OMAHA, Neb. — Once written off for dead, Arkansas is back in the College World Series for the third time in four tries.
The Razorbacks spent much of the season ranked in the top 10, but lost their final two regular-season series and laid an egg at the SEC Tournament. The 2-6 finish cost them an SEC West title and the right to play postseason baseball at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Optimism amongst the fans dwindled, with the losses confirming the concerns of some and casting doubt into the minds of others. The team, however, never wavered and righted the ship.
Arkansas knocked off a pair of top-10 teams on the road to punch its ticket back to Omaha, winning the Stillwater Regional and Chapel Hill Super Regional.
“We had a good team all year, but we weren't lights out,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “We didn't get beat by very many, didn't beat you by very many. We just won enough. Got a little tired in May.
“Our arms got tired and we lost some games down the stretch, but I just think the team had a burning desire to win. And after a lot of conversations and talks, really, the last few weeks, I think some guys, they came to realize that this may be their last shot to play with this group and, man, they've pulled together.”
It did require the winner-take-all game, but — after beating Grand Canyon in their opening game — the Razorbacks won two of three games against No. 7 Oklahoma State in a wild, high-scoring regional. They followed it up with a sweep of No. 10 North Carolina, edging the Tar Heels in back-to-back tight games dominated by pitching.
At least for six games over a two-week span, Arkansas looked like the team that was ranked as high as No. 2 by some polls both preseason and during the year.
“We were saying all fall how good we thought this team was going to be and I think we're starting to live up to that expectation a little bit,” catcher Michael Turner said. “I think these past two or three weeks have been a good clicking time period for the team. I feel we're clicking on all cylinders. It's a good time to do that.”
That begs the question: How?
It wasn’t as simple as the Razorbacks just flipping a switch. Pretty much every player who’s seen the field has contributed along the way, with most of them being the same guys who played throughout the season.
Who deserves a good chunk of the credit is the man pulling the strings from the top step of the dugout. Van Horn has made all the right moves and seemingly shocked his team back to life.
Now in his 20th season at the helm of his alma mater and 34th overall as a collegiate head coach, he’s tried everything this postseason — from completely shuffling his lineup to shifting roles on his pitching staff — and it’s all turned to gold.
“I don't think I've really done this before,” Van Horn said. “I mean, you guys, you see every game we play. We had to do something, we had to make a change. I'm sure if it wouldn't have worked, at least we said we tried. I'd hate to look back and say we should have done this or done that.”
For the first 13 weeks of the season, Van Horn didn’t change his weekend rotation. It was incredible consistency for an area with serious question marks entering the year, especially after the loss of projected ace Peyton Pallette to Tommy John surgery.
He slightly tweaked things in the Alabama series and in Hoover, but roles went out the window in the NCAA Tournament. Beyond Connor Noland, who maintained the top spot in the rotation, innings were up for grabs with “all hands on deck,” Van Horn said.
Hagen Smith and Jaxon Wiggins started in Stillwater, but had quick hooks. Zack Morris was used in long relief and as a starter. Smith shifted into a closer role. Will McEntire seemingly asserted himself as the No. 2 starter after emerging late in the season as a midweek starter.
“All those guys, they just want to pitch, and they don't care if they start or not,” Van Horn said. “Honestly, we didn't know who we were going to throw in game two in North Carolina until the morning of the game and we changed our mind twice the night before.”
Offensively, the Razorbacks used the same nine guys who started most of the year, but nearly all of them found themselves in a new spot in the order.
Braydon Webb moved into the leadoff spot in the final SEC Tournament game and has hit safely in each game while working the count like a true leadoff man — a stark contrast to his brief two-game stint in that role earlier in the season.
Cayden Wallace slid down to the 3-hole in Stillwater and proceeded to rack up eight RBIs in the first three games of the NCAA Tournament. Batting cleanup, Turner notched 11 RBIs in the regional.
Pretty much the only player who remained in his usual spot in the lineup was Zack Gregory in the 9-hole and Van Horn has stuck with it, using the exact same order for all six NCAA Tournament games. It’s the first time all year that he’s used the same lineup for that many games in a row.
“What I appreciate is the way that all the pitchers and the players have accepted it and said, yeah, we need to try this,” Van Horn said. “And we tried it, it worked. Did it again, it worked. Flipped another guy in there and we started winning again.”
The result was an offensive explosion in Stillwater followed by a well-pitched pair of games in Chapel Hill, helping the Razorbacks reach the College World Series for the 11th time in school history and seventh time under Van Horn.
“We don't talk about it too much, about coming here — it’s just an expectation,” Wallace said. “Being recruited here, you know this is the goal. You have a chance to come here every year. It's kind of like when you step on campus, you know that's what you're going to do.”
Last year’s team, despite being ranked No. 1 most of the season and earning the top overall seed, fell short of that goal.
After what Van Horn described as a “perfect season,” Arkansas was eliminated by North Carolina State on its home field — which proved to be a motivating factor for the returning players on that team.
“To lose those last two games by one run both days, it was tough, so it made this year, it was special, because (we were) kind of hurt from last year, honestly,” Van Horn said. “This group is special because they didn't want to be known as the team after the team that didn't do a whole lot and faded at the end of the year.”
For a while, though, it seemed like that would happen. However, with their backs against the wall, Van Horn made the necessary moves and the players delivered.
“I think I knew we were tough the whole year,” Noland said. “Just sometimes you have to wait for an opportunity to prove it, and I think that the last two weeks have given us an opportunity to prove it. … We're playing a brand of baseball that Arkansas should be proud of.”
The surprising run through the postseason continues Saturday, when Arkansas takes on No. 2 Stanford at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and it’ll be televised on ESPN.
