Dave Van Horn highlights what makes Arkansas baseball special ahead of CWS
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Arkansas celebrated its Super Regional victory over Tennessee on Sunday and had a light, come-and-go kind of day on Monday. On Tuesday, it was back to work. The College World Series awaits, and the job’s not done.
The Razorbacks are 1 of 8 teams left standing in college baseball. Their quest for the first national title in Arkansas baseball history begins on Saturday when Dave Van Horn’s group battles LSU.
On Thursday, Van Horn sat down with SEC Network to preview the game and talk about how his team is preparing for the CWS. During that interview, he was asked what makes this year’s Arkansas team special.
“First off, they’re talented. They know their role. They all know their role,” he said. We’re just pretty good at everything. We field really well — I think we field like .984, I think we might lead the league. We can hit some home runs, we can also hit for an average, and we pitch well. We can find a way to beat you. You make a mistake, we can score. We usually make most of the plays we’re supposed to make.
“And then you throw in the team chemistry, just the want-to, man. I see it from these guys. They just want to win.”
According to the latest College World Series odds, Arkansas is the betting favorite to win the national championship. At DraftKings, the Hogs are +195 to lift a trophy later this month. Their opening opponent, LSU, has the next shortest odds at +230.
In the lead up to Saturday’s game, Van Horn has tried to impress upon his team that it’s not about who can necessarily rise to the moment, but who can manage the emotions of the moment.
“We did talk … about the atmosphere, the fans, the wind, the stadium, all the outside distractions. A lot of times, if you want to get off to a good start, you’ve got to find a way to calm yourself down [and] not get your heart rate up. I wanted them to visualize and try to realize you can’t win the game now.”
Saturday’s game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
