SEC coaches say Hogs' slide a blip

Arkansas baseball players watch from the dugout during the ninth inning of a loss to Alabama on Sunday, May 15, 2016, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

— If any baseball coach in the SEC can relate to what Arkansas’ Dave Van Horn endured this season, it’s Mississippi State’s John Cohen.

Cohen’s Bulldogs, who swept Arkansas last weekend to win the SEC championship, last season were where Van Horn’s Razorbacks now find themselves — dead last in the 14-team conference.

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Mississippi State finished 21-9 in SEC play this season after going 8-22 in 2015.

The Razorbacks, one season removed from playing in the College World Series, finished 7-23 in the SEC.

“I think there’s about an inch difference between us and Arkansas and the so-called bottom of this league to the top,” Cohen said. “You could tell they’re a very talented group that was off just an inch.

“Quite frankly, if they were in many other leagues in America, they’re probably at .500 or above and in the NCAA Tournament.

“But if you’re an inch off in the SEC, you’re going to get punched in the mouth a lot.”

The Razorbacks (26-29) lost their final 13 games, the longest streak for an Arkansas team according to records going back to 1960.

Arkansas went 1-17 against six SEC teams ranked in the USA Today coaches’ poll top 10: No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 3 Mississippi State, No. 7 LSU, No. 9 South Carolina and No. 10 Ole Miss.

The Razorbacks’ lone victory against those SEC powerhouses was 9-5 over Texas A&M April 30 in the opener of a doubleheader at Baum Stadium. That also was Arkansas’ last victory of the season.

“This year for Arkansas is just kind of reminiscent of what can happen in this league,” Alabama Coach Mitch Gaspard said. “It’s such a tough league, and if get sideways in a couple of areas, it can really build in a hurry and then all of sudden it just becomes a real challenge to win games.

“This league is just not very forgiving. You look at each series and it basically comes down to a pitch or a play or an at-bat and that’s the difference in the game.”

The Crimson Tide swept a three-game series at Arkansas for the first time since 2000 after the Razorbacks were swept at LSU.

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Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn reacts to a call during a game against Eastern Illinois on Sunday, March 6, 2016, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

“Two of our games with Arkansas could have gone either way,” Gaspard said. “But when you get on the wrong side of those two or three weekends in a row, it really plays on the kids mentally.”

Arkansas appeared on its way to a doubleheader sweep of the Aggies, but lost the second game 11-8 in 11 innings after leading 6-2 through three innings.

Other gut-wrenching SEC losses for the Razorbacks 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

— 10-9 in 10 innings at LSU when they led 9-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning

— 7-4 to Alabama when they led 4-3 going into the ninth

“They found a lot of different ways to lose,” Texas A&M Coach Rob Childress said. “But at the end of the day, I would say the pitching was the most inconsistent thing for them.”

Arkansas, which ranked last in the SEC with a 5.02 earned run average, officially will see its streak of NCAA Tournament appearances end at 14 years when the 64-team field is announced next week.

The Razorbacks had the SEC’s longest NCAA Tournament streak and fifth-longest streak in the nation behind Miami (43), Florida State (38), California State-Fullerton (24) and Rice (21).

“It was a tremendous streak,” Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said of the Razorbacks’ run ending. “Unfortunately, it happens to all of us. It happened to Arkansas this year.

“I don’t know if anybody saw it coming.”

The Razorbacks opened the season 8-0, including victories over Rice, Houston and Texas Tech at a tournament in Houston. Texas Tech is No. 12 in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index — a ranking determined by a team’s record and strength of schedule — and Rice is No. 32.

Arkansas also had non-conference victories over Oklahoma State (No. 28 RPI) and Creighton (No. 30), but was doomed by its SEC struggles.

Van Horn suffered his first losing record in 28 seasons as a head coach.

“This year is an aberration for him,” LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said. “It’s just one of those things where things turned south and he had a lot of bad breaks.

“It’s hard to explain except for the fact that he’s coaching in an extremely challenging and difficult conference, and this has happened to a lot of people. All of a sudden a year like this pops up.”

South Carolina had its streak of NCAA Tournament appearances end at 15 years last season when the Gamecocks were 13-17 in conference play and lost to Missouri in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

“No one has more respect for Dave Van Horn and the Arkansas program than we do,” South Carolina Coach Chad Holbrook said. “We certainly know how things can get away from you in this league and snowball as it did to us last year.”

South Carolina came back this season to go 20-9 in the SEC and win the East title.

“We just played better baseball,” Holbrook said. “I think we had a more cohesive locker room. We had kids that held themselves accountable.”

Holbrook said the Gamecocks benefitted from an influx of talent, but had strong leadership from returning players motivated by what happened last season.

“We had a group of individuals returning that didn’t want to go through that again,” Holbrook said. “I think ultimately that was the difference.”

Van Horn had a streak of coaching in 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including his last four seasons at Nebraska and his first 13 at Arkansas.

“When you can go 10, 15 years in a row out of the SEC, you can say you’re a great baseball program,” Holbrook said. “That’s what Arkansas can say.

“There’s no question in my mind Arkansas will be back among the nation’s elite real soon. Dave’s a great coach and that’s too good of a program.”

Van Horn has a combined six College World Series appearances since 2001: two at Nebraska and four at Arkansas.

“This year is a little blip on their radar, because Dave will make them great again real quick,” Cohen said.

Childress was Van Horn’s pitching coach for 10 seasons at Texarkana College, Northwestern (La.) State and Nebraska.

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Texas A&M coach Rob Childress, left, and Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn shake hands prior to a game Saturday, April 30, 2016, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

“Dave’s not only my best friend, he’s one of the best coaches in the country,” Childress said. “Without question he’ll have Arkansas back.

“He’s a great recruiter, he’s a great motivator and he’s a winner. You throw those three things in the mix, it’s a pretty simple answer.”

Mainieri said Mississippi State winning SEC West and overall titles and South Carolina winning the East a season after both missed the NCAA Tournament are evidence Arkansas can make a quick turnaround.

“My prediction is next year Arkansas will be right back in the middle of it,” Mainieri said. “I’m not saying I hope Arkansas wins the West, because I hope LSU does.

“But I know Arkansas will be back being their normal tough, competitive selves next year under Dave Van Horn’s leadership.”