Arkansas thrilled to be back for The Greatest Show on Dirt

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

Arkansas head baseball coach Dave Van Horn has taken a baseball team to the College World Series nine times – eight of them being Razorback squads.

But he was quick to tell the media gathered in Omaha on Thursday that he never takes it for granted and a lot of things have to be one of the eight teams participating in “The Greatest Show on Dirt.”


“Obviously it is great to be back,” Van Horn said. “It just never gets old. It is such a challenge to get here throughout the season, so many ups and downs.

“All the teams deal with injuries, but I just so proud of this team that fought so hard to get there and get deserved to be here…Just excited to get it going on Saturday night.”

Arkansas (48-15) will face LSU (48-15) Saturday night in the fourth and final first round game at Charles Schwab Field.

The two programs have routinely brought massive amount of fans to Omaha.

“I don’t know how there’s going to be enough seats here on Saturday in order to get them all in here,” Van Horn said. “There’s going to be a lot of red here and a lot of purple. I hope it stays calm in the stands a little bit because it could get crazy.”

LSU head coach Jay Johnson is also excited about the match up.

“Can’t wait for Saturday night,” Johnson said. “Really excited. Great opponent. It should be a great night for college baseball, and we’re honored to be here.”

The No. 3 Razorbacks, 5-0 so far and the top seed left in the NCAA Tournament, will be looking for Van Horn’s first ever national title.

It’s clear Arkansas players such as pitcher Zach Root would love to “Do it for Dave” a catch phrase now prevalent on social media.

“It would mean the world to him and it would mean the world to us, too,” Root said. “It would be the first team to get it done for him. I mean he is one of the best coaches in the business and it shows.

“Everyone respects him. Everyone thinks of him as one of the best so there is just one last thing missing from his trophy case and we a going to go get it for him.”

Arkansas second baseman Cam Kozeal, an Omaha native, echoed those sentiments.

“Couldn’t have said it any better,” Kozeal said. “Let’s get the job done.”

Van Horn noted his team loves being around each other and that has been factor in its success.

“They mentioned it,” Van Horn said. “What makes it special, these guys, they really like each other. They’re kind of throwbacks, a lot of them. They’re gym rats. They hang out at the ballpark. We have nice facilities, nice locker room areas.

“Now we have, I don’t know what you call it, but we’re calling it a pond back there behind the center field wall. I’ve got 15 guys fishing out there all the time. They’re out there in little boats. It’s comical. I love it.

“They just get along and like each other, like I said. And they’re talented. And if the rest of my coaches were sitting up here, they’d say the same thing. They make it fun to come to work every day. They make it like it’s almost not a job.

“It’s really not a job, just a way of life anyway. But they’re a fun bunch. There’s personality there. I think they’ve really just grown as a team, really since probably the second week of fall practice we’ve seen it.”

Van Horn confirmed that Root (8-5, 3.59 ERA) would be starting on the mound against LSU.

“Well, right now, I mean, obviously we’re going to throw Zach on Saturday,” Van Horn said. “It’s no secret. The Monday game, I’m not sure yet. So we’ll just take it from there. I mean, honestly let’s just get through Saturday and go see what happens.”

Root has no problems facing LSU, the second highest seed left in the event, right off the bat.

“I feel like we were going to face LSU at some point in this next week and a half or so,” Root said. “So why not just make it the first game and get it out of the way?

“But the (SEC) gauntlet just provided us with a chance to go out there and face super regional in Omaha caliber teams. We’re battle hardened and we’ve seen every possible punch thrown at us. We just rolled with them and it is going to be a good week.”

LSU is expected to pitch ace Kade Horton (10-1, 3.58) in the opener.

“I look at every lineup the exact same, whether that’s the first team we played or the last team we played,” Horton said. “Realistically, you don’t look at a batter, you look at how you’re going to pitch each guy. With (LSU pitching) Coach (Nate) Yeskie’s help, it will be just another game.

“And we’ll have a plan, and we’ll stick to that and just continuing to work out there and be present in it.”

LSU standout Jason Jones reflected back on the Tigers taking two of three from the visiting Razorbacks during the regular season.

“Arkansas’ pitching staff is probably one of the best in the country, if not the best just the talent and arms they have,” Jones said. “I think back to the weekend series against them, they pitched pretty well. I think we got to them on Saturday, though. That will give us a lot of confidence going into the weekend.

“And just sticking with, we understand that there’s going to be some times or some innings where we don’t score and maybe we have guys on base and we left them on. But we’ve just got to stick with it, keep taking quality at-bats and get the next guy to the plate.”
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The CSW begins Friday at 1 p.m. with Coastal Carolina and Arizona facing off at 1 p.m. and Louisville and Oregon State battling at 6 p.m.

UCLA and Murray State will clash Saturday at 1 p.m.