Category: Arkansas baseball

Arkansas baseball vs. Texas A&M – How to watch, stream, listen to SEC Tournament

No. 2 Arkansas and No. 10 Texas A&M are set to get underway at lunchtime from the SEC Tournament.

Arkansas and Texas A&M will meet for the fourth time this season on Wednesday. This time from Hoover, Alabama, in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

The Razorbacks, the No. 2-seed in the tournament and the No. 5 team in the country, swept 10th-seeded Texas A&M during the regular season. The winner of the game – with a first pitch scheduled at about 12:30 p.m. CT – will play the winner of South Carolina-LSU on Thursday. The loser gets the loser.

Arkansas, despite regularly finishing in the top four in the SEC, has only won the SEC Tournament once. That came in 2021. The flip is that Arkansas has been to nine College World Series in Dave Van Horn’s tenure.

In other words, Diamond Hogs fans need not panic if the Razorbacks fall on Wednesday. A loss isn’t necessarily indicative of other problems. It’s more of a sign Van Horn is preparing for the tournament that matters more next week, instead.

Diamond Hogs have the right mindset heading into the postseason

As Arkansas prepares for the SEC Tournament, Dave Van Horn likes where his team is mentally, even if the tourney title isn’t the primary goal. 

The Arkansas baseball team picked the right time to trend upward after a whacky season that included a myriad of injuries. In preparation for the SEC Tournament, Dave Van Horn likes where his team is mentally, even if the SEC title isn’t the primary goal. 

“I think this team is extremely close,” Van Horn said. “I mean, we left last Wednesday, practiced in Nashville Wednesday night, so we know we’re going to be here at least through Wednesday and hopefully longer. I think it’s good for the guys to be together like this.”

A good run in the tournament can lead to a better run in the NCAA Tournament. Van Horn is looking to reach his eighth College World Series since becoming head coach at Arkansas in 2003. However, Van Horn has focused on managing the team’s emotions, which could be why he hasn’t put much emphasis on winning the SEC Tournament.

For Van Horn, it’s all about playing consistently good baseball.

“Let’s just take care of the game we have in front of us, and let’s just play good today, and let’s not go backward. If you lose, you lose. You’re losing to a good team. If you win, you’re beating a good team. You just want to play good. If we do that and it doesn’t go good, you can live with that and get back to your home base and rest up and get ready for an exciting weekend.”

Hagen Smith named as semifinalist for Golden Spikes Award

Hagen Smith was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

Hagen Smith had a great sophomore season, and the postseason recognition he is receiving reflects that.

Already honored on the All-SEC first team, Smith has also been named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. The Golden Spikes Award is collegiate baseball’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the best amateur baseball player.

The lefty is the eighth Arkansas player since 2007 to be named a semifinalist for the award. Two Diamond Hogs have won the award in the last decade, outfielder Andrew Benintendi in 2015 and pitcher Kevin Kopps in 2021.

Smith has played every role within the Arkansas bullpen. He was the ace to begin the season and transitioned to a reliever role after an injury. By the end of the season, he found his way back into the rotation. When you look at the numbers, you’ll see he was easily the best pitcher in the Hog bullpen.

Smith improved his totals from his freshman season, going 8-1 in nine starts. He appeared in 15 games, finishing the regular season with a 2.56 ERA, 93 strikeouts, a .191 opponent batting average, and two saves spending 63.1 innings on the mound.

The award will be presented on ESPN on June 25 at 2:30 p.m. ET, leading into game two of the College World Series finals.

Regional projections seem pretty locked in for Diamond Hogs

Barring something truly out of the ordinary in Hoover, Arkansas should be a top 4 national seed lock going into next Monday’s selection show.

Arkansas is in Hoover, Ala. awaiting its first SEC Tournament opponent, but fans and media are already looking ahead to June to see who will be coming to Fayetteville.

It’s a certainty the Razorbacks will host a regional and Super Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium, although who they’ll be matched up with remains to be seen.

Baseball America has Arkansas as the No. 3 national seed coming into conference tournament week.

That would pair them with the 14th seed, Auburn, who Arkansas swept to begin SEC play back in March.

D1Baseball.com mirrors that projection, also having Arkansas the No. 3 national seed, but pairing them with Alabama.

The Tide have gone 8-2 since Brad Bohannan was fired for gambling allegations.

DRatings.com also has the Razorbacks as the No. 3 national seed, but not paired up with a SEC opponent.

They have Clemson as the No. 14 seed. Arkansas hasn’t faced Clemson in the NCAAs since Norm DeBriyn’s last Razorback squad took the Tigers to three games in 2002, right before Dave Van Horn was hired.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn gets raise, extension with Hogs

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn is the third highest paid coach in the SEC. Bonuses and incentives would make him tops with ease.

Dave Van Horn is now a millionaire every year.

The University of Arkansas signed Van Horn to a contract extension, announced Monday hours after he was named SEC Coach of the Year for the third time in his 21 seasons in Fayetteville.

The terms of the new deal have Van Horn making a base salary of $1.25 million a season and would keep him with the Diamond Hogs through 2031, as the contract includes five automatic one-year extensions after 2026.

Van Horn made $925,000 this season on a deal that was set to expire at season’s end. Per D1Baseball.com, Van Horn’s new deal ties him with Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis as the third most in the SEC. Tennessee coach Tony Vitello ($1.5 million) and Texas A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle ($1.45 million) are the only coaches who make more.

Van Horn will receive a $50,000 raise every year of the deal and that total would be come $100,000 for every year with a College World Series appearence.

Arkansas will play its first game in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday against either Vitello and the Volunteers or Schlossnagle and the Aggies.

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Check out every Razorbacks player and coach to earn All-SEC honors

Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn was named SEC Coach of the Year for the third time Monday. Four of his players earned All-SEC honors.

Arkansas has just been a different program under Dave Van Horn’s watch. And the 2023 may have been his best coaching job in 21 years at the program’s helm.

The league noticed, too, as Van Horn was named SEC Coach of the Year on Monday. Arkansas won the SEC West for the seventh time and fourth since 2018 this year. His Razorbacks will carry the No. 2-seed into this week’s SEC Tournament.

Van Horn previously won the award in 2004 and 2021. He is now one of three active coaches – joining Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin and Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan – as three-time winners.

DVH was not the only Razorbacks baseballer honored Monday. As four Arkansas players earned All-SEC marks from the league’s coaches. Check the complete list below.

Four Razorbacks were named to All-SEC teams by the league’s head coaches, led by Hagen Smith’s first-team selection at starting pitcher and All-Defensive honors. Kendall Diggs picked up second-team recognition at designated hitter, while pitcher Gage Wood and outfielder Tavian Josenberger garnered Freshman All-SEC and All-Defensive praise, respectively.

Arkansas finishes as third highest ranked team in SEC, fourth in nation

Eight teams from the SEC finished inside the Top 25.

The final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for college baseball was released Monday following the final weekend of the regular season across the sport.

Two new teams entered the field of 25, but the biggest story remained the SEC’s dominance. The conference had four of the top six teams in the land and eight inside the top 25. Wake Forest stayed the top-ranked team in the land.

LSU overtook Arkansas as the SEC’s top-ranked team. The Razorbacks lost in their final series of the season at Vanderbilt two games to one, which send Arkansas to tie Florida for the league’s best record.

The Gators earned the No. 1 seed at this week’s SEC Tournament and were No. 2 in the poll. LSU checked in at No. 4, while Vandy was No. 8. Rounding things out for the SEC were Tennessee at No. 13, South Carolina at No. 19, Kentucky at No. 21 and Auburn at No. 25. The Tigers were new to the poll this week.

The SEC Tournament begins Tuesday morning from Hoover, Alabama.

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It’s official: The 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament is set – here’s how it looks

The last two national champions in the entire sport won’t even play in their conference tournament.

The last two champions of college baseball won’t even get to play in their conference tournament.

That’s the SEC for you.

The bracket is set for the 2023 SEC Tournament from Hoover, Alabama, this week and neither 2021 champ Missisisppi State or 2022 champ Ole Miss is a part of it. The two Magnolia State schools failed to qualify for the 12-team field as they finished 13th and 14th in the conference standings.

Traditional powers still dominate the top of the league, anyway. Florida earned the No. 1 seed by a hair when Arkansas dropped its season finale against Vanderbilt on Saturday. The Diamond Hogs are second, while LSU and the Commodores also earned first-round byes by finishing third and fourth.

The five through 10 seeds are considered all but locks for the NCAA Tournament next week, though No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 9 Alabama would probably feel a touch safer with first-round wins at the league tourney. No. 11 Georgia and No. 12 Missouri need a run to a championship to earn a spot beyond Hoover.

Things start Tuesday morning. Here’s how each team will start the week.

Treylon Burks and KJ Jefferson connect to host football camp

The two former teammates connected to host a Saturday football camp in Farmington, Arkansas.

Treylon Burks and KJ Jefferson started together at Arkansas in 2021. Burks was Jefferson’s number-one target, catching 66 passes for 1,104 yards and 11 touchdowns.

This time, the two former teammates connected to host a Saturday football camp in Farmington, Arkansas.

Sponsored by Flexworks, a company that runs different youth camps with pro and collegiate athletes across the country, the camp is new to the area of Farmington, with Burks completing his first year in the NFL. Burks hopes this camp will give opportunities to kids and teach them the mental toughness needed to succeed at football.

“Just to teach them that, to just move on to the next play and to keep encouraging them to have fun,” Burks said. “That’s the main thing when playing any sport is to always have fun with it because when you stop having fun, there’s really no point of playing anymore.”

This camp was designed for children between the ages of 6 and 16. The organizers prioritized ensuring that all children, regardless of financial status, had an equal opportunity to attend.

“I mean, that’s the big thing for me is community engagement,” Jefferson said. “Being able to showcase and use my platform to raise awareness for different causes anywhere that’s the main thing for me.”

Diamond Hogs win share of SEC title even in defeat

Arkansas won its sixth conference championship in baseball on Saturday in Nashville despite a 7-6 loss.

With Georgia beating LSU midway through Saturday’s series finale in Nashville, Arkansas clinched a share of the SEC regular season crown.

Vanderbilt ended up rallying for the second straight day and ultimately defeated the Razorbacks, 7-6.

The loss relegates Arkansas to the second seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Hoover.

It is the sixth league title for the Razorbacks since and fourth since 1999. Three of those have come under Van Horn.

Arkansas jumped out to an early lead for the third day in a row, 2-0 after a Commodores throwing error.

Hunter Hollan gave up a 3-run blast the following inning, but the Hogs led 6-4 after a four-run fifth inning before Parker Coil and Gage Wood ended up both balking to allow Vandy to tie the game.

Enrique Bradfield’s ensuing infield single set the final scoring margin.

Arkansas will play on Wednesday at 12:30 against a yet-to-be-determined opponent in the SEC Tournament.