FAYETTEVILLE -- It's a 135-mile drive from Starkville, Miss., to Hoover, Ala., but for the Arkansas baseball team it might seem like a million miles.
"We've got a long way to go to get there," Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said.
More from WholeHogSports
http://www.wholehog…">Van Horn will miss Thursday's game
Today’s game
Arkansas at No. 4 Mississippi State
WHEN 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Dudy Noble Field, Starkville, Miss.
RECORDS Arkansas 26-26, 7-20 SEC. Mississippi State 37-14-1, 18-9.
SERIES Mississippi State leads 49-42
RADIO Razorback Sports Network. Not all games will be carried by affiliates. Check local listings.
TELEVISION None
Today’s game
Arkansas at No. 4 Mississippi State
WHEN 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Dudy Noble Field, Starkville, Miss.
RECORDS Arkansas 26-26, 7-20 SEC. Mississippi State 37-14-1, 18-9.
SERIES Mississippi State leads 49-42
RADIO Razorback Sports Network. Not all games will be carried by affiliates. Check local listings.
TELEVISION None
INTERNET SEC Network-Plus
PITCHING MATCHUP Arkansas: RHP Dominic Taccolini (5-4, 5.81 ERA). Mississippi State: RHP Dakota Hudson (8-3, 2.52 ERA).
SHORT HOPS Arkansas senior second baseman Rick Nomura was named to the SEC’s Community Service Team for his involvement in several projects, including visiting area schools to read with children … Arkansas hasn’t announced a starter for the series beyond Taccolini … Austin Sexton (6-2, 3.69 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Bulldogs Friday night. The Bulldogs haven’t announced a starter for Saturday’s finale, which will be televised on the SEC Network … Arkansas has lost 10 consecutive games … Mississippi State has won eight in a row … the Razorbacks are 16-23 at Mississippi State.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY at Mississippi State 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY at Mississippi State 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY at Mississippi State 5 p.m.
For the Razorbacks to make the drive to Hoover for next week's SEC Tournament rather than ending the season, they'll have to break their longest losing streak in 51 years by beating the nation's No. 4-ranked team on the road and need help from some conference rivals.
Arkansas (26-26, 7-20 SEC) opens a three-game series at Mississippi State (37-14-1, 18-9) at 6:30 tonight tied for last in the conference, but hoping to end a 10-game losing streak as it fights for its postseason life.
"We'll definitely go down there and play as hard as we can and if it's good enough, we'll continue to play," Van Horn said. "If it's not, we'll get on the bus and come home and get ready for the future."
Arkansas has made 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances as an at-large team, including 13 under Van Horn, but for that streak to continue the Razorbacks must gain an automatic bid by winning the SEC Tournament for the first time.
The Razorbacks are one of five SEC teams competing for the final two spots in the 12-team SEC Tournament along with Georgia (10-17), Auburn (8-19), Missouri (8-19) and Tennessee (7-20).
Arkansas has to win at least one game at Mississippi State to have any chance to make the SEC Tournament and may need to win two games or three depending on how Tennessee and Georgia do in their series at Athens, Ga., how Auburn does at Vanderbilt and how Missouri does at Kentucky.
The Razorbacks would win a tiebreaker against Auburn and lose one against Missouri for an SEC Tournament spot based on head-to-head competition this season.
Arkansas also would be in the SEC Tournament if there were a three-way tie between the Razorbacks, Auburn and Missouri for the final two spots.
Arkansas didn't play Georgia or Tennessee this season, but the Razorbacks would lose a tiebreaker to the Bulldogs or Vols because both have a higher winning percentage against common SEC opponents. If Arkansas was involved in a three-way tie with Georgia or Tennessee and Auburn or Missouri, winning percentage against common SEC opponents also would determine the tiebreaker.
This is the fifth consecutive year the Razorbacks have closed the SEC regular-season schedule on the road. The last four years they traveled directly to Hoover, but that plan is uncertain this year.
"It's different, that's for sure," Van Horn said. "It's not what you want ... but honestly, mentally I've prepared for this for a month, because I've been seeing it coming."
Van Horn knew he had a struggling team facing Texas A&M, LSU, Alabama and Mississippi State.
"There have been a couple of those games that got away that have cost us going to Mississippi State this weekend and knowing we're going to be in the tournament," Van Horn said. "It's our own fault.
"We don't hold leads. We don't make a play. We don't make a pitch or drive in a run."
The Razorbacks' SEC losses have included:
• 8-6 at South Carolina when they led 6-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning
• 5-4 at Kentucky when they led 4-3 going into the bottom of the seventh of a seven-inning game
m11-8 in 11 innings to Texas A&M when they led 6-2 after three innings
• 10-9 in 10 innings at LSU when they led 9-5 going into the bottom of the ninth
• 7-4 to Alabama when they led 4-3 going into the ninth
"We're struggling," Van Horn said. "What else can I tell you? Look at our team ERA.
"Look what happened last weekend, the weekend before and the weekend before that on the mound. I mean, it's called we don't have very good starting pitching."
Arkansas' team earned run average of 5.11 is 14th in the SEC and the Razorbacks have issued 229 walks to rank 13th.
The starting pitching has been so inconsistent Van Horn said the coaching staff isn't sure who will start at Mississippi State beyond junior right-hander Dominic Taccolini (5-4, 5.81 ERA) tonight.
"You don't have enough wins, so now you've got to play it one game at a time instead of looking at the whole series," Van Horn said. "We'll use anybody we have to game one to try to win.
"If we have to use [Zach] Jackson, [Keaton] McKinney, Taccolini, all of them, we will and we'll move on the next game, because we're running out of games."
Arkansas hasn't won since beating Texas A&M 9-5 on April 30, but Mississippi State Coach John Cohen remains wary of the Razorbacks.
"In our league that stuff can flip on a dime," Cohen told the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger. "I'll tell you something, Zach Jackson, I was just watching him on tape, the best breaking ball in the SEC, probably the best closer in America a year ago.
"I'm looking at Dominic Taccolini, we recruited him hard, and this dude at any moment in time could be one of the best starters in the Southeastern Conference.
"I'm just seeing, here's a team that's won seven [SEC] games that has many, many pieces that can beat us this weekend. That's why it's so hard. You get so excited about what could happen this weekend and then you start breaking down Arkansas and you go, 'Holy crap!'
"This is not a seven-win team. This is a team that could beat anyone in the country and that's why our league is so good."
Sports on 05/19/2016