FAYETTEVILLE — Baseball coaches rarely win arguments with umpires. That has been clear throughout the NCAA regional this weekend at Baum Stadium.
But after losing several key arguments at crucial points in three close games, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn got a rare reversal from an umpire. It may have been pivotal as the Razorbacks rallied for a 11-10 victory over Missouri State to stave off elimination in the wee hours of Monday morning.
The question concerned whether or not rain would delay the game a third time in a 10-hour period. When rain intensified in the top of the eighth inning as MSU rallied for an 8-7 lead over Arkansas, home plate ump Ramon Armendariz waved for the Baum Stadium grounds crew to bring on the tarp.
It didn't happen. Almost out of view on the bottom level of the home dugout, Van Horn went into a yelling fit that got Armendariz' attention, eventually bringing the ump from one side of the infield to the edge of the UA dugout. Van Horn won.
It was clear what Van Horn argued. His team had played in wet conditions all day – beating Oral Roberts 4-3 to stay alive in the late afternoon – then slipping around in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings as MSU rallied from a 6-3 deficit to take the lead.
Arkansas reliever Matt Cronin had fallen while trying to execute a pitch earlier in the game. It was clear the Hogs were struggling in the conditions in the top of the eighth. Left fielder Jake Arledge had trouble with a wet baseball, over throwing home plate twice and also allowing a liner to skip past him for another error.
Couldn't the Bears play in the rain, too? And, could the field be worked back into a playable condition in a matter of minutes?
Yes, came the eventual ruling by Armendariz. It helped that the rain subsided during the argument. Van Horn was right and by the time Pat Berger's ace grounds crew brought out bags of drying ingredients, the rain had almost stopped. Well, sort of. It came in went for the rest of the game, making everything more difficult.
The Bears would eventually have to play in a light rain, something ace pitcher Jake Fromson couldn't handle with his regular mechanics in the bottom of the eighth when the Hogs plated four runs for a 11-8 lead, enough to secure the victory.
Fromson, the pitcher of the year in the Missouri Valley Conference, gave up a two-run homer and also threw two wild pitches to allow an inherited runner to score. His stretch position included holding the exposed ball behind his hip while waiting on the sign from the catcher. That's not what you do in the rain. It most assuredly means you pitch with a wet baseball. He held it there far too long before several pitches.
Predictably, Missouri State coach Keith Guttin was livid afterward. First to the interview room, there was an obvious intention of not answering any questions about the decision with the tarp. He didn't like the fact that the game didn't start until 9:10 p.m. and then resumed at 12:35 a.m. after a delay of almost 90 minutes. Finishing at 3:10 in the morning – a start to finish span of exactly six hours – was too much to handle.
Guttin's jaw was set when he came to the interview room. The losing coach is first, per the NCAA tournament manual. Everyone knew he was going to be terse – or worse -- when he entered without any players. The custom is to bring two.
There have been other times Guttin has been short in the interviews after NCAA tournaments at Arkansas. Remember, the Bears were less than pleased when they were unable to host the super regional two years ago when their park was being used by the minor league team that owns it. So, they were sent to Arkansas, despite owning a national seed. The Hogs packed Baum Stadium and won two of three to earn a trip to the College World Series.
Actually, Guttin handled himself remarkably well this time. He admitted he couldn't be frank, but he said enough to explain his side.
“Give Arkansas credit for coming back,” Guttin said, “but I don't think games should be decided in the rain at 3 a.m. I'd probably be suspended if I said the truth.”
Yes, the truth is that the umpire asked for the tarp and then changed his mind. Guttin was asked if that is what happened.
“Is that what you saw?” he said. “It's what I saw. I've never seen it before in 35 years.”
Yes, it's rare. But so was everything else that happened Sunday (and Monday morning) in what turned out to be two Arkansas victories. There was Chad Spanberger's moon shot homer to decide a 4-3 victory over Oral Roberts in the early game.
ORU led 3-0 after four innings, but the Hogs battered undefeated Golden Eagle starter Justin McGregor for five straight hits in the fifth to pull even. Then Spanberger blasted a 3-2 pitch from Trevor McGregor that left the stadium just to the right of the scoreboard and perhaps a little higher. It landed beyond the pond dubbed Lake Norm. I'm not sure a baseball has ever been in that spot.
The story goes that the bull frogs on the far bank were so startled they jumped back into Lake Norm.
OK, I'm not sure about that, but there will be other legends started from these two Razorback victories. It's fine to use writer's license at 5:04 a.m.
Guttin's comments will be remembered like Spanberger's big fly, but Van Horn was just as good with his explanation of the tarp debate.
“There was a lot that led up to that,” he said. “We thought earlier with the first delay that we'd go home and play tomorrow. But people were not going to have any part of that.”
Van Horn did not say who the “people” were in that debate, but it was probably the home plate umpire.
“In the top of the inning, we had to play in the rain,” he said. “It turned out not to be a big deal (to resume play) because the rain was just about stopped. By the time they put the kitty litter out, it had just about stopped.”
It's probably fair for both sides to argue that it was right or wrong to play. But the truth is that the field wasn't ever in totally unplayable condition because Baum Stadium has incredible draining capacity and an incredible ground crew.
Here's one to think about: Missouri State has slugger Jake Burger, but Arkansas has more burger power. The Hogs have Spanberger and Pat Berger's ground crew.
That came from a Rogers school teacher with a Monday assignment to write third grade curriculum. She made the decision not to leave around midnight, knowing full well the game would probably not be completed until after 3 a.m. She was right.
“How do you explain to anyone you left this game?” she said. “I want to be able to say I saw both of these games today. I'll be back tomorrow night.”
That was a misnomer. It was actually Monday by then.
The Hogs will try to break the hearts of the Bears again at Baum Stadium with the seventh game of the regional. Assuming no rain or tarp time, first pitch for the regional championship is at 6 p.m.
Will it become another great moment in Arkansas-Missouri State history? Will it be legend in what some are saying is a budding rivalry?
Arkansas leads the series, 52-25, but the Bears are good enough to warrant respect as a regional rival. Is it a rivalry game? That came up in the wee hours of Monday morning.
“I don't know if I'd call it a rivalry,” Van Horn said, noting he spends a lot of time with Missouri State coaches in recruiting and considers them friends.
“Sometimes we are hiding out a player that we don't want them to know about. I feel like we have a good relationship. I consider them to be a team that is really hard to beat and I hope they feel the same way about us.”
Guttin was asked earlier about the thoughts on the Hogs being a rival.
It probably wasn't the right time to ask that kind of question. He was still trying to figure out why the tarp didn't come out when the home plate ump asked for it.
“Usually, when the home plate asks for the tarp,” he said, “the tarp comes out.”
Usually, college baseball coaches don't win that argument. That is just one of the many things that will make this regional tournament one to remember.
There's one final thought, perhaps on how this one will be named. It might be the equal of the football teams' Miracle on Markham, a victory over LSU.
I don't think “TarpGate” does it justice. Of course, some of it might have to do with who advances out of the regional. There are possibly more key pitches to be thrown, plays to be made and arguments with the umpires.
There was one more good quote that figures in the burger theme. Freshman pitcher Evan Lee, no doubt the last available arm in the UA bullpen, fanned MSU's Justin Paulsen for the final out, his only batter, with MSU star Jake Burger waiting on deck.
Lee admitted afterward that he was more than a little hungry with all of the starts and stops all day. He said he hoped to head for a drive through of an all-night local eatery. He was hoping for a burger - a Whataburger, to be exact.
It would be the perfect capper for a night Lee said he'd never forget. Now why would anyone want to put a tarp over this one?
Just so Keith Guttin knows, the Baum Stadium field was covered by tarp when the sun came up at 6 a.m. - with rain pouring down. The good news for the Bears, there's only a 5 percent chance of rain for the first pitch at 6 p.m. They should not have to play in the rain.