Van Horn: 'We’re just trying to patch this thing together'
After dropping the first two games of the series at the Georgia Bulldogs this weekend, the No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks were just looking for a Game 3 victory on Saturday to keep the team morale up moving forward.
Despite having starting centerfielder Tavian Josenberger exit in the fourth inning with a hamstring injury and head coach Dave Van Horn being ejected from the game in the seventh for arguing a strike three call, Arkansas still took an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Freshman righty Christian Foutch allowed the first three runners to reach base in the frame and pitching coach Matt Hobbs turned to freshman Ben Bybee to try and close things down and get the Hogs out of Athens, Georgia.
With bases loaded and no outs, Georgia's Connor Tate took Bybee's fourth pitch deep to left for a grand slam to tie the game. The freshman right-hander's very next pitch was smashed over the centerfield wall by Parks Harber and the Bulldogs became the first team to sweep Arkansas since 2018 with a 9-8 walk-off win.
According to Van Horn, Bybee should've never been in that situation for the Razorbacks. The plan was to go from starter Hagen Smith to righty Gage Wood and finish things off with Foutch. When Wood threw 52 pitches to get four outs, it put the Hogs in a bind.
"The issue was we needed three innings out of Wood and we only got four outs — (52) pitches, four outs — so it put a lot of stress on Foutch having to throw more pitches than we were planning," Van Horn said Saturday. "I think he just obviously got a little tired there at the end and what happened after that, happened."
Van Horn said after the game that it was one of the tougher regular season losses he's had as a head coach.
"It was really one of the tougher ones because of where we are," Van Horn said. "We fought like crazy. We had our No. 2 catcher going. We were pitching with freshmen. Our center fielder hurt his hamstring. Our three-hole hitter has a broken thumb. I mean, we’ve got issues and we still almost won the game. I thought we fought well. We played pretty well. It’s just, we didn’t finish."
The previously mentioned injury to Josenberger was just the recent in a long line, as Van Horn talked about. Unfortunately for Arkansas, it seems like it will be without another significant contributor for an extended period of time.
"Yeah, it’s a concern," Van Horn said of Josenberger's hamstring injury. "Those usually take some time, so I’m going to say it’s going to take some time."
The list of injuries is now:
~ RHP Jaxon Wiggins (preseason torn UCL, out for season)
~ RHP Koty Frank (torn lat, out for season)
~ RHP Brady Tygart (strained UCL, potentially returning next weekend)
~ OF Jared Wegner (thumb, out since April 11)
~ C Parker Rowland (back, didn't play Georgia series)
~ OF Tavian Josenberger (hamstring, unknown)
With four conference series left in the regular season, Van Horn said his squad just needs to stick together and win enough to get to the postseason.
"I mean, we’re just trying to patch this thing together until we can get all of our guys back," Van Horn said. "We’ve just got to win enough games to get to a playoffs or a regional, ‘cause there’s going to be a lot of conference games played without our guys, and we’ve got to find a way to win."
Even with all of the injuries, Van Horn's Razorbacks have stepped up and got the job done for most of the season. With an overall record of 30-10 and an SEC record of 11-7, the Diamond Hogs are still in second place in the SEC West.
Heck, the Razorbacks swept Tennessee last weekend and the Volunteers will be playing in a rubber match against No. 4 Vanderbilt on Sunday. Baseball is just a funny game.
Freshman pitchers have thrown more innings than expected and some position players have been thrown into games they weren't expecting to play in.
"Guys work hard every day," Van Horn said. "We told them there were going to be times where we were going to have to battle a little bit, and guys are going to have to step it up. They're going to be in the lineup at the blink of an eye, bang. Somebody gets hurt, and next thing you know, you're in the middle of the battle of the big game."
Being swept on the road by a Georgia team that was in last place in the SEC East entering the weekend is definitely something that can hurt a team's morale. Van Horn has been around long enough to get his guys to move on, though, because there are still four weekends left in the regular season and each one presents an opportunity to get better.
Up next for the Hogs will be a midweek trip to Springfield, Missouri, to take on the Missouri State Bears on Tuesday at Hammons Field. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and it will be streamed live on ESPN+.