Category: Arkansas baseball

Arkansas baseball vs Texas A&M – How to watch, stream, listen to Game 1

Razorbacks looks to end its four-game losing streak and end April on a good note.

April has been rough for Arkansas baseball, and a weekend series against the streaky Texas A&M Aggies could determine if they end the month with a winning record.

The 9-6 record in the month doesn’t tell the complete story. Diamond Hogs have looked good at times but just as bad. The last eight games are an excellent example of that.

Diamond Hogs swept Tennessee, keeping the Volunteers under three runs in all three games. However, the following weekend they were swept by the bottom feeders of the SEC, the Georgia Bulldogs, igniting the current four-game losing streak.

The Razorbacks should walk out of April with their fourth SEC series win. However, the SEC is tough, and the Aggies are underachieving this season, which makes this a problematic and unpredictable series.

Bad News Diamond Hogs: Josenberger officially ruled out indefinitely

More bad news for Arkansas baseball.

Good news has eluded the Diamond Hogs this past week, extending their losing streak to four games, but it’s followed with more bad news.

Tavian Joseberg has officially been ruled out indefinitely due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the Saturday game in the weekend series loss to Georgia. As a result, he didn’t travel with the team to Missouri State.

Injuries have plagued the Razorbacks all season, but it seems to have become a real problem within the last couple of weeks of games.

“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 regional because there’s going to be a lot of conference games played without our guys. We’ve got to find a way to win.”

The center fielder has been one of the more consistent players for the Diamond Hogs. Just three weeks ago, he was named SEC Player of the Week, putting together .571 BA, .657 SLG, 1.143 OPS with eight hits, including two doubles and two homers, and six RBI.

This makes two outfielders injured in the last two weeks, with Jared Wegner nursing a thumb injury. The Diamond Hogs host Texas A&M for a very important weekend series.

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For the third time in four games, big inning dooms Diamond Hogs

Arkansas has dropped four straight games after Missouri State handles Hogs in Springfield.

Georgia isn’t a better baseball team than Arkansas. Missouri State isn’t a better team than Arkansas.

But somehow, in the last four games, the Razorbacks have dropped every single contest to those opponents. After the Bulldogs’ weekend sweep, Missouri State handled Arkansas in Springfield, 8-4, on Tuesday night.

A six-run third inning was the difference. Zack Morris entered for Cody Adcock on the Arkansas hill to start the frame and immediately struggled. Morris struck out the first batter then gave up a walk and two singles before another strikeout. Then came the waterfall.

Two-run double.

RBI single.

Two-run homer.

The Bears were up 7-2 and that was all that mattered.

The big inning has been damning for Arkansas recently. Georgia scored five in the third on Thursday in a 6-5 win and four in the second on Friday in a 7-3 victory. The Razorbacks have dropped four straight games, accordingly, as the Razorbacks’ pitching staff is ninth in the SEC in earned-run average (5.05) and 13th in both opponents’ average against (.271) and strikeouts (355).

The Hogs will try to right the ship Thursday through Saturday when Texas A&M, which sits two games back of Arkansas in the SEC West, visits Fayetteville.

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Arkansas baseball at Missouri State – How to watch, stream, listen

Missouri State would love nothing more than to hand their old rivals, Arkansas, a fourth straight loss.

For a few years in the middle of the 2010s, Arkansas and Missouri State had one of the best nontraditional rivalries in college baseball.

Alas, the Diamond Hogs have remained near the top of the sport’s landscape, competing for College World Series berths seemingly every season. The Bears, went through a struggle in latter part of the decade.

Now, though, in 2023, with Arkansas again in the nation’s Top 10 and Missouri State second in the Missouri Valley Conference, the teams’ one-off meeting Tuesday night should have some fire behind it.

Arkansas is heading up the road about two hours to Springfield for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch, assuming the weather cooperates. Fresh off a sweep at the hands of Georgia on the weekend, the Razorbacks could use a bout of good fortune.

Missouri State isn’t exactly going to just hand it over. The Bears are 11-4 in MVC play and are a borderline NCAA Tournament caliber club. Besides, Keith Guttin has been coaching at Missouri State since 1983. He’s seen Arkansas and Dave Van Horn a time or two.

SEC Baseball Power Rankings: It was all good just a week ago

Some of the best teams in the SEC were swept, another reminder of how good this league really is.

The beauty of power rankings is they change from week to week. Changes could be drastic for some and great for others.

In the SEC, even the best can feel the damaging effects of week-to-week rankings. The top three teams in last week’s power rankings suffered sweeps to conference foes.

It was just another reminder of how good this conference is. Predicting a national champion that is not an SEC representative will be complex. Don’t be surprised if the College World Series is an extension of the SEC tournament.

The Diamond Hogs fell in the national rankings, and after their performance over the weekend, dropping them in this week’s power rankings is mandatory.

Column: The sky isn’t falling for Arkansas baseball after one series

Arkansas baseball struggled mightily over the weekend, but things are never as bad as they seem. Especially when Dave Van Horn is your coach.

The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks dropped their second conference series of the season in embarrassing fashion over the weekend. They were swept by the unranked Georgia Bulldogs (23-17, 7-11) and didn’t really look like a team deserving of a No. 5 ranking.

Head coach [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag]’s passionate ejection on Saturday was able to save the Diamond Hogs from a complete collapse in the ninth inning. The Razorbacks led by four heading into the bottom of the ninth, but the struggling Bulldogs were able get a grand slam and solo homer back-to-back to get the win.

Losing is always frustrating. Losing the way Arkansas did Saturday will cause even the most staunch Diamond Hog supporters to ask “what’s going on?” Some delusional Arkansas fans went a little too far with their frustrations on social media but that should be expected.

Arkansas baseball’s struggles are easy to explain right now and Dave Van Horn’s track record of righting things ahead of the postseason should offer some comfort to wavering fans.

First, Diamond Hogs have been decimated by injury this season. They lost their projected ace [autotag]Jaxon Wiggins[/autotag] before the season and the hits kept on coming after play started. Pitchers [autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag] and [autotag]Koty Frank[/autotag] were each hurt in early March. Tygart should return soon but Frank is out for the season.

Stud outfielder [autotag]Jared Wegner[/autotag] has been out since April 11 with a fractured thumb after sliding into third base. Ahead of Thursday’s first game against the Bulldogs it was announced that starting catcher [autotag]Parker Rowland[/autotag] would not play. Van Horn confirmed later that Rowland would be out indefinitely due to back issues.

“We’re just trying to patch this thing together until we can get all our guys back,” Van Horn said about all of the injuries. “We’re just trying to win enough games to get to a regional. There’s going to be a lot of conference games played without our guys.”

Aside from Wiggins and Frank, Arkansas fans should expect Tygart, Wegner and Rowland back in the near future. That should help ease some of the struggles we saw over the weekend.

The injury issues can’t be helped by Van Horn or anyone else, and it’s disingenuous to let one series sweep negate the dominance we’ve seen from this team at times.

Arkansas fans remember the 2018 team for being one out from being crowned champions, but forget how much that team struggled in the regular season. The Diamond Hogs failed to win a single road series in conference play during that 2018 season.

Until proven otherwise, it would behoove Razorback fans to trust Dave Van Horn to make it six straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

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Stinging sweep: Diamond Hogs lose Saturday to fall in all three at Georgia

Dave Van Horn’s ejection was emblematic of the entire Arkansas baseball weekend.

A four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth is usually enough to win a game. Usually.

At least it was quick.

The No. 5-ranked Arkansas baseball team found another way to fall Saturday, giving up five runs to Georgia in the ninth and lost 9-8 on Saturday. Georgia’s win clinched a sweep for the Bulldogs, which entered the series Thursday dead-last in the SEC.

Christian Foutch gave up a walk and two singles to start the ninth to Georgia’s rally. Ben Bybee entered and on his fourth pitch of the game allowed a grand slam to Connor Tate that tied things at 8.

The very next pitch, Parks Harber went yard to centerfield and that was ball-game.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn didn’t see it in-person. He was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing balls and strikes for his hitter Jace Bohrofen. The ejection was emblematic of the entire weekend as the Diamond Hogs were swept for the first time this season.

Now, instead of carrying a 1 1/2-game lead in the SEC West over LSU, the Razorbacks could be 1 1/2 games back.

At least the Razorbacks can use Tuesday to relieve some frustration before SEC play begins again. Missouri State is visiting Baum-Walker Stadium for a one-off game. After that, Arkansas will host Texas A&M on Thursday through Saturday. The Aggies are a game behind Arkansas in the standings.

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Is it time to be legit worried about Arkansas pitching? Georgia homers way to Game 2 win

After Will McEntire was blasted for four homers, the Razorbacks’ pitching concerns don’t seem to be getting better.

Road games in the SEC are tough. Heck, any game in the SEC is tough. It’s college baseball’s best conference for a reason.

But the fifth-ranked team in the country falling twice, in back-to-back games, against the worst team in the SEC East is a bad look.

That’s where Arkansas found itself, though, after Friday night’s 7-3 loss at the hands of the Bulldogs. Georgia’s victory ensured a series win after taking the opener Thursday. It also allowed the Dawgs to leap Missouri out of the cellar in the East while simultaneously sending Arkansas back behind SEC West leader LSU. The Razorbacks entered the series with a 1 1/2-game lead.

Evaporation comes quickly, especially in this series as Arkansas lost Friday much the same way it lost Thursday: Georgia had one big inning and the Diamond Hogs’ rally was too little, too late.

Friday, Georgia touched up Arkansas starter Will McEntire four six runs in four innings. McEntire gave up six hits, four of which were homers. It was 4-0, Bulldogs, before six outs were recorded.

Arkansas had nothing going on the other side. Chandler Goldstein gave up just three Arkansas hits while walking no one and striking out five in his six innings. The Razorbacks tagged Georgia’s first two relievers for three runs in the eighth inning alone, yet for naught.

The Hogs will look to avoid the sweep on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Arkansas baseball vs. Georgia – how to watch, stream, listen to Game 3

A crucial game for the Diamond Hogs to remain at the top of the SEC West and avoid the sweep.

All it takes is one bad inning in baseball to lose an entire game.

The Diamond Hogs found that out the hard way. Georgia put together a five-run inning in the third to capture a 6-5 upset win over the SEC West leaders in the series opener.

In the game 2 7-3 loss, they gave three home runs in three home runs in the 2nd inning, facing an early 4-0 deficit.

This is a good morale series win for the Bulldogs, but it was just a reminder of how tough SEC baseball is for Arkansas.

The Hogs will return back to the diamond for the series finale on a Saturday afternoon. They still hold a one-game lead over the Tigers in the SEC West. The Tigers have one game to play against Ole Miss on Sunday.

WATCH: Former Hog Drew Smyly has perfect game bid end in heartbreak

Former Arkansas and current Chicago Cubs pitcher Drew Smyly sees his bid for a perfect game end in heartbreaking fashion.

Throwing a perfect game is the hardest thing to do at any level of baseball – let alone in the MLB. It requires a pitcher to be fully engaged and on the mound for nine innings to successfully accomplish what has only been done 23 times.

Former Arkansas pitcher [autotag]Drew Smyly[/autotag] was just six outs away from completing the 24th perfect game in major league history when it all went horribly wrong.

On the second pitch of the eighth inning, Dodgers outfielder David Peralta hit a dribbler down the third-base line. Smyly trotted to scoop up the ball and throw it to first for a routine out. However, just as Smyly was about to grab the ball, Smyly’s catcher, Yan Gomes, ran right into his back. Both players fell to the Wrigley Field grass.

Peralta reached first with ease and was credited with a hit – ending Smyly’s chance at history.

The one positive in this heartbreaking development was that the Cubs picked up an impressive 13-0 win over the Dodgers. The former All-SEC ace did make some history, though, becoming the first Cubs pitcher to be perfect through seven innings since 1993.

What a heartbreaking way to end a perfect game bid.

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