Van Horn: 'Maybe we were running out of gas'
After a season filled with adversity for head coach Dave Van Horn and Arkansas, the Razorbacks were unable to overcome the buzzsaw that TCU currently is and they fell to the Horned Frogs in the Fayetteville Regional final on Monday.
Before the season even started, the Diamond Hogs were at a disadvantage as projected ace Jaxon Wiggins suffered a torn UCL that held him out all year. That injury was just the start of what became an unfortunate trend for the Razorbacks.
While injuries weren't an excuse for being outscored 32-9 by TCU across two games, they definitely played a factor for Arkansas, which was without three significant pitchers and its starting second baseman and backup second baseman.
"We’ve been battling this all year," Van Horn said after Monday's 12-4 loss to the Horned Frogs. "We knew everything had to be just right for us to get through a regional. We felt like we had a better chance to win a super regional than a regional because of our injuries and lack of pitching depth and experience.
"We were either going to really have to hit or our starters were going to have to give us a lot of innings, and unfortunately the teams we played didn’t give us that opportunity."
Arkansas won a share of the SEC regular season championship and it also won the Western Division outright. Even with all of the season-ending injuries — plus a few along the way to guys like Brady Tygart, Jared Wegner and Tavian Josenberger — the Razorbacks continued to win games during a grueling SEC schedule.
Razorback fans might've been scratching their heads watching their team lose in such a fashion as it did to TCU over the weekend. Van Horn credited the Horned Frogs for just being a good baseball team, but he also mentioned that his guys might've just been tired.
"You just don’t know what you’re going to run into and how the ball’s going to bounce, and where everybody’s mind is at," Van Horn said. "Sometimes it’s easier on the road because people aren’t expecting you to win. Sometimes you’re expected to win. You get a little tight. That’s not what happened to us here. We got beat by a really, really good team and maybe we were running out of gas."
While the College World Series is the ultimate goal, perspective matters. Arkansas returned just two starters from last year's team, which made it to Omaha and was the third team left standing in all of college baseball.
Van Horn and his staff had an uphill battle to rebuild a roster and they successfully completed that task. Falling in their own Fayetteville Regional is obviously a disappointment, but it's an easier pill to swallow when you know your guys left it all out on the field.
"I feel like they gave us everything they had and we were in the game for about five, six innings," Van Horn said of his team's effort Monday. "Proud of just the whole season. Winning the Western Division, beating out LSU and A&M and some of these guys that have all these players this year.
"I’m just so proud of our players. Tying Florida for the overall SEC championship. We’ve only got three of those in my 21 years. Those trophies are hard to get, so I’m super proud of the guys. What we had in that locker room that’s not on the DL all year, I think that we did all we could do, honestly."
Throughout the season, Van Horn made it a point of emphasis to mention that his team wasn't the shiniest, nor did it have the accolades of a ton of All-SEC players. What this Arkansas team did have was a brotherhood and a willingness to fight for each other to win ballgames.
"This is by far my favorite baseball season of my entire life I've ever played," outfielder Jace Bohrofen said. "This group of guys was special, coming from all over the place. You know, you've got guys who really have never won in their college career, and them just coming here and getting to win is super special.
"It's hard not to get emotional about it because I love every one of them. Them showing up and coming to work every day, really trying to work to that one common goal, it was special. I just love them so much."
The 2023 Arkansas team might be remembered as a squad that fell short and underachieved right now, but looking back on it a few years from now might produce a different opinion.
"Well, I don’t like to use the term ‘overachievers’ or any of that because I think they’re good players, but this is a team — and I’ve said it many times — they show up and they think they’re going to win," Van Horn said. "They showed up and played hard for us all the time. I really can’t remember having to really talk to the team about what we’re seeing isn’t a good enough effort, you’re not playing hard. Never really saw that from this team.
"Just find a way to win. They would find a way to win and they were fun to be around, honestly. And I’ll talk to them about that in our meeting when we finish up in a day and a half or so."
Van Horn and his staff will now turn their attention to rebuilding the roster, as they are set to lose a lot of talent once again. HawgBeat will have the latest intel and updates on how Arkansas baseball's roster is shaping up, so make sure to subscribe and tune into The Trough premium message board.