Diamond Hogs might require heavy offense to dispatch Vols in
The Arkansas Razorbacks and Tennessee Volunteers are set to clash in the Fayetteville Super Regional this weekend with a berth to the College World Series in Omaha on the line.It wasn’t but three weeks ago that these 2 groups faced off, as the Hogs won the series over the Vols 2-1 to top off the routine season, however the stakes are even higher now. Arkansas hasn’t advanced to Omaha since 2022, while Tennessee is the protecting national champion.
In the last match, Arkansas plated an overall of 23 runs across 3 games and won 2 of those, but considering that this is the 2nd time in 3 weeks the two have faced off, offense may be an even higher concern.
“You can return and look at your previous at-bats and just find the arm slots, see where they stand on the mound,” Arkansas 2nd baseman Camera Kozeal stated Friday. “All that good stuff. It’s just, you’ve done it before, so it currently brings a comfort level.”
On top of the players’ familiarity with the opposing pitchers, which chooses the Razorbacks and the Volunteers both, this weekend’s series will feature 2 of the most effective offenses in the nation.
Tennessee is 3rd in the country in crowning achievement (128) while Arkansas is sixth (120 ), and they’re the 2 greatest left in the NCAA Tournament. When it pertains to home runs per game, Arkansas and Tennessee both typical 2.03 per game, however it deserves noting Tennessee has actually played 4 more games than Arkansas has.
In addition to the effective offenses that will take the field this weekend, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn stated the wind and weather condition might also play a factor.
WATCH: Dave Van Horn, players preview Fayetteville Super Regional
“Right now, it’s everything about the wind when you’re speaking about the ball carrying,” Van Horn stated. “The wind’s going to burn out, it’s blown in all week with all this heat and south-southwest winds. Now you’re going to alter over to west-northwest or whatever and it’s going to be jumpy. It is what it is.”
That stated, Tennessee’s pitching is also not one to tinker. The Vols boast the country’s leader in strikeouts in lefty junior Liam Doyle, who owns a 2.84 ERA in 92 innings of work this season.
The Hogs got to Doyle in the first match and scored eight runs on 11 hits in 4.2 innings, however he put on a show in the Knoxville Regional last weekend. He made 2 appearances in one weekend and allowed simply 4 hits and one run to accompany 16 strikeouts enabled across 9 total innings.
“It was quite gutsy on his part, he desired the ball, wished to assist his group win and he threw really good 2 or three days before that,” Van Horn said. “He’s a truly good pitcher. He’s won a great deal of games, leads the nation in strikeouts. We’ll stress over him when we get to him.”
Van Horn stated the offense or defense having the upper hand this weekend might “be in either case,” however he’s focused on how his group is playing.
“I believe bottom line, it’s what your players do,” Van Horn said. “Are your players locked in, swinging at strikes? Pitchers tossing strikes, and doing what they do? I think it gives coaching staffs an opportunity to possibly see more of what might get them out or what won’t. And then we got to utilize it. But really it boils down to the players, they just got to do what they do.”
The Razorbacks and Volunteers will fulfill in Game 1 of the Fayetteville Super Regional on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT. The game will air nationally on ESPN.