It’s easy to forget now, but the standing policy at the University of Arkansas in the athletic department was never, ever to play in-state schools. The fear was if the other, theoretically lesser, school won the game, doom would be fall the Razorbacks.
The thinking might have made sense 40 years ago. But as time has passed, it’s now an absurd suggestion.
The good news is Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn quickly jumped on the in-state playing. This year alone the Diamond Hogs had Little Rock, Arkansas State and Central Arkansas on the schedule. After dispatching the first Little Rock earlier in the month and a washout cancelled the meeting with the Red Wolves, UCA received its shot Tuesday night.
For a while, the Bears appeared destined to send a modest panic into the old-timers in the Hogs fan base. Old-timer in this case doesn’t refer to age, but instead to way-of-thinking. A three-run seventh inning, however, broke a 3-all tie and Arkansas won, 6-3.
UCA had tied the game in the bottom, plating two on a Noa Argenta shot to left field. In the bottom, though, Brady Slavens’ pinch-hit single broke the tie with two outs. Harold Coll was hit by a pitch and Hudson Polk with the bases loaded to score an insurance one, then Slavens scored on a wild pitch to Tavian Josenberger.
The Arkansas lineup racked up 13 hits, but only one went for extra bases. The Diamond Hogs’ four pitchers scattered seven hits while allowing three walks and striking out seven.
Arkansas is back on the road for the weekend as the fifth-ranked, first-in-the-SEC Razorbacks take on Georgia down in Athens.
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