7-2 stretch aids regional resume

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn makes a pitching change Tuesday, April 30, 2013, during the fourth inning of play against Missouri State at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE - When Arkansas dropped a doubleheader at Nebraska on April 16, any chance of the Razorbacks hosting an NCAA regional at Baum Stadium seemed lost as well.

The Nebraska sweep left Arkansas at 25-14, including a 2-7 record in the past nine games.

“My goal, obviously two weeks ago, was just to get into a regional,” Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said. “Now we seem to be playing pretty good.”

Arkansas (32-16, 15-8 SEC) has revived its hopes of being among the 16 regional hosts by going 7-2 since the Nebraska trip, including series victories against Texas A&M at home and at Georgia and Kentucky.

The Razorbacks are ranked No. 11 in this week’s Baseball America poll and No. 12 by Collegiate Baseball, but they are barely in the top 40 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) compiled by the NCAA. Arkansas is No. 39 in the NCAA’s RPI, which is used to rank teams based on their records and strength of schedule.

“If you go off of the RPI, we’re not in real good shape,” Van Horn said.

Arkansas has the SEC’s third-best record behind Vanderbilt (21-2) and LSU (19-5), which are No. 2 and No. 4 in the NCAA’s RPI rankings. Van Horn said finishing among the top three SEC teams normally should be good enough to be awarded a regional by the NCAA selection committee.

“I don’t know if this is a normal year or not,” he said. “The RPIs, we still can’t figure them out.”

Van Horn said more emphasis is being placed on road victories this season.

“They changed it up this year and our schedule was already made,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out how to schedule right now. Should we just go play on the road more? I try to bring more games to Baum Stadium because of our fan base.”

Arkansas ranks second nationally in average paid attendance with 8,254 per game according to NCAA statistics. LSU leads at 10,824.

“I don’t mind playing on the road,” Van Horn said. “You get more points for winning on the road. You get hardly any for winning at home. Then it goes off how your opponent does and how their opponent does.”

Arkansas is 22-8 at home, 9-4 on the road and 1-4 at neutral sites, which includes a victory over Mississippi Valley State in North Little Rock and four losses in Surprise, Ariz., including two to Arizona State.

Arkansas also beat Mississippi Valley State in Fayetteville, but playing two games against the Delta Devils has pulled down the Razorbacks’ RPI because Mississippi Valley State is last in the NCAA rankings at 298.

The Razorbacks also are hurt by four home victories against Alabama A&M (No. 294 RPI) and New Orleans (No. 272 RPI) and by going 2-1 at home against Western Illinois (RPI No. 248).

Arkansas is 11-9 against teams in the RPI’s top 32, including 3-0 at No. 11 South Carolina, 2-1 at No. 30 Kentucky and 2-1 at No. 32 Alabama.

Winning 2 of 3 games at Kentucky last weekend elevated Arkansas 14 spots in the RPI after the Razorbacks were No. 53.

“Maybe we need to go play 10 more games on the road,” Van Horn said. “You win four of them, your RPI goes way up. You win six, seven, eight at home that you’re supposed to win, you’d be better off going on the road and winning a few.”

Van Horn said it would be tough to schedule fewer home dates given Arkansas’ ticket sales.

“We make more money, obviously, if people come to our ballpark and we stay home,” he said. “But you go on the road and win, your RPI is pretty good.”

Arkansas plays its final home series against Tennessee (RPI No. 118) this weekend, then finishes SEC regular-season play at Auburn (No. 50) next week, so it may be tough for the Razorbacks to raise their RPI much higher even if they sweep the Vols and Tigers.

The Razorbacks have won six of their first eight SEC series. In the two series they went 1-2, at home against Ole Miss and LSU, they lost extra-inning games on Sunday.

“In a three-game series we’re tough to beat,” Van Horn said. “You have to play good to beat us. We’d like a chance to play a three-game series in about five weeks.”

That’s when NCAA super regionals - the best 2-of-3 series - will be held.

Up next

TENNESSEE AT ARKANSAS WHEN 6:35 p.m. Friday, 6:05 p.m.

Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday WHERE Baum Stadium, Fayetteville RECORDS Arkansas 32-16, 15-8 SEC;

Tennessee 18-26, 6-16 SEC

Sports, Pages 21 on 05/08/2013