SERIES THREAD – #1 Texas at #11 Arkansas

[Sirhornsalot]

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Razorbacks ready for No. 1 Texas Longhorns, top pitching staff in the SEC​

Arkansas' Dave Van Horn knows the challenge that lays ahead for struggling Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No. 11 Arkansas and No. 1 Texas come into a showdown at Baum-Walker Stadium trending in opposite directions.

The Longhorns are on a 10-game winning streak and have swept back-to-back SEC series after beating Prairie View A&M, 11-2, Tuesday.

The Razorbacks have lost six of their last 11 games and nearly a month removed from its last SEC series win. The road doesn't get any easier for Arkansas. Texas comes in best in the conference in team ERA at 3.07, despite losing almost a full run better than Arkansas, who ranks fifth at 3.80. The standout performers on the staff are a pair of back-end relievers who have been almost unhittable this year. Freshman Dylan Volantis and junior Max Grubbs have a combined ERA of 1.19 in 75 1/3 combined innings.

The numbers are even better for Volantis in SEC play. He leads all pitchers in the conference with a 0.42 ERA on the weekends, allowing just one run in 21 2/3 innings of work.

Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle isn't afraid to use either one of them at every possible chance. Volantis pitched the first two days against Texas A&M in the Longhorns' most recent sweep and Grubbs pitched in all three games. The two have combined for 16 saves.

"You’re playing a team that has a couple of really good relievers and they’ve shownit all year," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "One’s right [Grubbs] and one’s left [Volantis]. You just hope that you’ve got the lead, and if you don’t, they’re probably going to bring them in with the game tied or up a run or two and try to finish you off. It doesn’t mean it’s over. Just means you got to find a way to break through and not too many teams have yet."

It will be the first time that Arkansas and Texas will meet as conference opponents since 1991 and Texas comes in as the consensus No. 1, but the Razorbacks are trying to block out as much of the noise as possible.

"Sometimes we get carried away worrying about the other team," Van Horn said. "You can blow the guys’ minds a little bit, so we are just trying to keep it simple, use the players we have available to help us win the series."

Van Horn is hoping his consistent messaging to enjoy the process and let the results take care of themselves will eventually translate to more winning on the field.

"I would be so excited about the schedule we have going forward," Van Horn told the team yesterday. "Our guys want to win, but it's not life and death. And I want to win, and I feel the same way. We get to play three of the best teams in the country and win or lose."

First pitch between Texas and Arkansas is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday. The first two games are scheduled for a national TV slot with the first game being broadcast on ESPN2 while Friday's game will be on SEC Network.



My apologies, the only previews I could find were from an Arkansas slant. This was from Sports Illustrated's Arkansas page.

https://www.si.com/college/arkansas...all/hogs-van-horn-texas-longhorns-pitcher-sec

 

[david ficken]

A few notes for this weekend:

Both @joeywa and Schloss (post game for Tuesday night's game) Williams is starting in LF. Gasparino has been dealing with a shoulder thing, but they all felt better after his monster homerun.

Bing only went 3 innings and threw only 40 pitches on Tuesday night. So, he should be able Saturday if not in relief on Friday night. But would like to hold off to use him Saturday.

We haven't been to arkie in a long time and these guys will have to adjust to the noise that the fans yell at them.

Thursday night game starts at 6PM on ESPN 2, game 2 (Friday night) starts at 7PM on SEC network, and game 3 ( Saturday afternoon) starts at 2PM on SEC+ network.

I usually watch, but listen to Craig and Keith calling the game. They are about 30 seconds behind the network, but they are way better than these announcers used.

 

[alonghorn72]

Let's do this boys!!!!

 

[Sirhornsalot]

One of Arkansas' best relief pitchers, Carson Wiggins, was injured last Sunday and he may be out for the year.

 

[HornSports Staff]

 

[tejasrulz]

Pigs hit a 2 run HR in the bottom of the 2nd to take a 2-0 lead. Going to the top of the 3rd.

Auburn vs Tennessee, LSU vs aggy. We need Aurburn and aggy to win those series.

 

[tejasrulz]

3 run bomb in the 3rd makes it 5-0 pigs, going to the 4th.

Arkansas is hitting the ball hard, they’ve had 3 balls caught with our backs against the outfield fence.

Meanwhile, we’ve managed 1 hit (single) so far.

 

[alonghorn72]

Looks like it's gonna be a long weekend.....

 

[tejasrulz]

After 4 complete, it’s 9-0 pigs. Not looking good yall

 

[Oldmanastro]

After 4 complete, it’s 9-0 pigs. Not looking good yall

Just getting it out of their system in game one. Warming up for games 2& 3.

 

[texbound]

After 4 complete, it’s 9-0 pigs. Not looking good yall

Not good at all. They have to win at least one game this series. Obviously I want them to win the series, but with a 5 game lead on the pigs 1 game should be enough to keep them at bay.

 

[tejasrulz]

9-0 pigs, final. That was an arse kicking fellas. The good news is we can still take the series.

 

[BWilk55]

9-0 pigs, final. That was an arse kicking fellas. The good news is we can still take the series.

Gotta bounce back, this team has been good at that throughout this season.

Remember when LSU punched us in the mouth to open SEC play, the team responded and took the series and then the SEC by storm.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I really hate losing to Arkansas.

 

[david ficken]

This was 1 of 2 series that I feared. Friday showed that. It doesn't mean anything but a lost game. Probably our best starter got rocked, but they were sitting on alot of his stuff. No need to do inning by inning on what happened. Let's just hope that our leader hitting batter does a better job on getting the inside strikes without hitting more batters. Plus someone needs to lite a fire under our bats to get these guys to get better swings and bettier hits/walks/etc. Most of arkie starters haven't gone more than 5 innings and we let this Friday/Thursday night starter go what 7 innings or better. Got to get an early lead on Friday and Saturday to get to their bullpen. Much like LSU the bullpen is now not as good due to injuries and use. They did get a relief for having the Tuesday game cancelled. But they know what's in front of them 2 more with us. 3 with LSU on the road and 3 at home with fake ut.


Again no need to go inning to inning on this crap. It's what last yr looked like with Pierce in charge. Betting Schloss finds a way to motivate this team for game 2 and 3. Win 1 then worry about the 2 win and series. Plus we didn't waste a lot of pitchers. Howard came in and did a nice job. Didn't watch, but looked like B. Navarre pitched the 8th and was okay. So, we saved most of are better bullpen pitchers for the next 2 days.

I know a few that could go lite that fire, but I doubt that is needed by this coaching staff.

 

[alonghorn72]

I'm hoping the team uses this as a wake up call and bounce back tonight. Still a lot of ball left to be played so let's Go Horns!!!!

 

[HornSports Staff]

 

[HornSports Staff]

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Jonah will start in LF tonight

 

[david ficken]

Game is delayed for about 30 minutes. LSU vs. aggy was postponed