FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn gave home plate umpire Mike Morris an earful during the game, but decided it best to walk away from a chance to blast his tight strike zone in the post-game interviews after an 8-5 loss to South Carolina in the Fayetteville Super Regional on Sunday.
Van Horn roasted Morris during a slow walk to the mound to lift pitcher Bryce Bonnin during South Carolina's long sixth inning at the plate. Asked what he might have said later, Van Horn looked straight at the reporter and smirked.
“You think I can talk about the home plate umpire, or what?” Van Horn said. “I can't talk about him.”
Just a couple of minutes later Van Horn was asked about his confidence level as the Razorbacks take on the Gamecocks at 6 p.m. Monday with a trip to the College World Series on the line. Arkansas won, 9-3, on Saturday to open the series at Baum Stadium.
“I'm real confident,” he said. “We are resilient. It's not like we just lost our puppy. We will get over it.”
Apparently, that was the theme Van Horn delivered to his team just after the game in the post-game talk in left field. He repeated it for the media.
“This is a super regional,” Van Horn said. “Everyone is good. This is the way it's supposed to be. Get your mind right. Move on. There are only a few teams left and we are one of them.”
The Hogs didn't adjust to the Morris strike zone. Starter Kacey Murphy walked four in 4 1/3 innings. The other four UA hurlers in the game also walked at least one and the staff combined for 10. There were more than a few pitches that seemed to split the heart of the plate, but called balls.
The huge Arkansas crowd, announced at 11,481, booed Morris early and often.
Murphy seemed unsettled from the start. Usually able to work both corners, his fastball was deemed just wide on the right-handed hitters in the USC batting order.
However, Van Horn said Murphy wasn't sharp at the outset anyway. He gave up three hits in the first inning when the Gamecocks broke on top, 1-0.
“Kacey didn't command anything,” Van Horn said. “There were a lot of borderline pitches that he didn't get, but in the first inning everything was up. He had no easy innings and it was all about command.”
It was a script flip from Saturday when the Hogs won, 9-3. South Carolina hurlers walked eight (and hit two more batters) while the Hogs allowed just two free passes.
Three USC pitchers walked only two batters. Sawyer Bridges, the final reliever, went 3 1/3 innings without a free pass, probably the difference in the game. His side arm delivery kept the Hogs off balance except for Heston Kjerstad's solo homer on a 3-2 pitch in the seventh. The Hogs got an unearned run in the eighth.
Arkansas reliever Jake Reindl didn't have his usual good stuff in relief of Murphy. He faced only three batters. There was a walk to load the bases, then a grand slam by LT Tolbert and a solo homer by Hunter Taylor.
Van Horn pulled him after just 10 pitches with Monday's game in mind.
“He didn't have control or command,” Van Horn said. “He's definitely available (Monday).”
The start will go to sophomore Isaiah Campbell, pulled after just three batters in the start for last week's regional title game. Campbell's up-and-down season leaves lots of questions about what he might deliver Monday, but Van Horn talked him up.
“I feel fine about Isaiah,” Van Horn said. “He's got good stuff. We will go with what we see and feel. There is no tomorrow.”
Obviously, that means Campbell will be on a tight leash again. Yes, that's a reference to Van Horn's puppy remark. Campbell was lost in his last trip to the mound and faced only three batters in the regional championship against Dallas Baptist.
“We are going to give him the ball,” Van Horn said, “and let him go as long as he earns it.”
Campbell walked his first two batters last weekend. Van Horn made sure his 6-4 right-hander got work in the next practice.
“He threw against live hitting and looked good,” Van Horn said.
Carson Shaddy knows what kind of lineup Campbell will face. There was a tip of the hat to the Gamecocks after the game. They are the only SEC team to win at Baum Stadium this season. Arkansas' last home loss prior to Sunday was 3-2 to the Gamecocks in April.
“They are a really good team,” Shaddy said. “They don't give away any at-bats. They have older guys who know the strike zone.”
The Gamecocks figured it out Sunday when the Razorbacks could not. Shaddy said the Hogs know they are facing a tough challenge Monday.
“They are not going to hand it to us,” Shaddy said. “We wouldn't want them to. That's not who we are. We are going to play our best game of the year tomorrow.”