FAYETTEVILLE — It comes up now and then, that Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn has mellowed a bit. There was even a time when an assistant coach suggested that I write that.
I balked. It was not believable, because of times like after the Razorbacks were beaten by Ole Miss, 9-1, Thursday night at Baum Stadium.
Van Horn is no less fiery now than he was when he arrived at Arkansas 15 years ago. He's got a competitive fire that burns every day, every game.
The UA skipper didn't seem mellow when he entered the post-game interview. UA third baseman Jared Gates said as much at the end of his turn at the microphone.
“He kind of challenged us to compete,” Gates said. “He wanted to see more energy. He said he got the vibes that we didn't have that tonight. He challenged us. We will answer the call tomorrow.”
One thing to remember, good pitching will make you look flat. Ole Miss has great pitching, with the SEC's best ERA, just under 3.
The Hogs managed only two hits, one of them a solo homer by Gates in the fifth inning. That was really the only whimper against Ole Miss ace James McArthur. The right-handed pitcher poured in fast balls for eight innings to hand cuff one of the SEC's best hitting lineups, including a stacked deck of lefty hitters.
Van Horn had five left-handed hitters in the lineup. Only Gates got a hit off of McArthur. Chad Spanberger doubled in the ninth off of reliever Will Etheridge for the only other Razorback hit.
Van Horn didn't hint of that challenge in his interview. All he said when asked what he thought the Hogs would bring in Friday's doubleheader – set to begin at noon – was a hope. He said it twice.
“I hope we bounce back,” Van Horn said. “That's what I hope we do, we should do.”
The Hogs had won the opening game of five straight SEC series, but have faltered of late. Blaine Knight gave up a two-run homer in the second, but that was it for seven innings. There was another two-out homer in the eighth, before reliever Josh Alberius gave up another pair of two-run bombs in the ninth.
“It is what it is,” Knight said. “You have to put it aside. That's what I'll do.
“Tonight our guys didn't produce many runs and I just tried to keep it where it was, keep us in the game.”
That was what Van Horn said Knight did with five straight goose eggs. He threw 77 of his 110 pitches for strikes, but left two mistakes up and over the plate. Both left the park.
But McArthur was better, with 72 of his 114 pitches for strikes.
“The scoreboard said he was just throwing 90 to 91, but it was deceptive,” Van Horn said. “It looked better than that. We were off balance.
“It was a lot of first pitch strikes. He'd get ahead, with everything down. He didn't leave anything up, then he'd waste the fast ball up and out of the zone. Very few curve balls and a few change-ups.”
Gates said he pounced on a rare curve ball for his home run.
“The fast ball was good, good velocity,” he said. “His fast ball had rise to it, some spin and a lot of movement. I got a curve ball.”
Van Horn said the end result looks like a blowout.
“I guess it turned out that way, but it was a well pitched game into the eighth,” he said. “It was 2-1 for a long time. Blaine gave us a chance. He made the mistake in the second, an 0-2 pitch. And, then he battled back. He kind of ran out of gas in the eighth, but he pitched well.”
Knight said, “I messed up on two pitches and they did what an SEC teams does when you make a mistake.”
Gates said the Hogs talked after the game about staying with what had given them the SEC lead for the first month.
“We are going to stay with our approach,” he said. “The scoreboard doesn't reflect how we played. We hit some balls hard, right at them.”
Maybe so, but it was still a season low for hits. Spanberger hit a couple of long outs and Carson Shaddy tagged one right at the right fielder. There were eight ground outs to short and second, proof that McArthur was down in the zone.
The only good thing in the result was that the Hogs did get decent starting pitching, something that didn't happen last weekend when Knight along with starters Trevor Stephan and Alberius were done quickly.
Stephan will get the start in the opener at noon. He's been so-so of late, with some of the velocity missing from what was an electric fast ball early in the season. Lefty Kacey Murphy (4-0) will get the second start, although Van Horn doesn't promise that he won't use him in the first game if it's a chance to record a victory.
Ole Miss has a pair of lefty starters set to go Friday against the Hogs. Auburn's left-handers handcuffed the Hogs last weekend.
I'd bet that they see an aggressive bunch of Razorbacks. That was what Jared Gates promised. It's what Dave Van Horn demanded.