a good chance to win."
Both Arkansas and LSU fans travel well to Omaha, and Van Horn said he's expecting a raucous environment.
"I don't know how there's going to be enough seats here on Saturday in order to get them all in here," Van Horn said. "There's going to be a lot of red here and a lot of purple. I hope it stays calm in the stands a little bit because it could get crazy."
Arkansas and LSU will begin at 6 p.m. CT from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. The game will air live on ESPN.
