“In baseball, if you have hitters who can go long, you go long,” said legendary head coach Skip Bertman, who led the LSU Tigers to an astonishing five College World Series titles from 1991-2000.
This season, the top-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks have taken those simple but wise words to heart by co-opting the mantra of “gorilla ball” – a term that Bertman coined during his time at Baton Rouge.
The slogan originated with the description of the Tigers’ prolific power hitting during the aluminum bat era of college baseball, the same time that LSU led the nation in home runs for three straight years under Bertman and broke the NCAA record with 188 home runs during its 1997 title-winning team.
Arkansas gave LSU a taste of its own medicine this past weekend, as it used some momentum-swinging home runs and gorilla-themed dugout celebrations to power the Hogs past the No. 8 Tigers and secure a series sweep at Baum-Walker Stadium.
In two of the three games, Arkansas delivered the decisive blow with a late-inning, multi-run long ball that sent the Razorback faithful into delirium. It was Kendall Diggs’ three-run blast in the 8th inning that stretched Arkansas’ lead to 7-3 and secured the series opener for the Hogs.
The gorilla magic was repeated on Saturday, as Louisiana native Peyton Stovall sent a two-run bomb just over the right field wall to put the nail in the coffin on his home-state school.
Stovall hit 7-for-13 over the weekend with five RBIs, two doubles and multiple hits in all three games. The junior, who was not even offered a scholarship by the Tigers despite being a high-level prospect, said that he definitely had some extra motivation going into the matchup.
“This is always a big series for me,” Stovall said. “Third year, just kind of play with a chip on my shoulder. Definitely growing up and kind of watching them and stuff it was extra sweet this weekend to be able to go out there and for us to sweep.”
Wehiwa Aloy and Jack Wagner also got in on the home run festivities by sending souvenir balls into the Hog Pen. Wagner tied the game up at 2-2 in the series opener with a 364-foot homer in the fourth inning. Aloy, who is tied with Diggs for the team lead in home runs at six, sent a 112 mile-per-hour rocket well over the left field wall to start Arkansas off right in game three.
Gorrila Ball - Arkansas Style
A couple of weeks ago, Stovall broke down the origins of the primate that's taking the college baseball world by storm.
“The Sunday game against McNeese, Coach Wernes was like ‘let’s play big, let’s play gorilla ball," Stovall said. "Hit doubles, hit home runs, hard contact’. Then Coach Thompson mentioned something about getting a gorilla type-something after the game and be kind of the MVP of the game for the hitters.”
“And then the person who got it before would give it to the person who got it that game. And then I was right about to go to sleep one night and was like, what if we get a gorilla mask? That’d be pretty cool.”
The gorilla action figure, now adorned with wristbands and an Arkansas-branded headband, has become a rallying cry for the Diamond Hogs’ surge up to this point. They boast a 23-3 record – good for a unanimous number-one ranking in all five major polls – and their 8-1 start to SEC play has them at the top of the conference standings.
Arkansas’ power numbers have also seen a boost since the introduction of the gorilla. In the first 14 games of the season, the Razorbacks hit 15 home runs. In the 12 games since the primate idea was posed by the coaching staff, Arkansas has blasted a remarkable 22 home runs. That’s a jump from 1.07 to 1.83 homers per game, despite facing tougher opposition in the latter stretch of games.
Perhaps the opportunity to don the fabled gorilla mask has served as good motivation for the Hogs to keep launching baseballs over the outfield wall. Head coach Dave Van Horn — usually pretty reserved and old-school in his style — said he’s embracing the ongoing bit to a certain extent.
“I’m good with it,” Van Horn said. “I told them they can do whatever they want as long as it stays in the dugout. It’s a team thing. It’s not all about hitting home runs, but that’s when they celebrate. It’s just about the team and the camaraderie and having some fun more than anything. Showing a little personality.”
“If we’re fortunate enough to hit a home run, anything that we do to celebrate is about our team. We’re not pointing at the other team or trying to stir things up. We’re just trying to have a little bit of fun in our dugout.”
Van Horn was then asked if he had ever worn the mask himself.
“Not when anyone else can see me,” the Head Hog replied with a smile.
