Hot start lifts Hogs back to polls, prominence

20-5 start lifts Hogs back to prominence

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn argues with the plate umpire after Grant Koch was initially called out after hitting a ball off the screen that was caught by New Orleans catcher John Cable Wednesday, March 22, 2017, during the fifth inning at Baum Stadium.

FAYETTEVILLE -- There are six college baseball polls and the Arkansas Razorbacks (20-5, 5-1 SEC) have started so well they're ranked in all of them.

It's a big turnaround after the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville lost its final 13 games last season to finish 26-29 and missed playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

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"It's nice to see us up there again getting some respect," Razorbacks junior infielder Chad Spanberger said. "We've proven we can play with anybody.

"We're a good team, just like everybody else is in our conference."

The Razorbacks are ranked No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll and by DIBaseball.com, the National College Baseball Writers Association and Perfect Game . They're ranked No. 17 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 21 by Baseball America.

"It's all nice," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "But it's still early."

Sophomore shortstop Jax Biggers, a transfer from Cisco (Texas) Junior College, said the Razorbacks don't want to make too much of being in the national polls after playing 2 of 10 SEC series.

"It's just a number by your name," Biggers said. "We're focused on one game at a time."

Arkansas, picked to finish fifth in the SEC West in a preseason coaches' poll, is tied for the division lead with Auburn. The Razorbacks have won their first two SEC series -- sweeping three games from Mississippi State and taking two of three at Missouri -- for the first time since 2012 despite losing pitchers Isaiah Campbell, Keaton McKinney and Cody Scroggins to season-ending injuries.

"I think the team just said, 'Hey, we're going to keep rolling,' " Van Horn said. "That's been the mantra around our locker room.

"We'll go with what we've got and we'll fight you until the end. It's a pretty resilient team."

The Razorbacks beat Missouri 9-8 on Sunday after leading 9-3 going into the eighth inning.

"OK, six outs to go," Biggers recalled telling second baseman Carson Shaddy. "Those were the longest six outs I've ever had in my life, but we were able to get out of it."

LSU rallied to beat Arkansas 10-9 in 10 innings last season after the Razorbacks led 9-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. There was no repeat of that blown game at Missouri.

"I heard a couple guys in the locker room saying, 'Last year we lose that game,' " Biggers said.

Van Horn said as Missouri mounted its comeback the Razorbacks kept their composure, even though two of Missouri's runs in the eighth inning scored on a wild pitch swinging strike three from Cannon Chadwick that would have been the third out.

"Even though they were rallying on us, we thought we were going to win the game," Van Horn said. "Last year's team, it seemed like when we ran into those situations, we didn't recover. This is a new year."

Arkansas is winning with a combination of power hitting and improved pitching.

The Razorbacks have hit 39 home runs in 25 games -- led by Grant Koch (8), Shaddy (6) and Dominic Fletcher (6) -- after hitting 49 in 55 games last season. Their earned run average has dropped to 3.32 from compared to 5.00 a year ago.

"We throw a lot more strikes than we did last year," Van Horn said. "That's what jumps out to me.

"All of our guys come in and they get after that strike zone pretty good and they make the other team swing the bat."

The Razorbacks continue SEC play at Alabama (12-12, 1-5), where they open a three-game series Friday night.

"We have 24 more to go in the league and a lot of tough out-of-league games coming up," Van Horn said. "You just have to keep an even keel as best you can and win as many as you can.

"That's what we're trying to tell them every day."

Sports on 03/29/2017