FAYETTEVILLE — The toughest road trip of the year is over, with plenty of good and plenty of not so good. That was the take from Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn and a few players on Tuesday after a day of rest.
“We got back at 4 a.m. Monday morning,” said junior Jax Biggers. “I got to bed about 4:15 and went right to sleep and was up by 10 (a.m.) to attend class.”
That puts some of it in perspective. Biggers was the one who said it was their toughest road trip.
“I say that because it was all commercial with layovers,” Biggers said. “We usually go on charter for our league games and that's not so tough. We had a flight change on the way out and had a long layover in Denver.”
The Hogs went 2-2 and got wins in the most important games, then played giveaway in a pair of one-run losses. They now play five games in a row starting with Dayton on Wednesday. Biggers said that's fine.
"We are at home so playing every day is fine with me," he said. "I'd like to play 20 straight. I know we don't do that, but I love to play games so we are excited about the home stand."
Van Horn did label the two California wins as the most important of last weekend since the Hogs beat Arizona, 1-0, in a neutral site game on Wednesday that was not part of the Tony Gwynn Classic. Then, they beat host San Diego State on its home field on Saturday in the only game of the weekend that will be called a road victory in the NCAA formula to pick the postseason tournament.
“The two losses (to Cal-Poly and San Diego) were both one-run games and we didn't hit,” Van Horn said. “That's the positive, that they were close despite us not hitting and not playing good defense. And, then there is the other positives that we beat the two best teams and got a true road win.”
The trip started in great fashion with junior pitcher Kacey Murphy combining with sophomore closer to blank Arizona on two hits. Arizona has been in the last two College World Series.
“They were chirping and yelling from their dugout to start the game,” Van Horn said. “They were yelling stuff like, 'We aren't Bucknell.' And, Kacey went out there and stuck it to them. He really pitched well.”
Murphy pitched well enough that he's sliding into the weekend slot in the rotation on Sunday. Keaton McKinney didn't pitch in California after starting against Bucknell on Sunday in the first weekend. He's experienced soreness in the pitching elbow that was fixed last winter with Tommy John surgery.
“Keaton's got some soreness and that's normal,” Van Horn said. “He might pitch in a game this week, but we may hold him for the next weekend. It's just something you experience with this kind of surgery. We had him looked at and they said it was nothing unusual, just part of the process.”
The Hogs (5-2) play five straight starting with two against Dayton, then three against Southern Cal. First pitch on Wednesday against Dayton is 3 p.m.
Van Horn said he hadn't announced the starting rotation against Dayton, but it's likely to be freshman Caleb Bolden on Wednesday.
“That's probably what I'll do,” he said. “As for Thursday, we will wait and see.”
It will be what is likely to be the regular weekend rotation for USC: Blaine Knight on Friday, Isaiah Campbell on Saturday and Murphy on Sunday.
Van Horn thinks the Hogs will come around with the bats after getting spotty play in California.
“We've had some older guys who just haven't hit yet like they can,” he said, mentioning Dominic Fletcher and Grant Koch.
“We had some guys hit, but we didn't get six or seven going out there. You don't ever get them all going at the same time, but if we can get six or seven at the same time, then we will get on a roll.
“The hitting will improve and I think we tried to get some young guys some experience that will help down the line and that's where our errors came from. We had a freshman pitcher make a couple and a freshman catcher make one.”
Some things are starting to fall in place as far as roles with the pitching staff.
“Matt Cronin closed two games and was really good,” Van Horn said. “Jake Reindl can close, too. We like them in those roles.”
Jared Gates might be the regular first baseman. Evan Lee has also played there, but Gates has been the better defender.
“We know Gates doesn't have speed, but he fields everything he gets to,” Van Horn said. “So he might be there.”
The Hogs have seen lots of lefty pitching so far, something that Van Horn doesn't worry about on the long term despite lots of lefty hitters in the lineup on a regular basis.
“Our guys can hit lefty pitching,” he said. “We've seen that. I think as we see more, we'll be fine. I do know that the San Diego coach commented about our lineup. He said we seem to have a gazillion lefties. We have a lot.”
Starting pitcher Blaine Knight said he's pleased with his first two outings, despite getting a no decision in the loss on Friday to Cal-Poly.
"I think I'm on schedule as far as my routine and program," he said. "I was off on my separation (in the windup) in the first inning on Friday. I wasn't great, but I was OK."
There was some obvious frustration from Knight on the strike zone and a couple of balk calls.
"I got one for waiting too long for Coach Van Horn to get off the field," he said. "I didn't want to pitch until he was out of the way and I got a delay of game call. That's kind of weird. And, the strike zone was very small. I was frustrated and I've got to learn from that.
"Really, it was a trip for a lot of us to learn. We made some errors and we'll do better as we go along.
"As far as my routine, the program I've been on this spring has been less aggressive. So I'm still building up. I threw right at 90 pitches last week. I just don't quite have the velocity I did to start last season and it's because of my program. It's designed to build (velocity) later.
"I thought I could have gone out for another inning last week. I argued for 10 minutes with (pitching coach Wes) Johnson in the dugout. I wanted another inning. But he was right and I was wrong. You don't want to try to do too much this early."