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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