FAYETTEVILLE — As has been the case while losing four of seven to LSU and Stanford, Texas was not vintage Texas on Tuesday night at Baum Stadium.
No. 10 Arkansas walloped the Longhorns 13-4 on their first ever trip to Baum.
“No, it wasn't,” said Kevin McReynolds, back in town for a reunion of the 1979 Razorbacks, the national runners-up.
The Longhorns were always strong on pitching and defense while making 35 trips to the College World Series, mostly under Cliff Gustafson and Augie Garrido. They've won six national titles, second-most all-time.
There are reminders of the glory years on coach David Pierce's second Texas team, but not on the mound. Second baseman Kody Clemens is the son of former great Roger Clemens. None of the five UT pitchers Tuesday night had anything close to Clemens-like gas.
It seems like every time the Hogs have faced UT in the past there was someone like Clemens or other future major leaguers on the mound like Calvin Schiraldi, Burt Hooten, Greg Swindell or Huston Street.
The Hogs aren't out of the woods yet. The best of the young UT staff may await on Wednesday. Freshman right-hander Nico O'Donnell (1-0, 2.13 ERA) awaits. He shut down Stanford for four innings last Thursday, but did not get the win in the only game the Longhorns won in the four-game set with the No. 3 Cardinal.
“They are throwing a pretty good one tomorrow,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “They were up 4-0 when he left the game. We'll have our hands full.”
Pierce was displeased with the pitching, especially six walks. The Longhorns could not get their breaking pitches over the plate. There were a handful of breakers bouncing in front of the plate.
"First of all, we gave them too much; we just gave them way too many free passes," Pierce said. "They're a very quality team. Dave does such a great job. They pitch, play defense and have really got some guys in the lineup that can hurt you if you don't pitch them right. They did that tonight so we have to bounce back and be ready to play them tomorrow."
The Longhorns will have to play better defense than they did Tuesday night. They threw the ball around like a little league team in a couple of innings. They committed two errors and that played into a seven-run third that put some warmth in the 5,140 mostly red-clad fans on a cool night.
The Hogs took advantage of three walks in the third with Jordan McFarland delivering the big hit, a bases-clearing double on a 3-2 pitch with all the runners on the move.
McFarland was in the lineup partly after hitting two homers in relief of the injured Jared Gates on Sunday. But, Van Horn indicated that Gates is still nursing the sore hamstring.
The Hogs put it out of reach with four runs in the fifth, including three on a towering homer by Casey Martin. With Martin standing at the plate to watch, the ball drifted from over the seats down the line to just nicking the foul pole about 10 feet above the UT left fielder standing in foul territory.
“It was a northwest wind,” Van Horn said. “When it's like that, you see the ball drift back into the field of play. You know I'm part weather man. It clipped the foul pole, pretty amazing.”
Eric Cole, who had three hits and 3 RBI, was on deck.
“I thought there was no chance it was going to be fair,” Cole said. “You know, Casey has hit the foul pole about three times.”
Cole hails from Southlake, Texas. Asked if it was a big deal to beat the Longhorns, he downplayed the emotion.
“They didn't talk to me,” he said of the recruiting process. “I don't know any of their players. Like a lot of teams that come in here, I think there is some jealousy in what we have here.”
Interestingly, McFarland, an Illinois native, seemed to feel the rivalry a little more.
“I knew there was some excitement with the fans,” he said. “I got out of class and came by the park about 9 a.m. We already had fans here.”
Arkansas starter Kacey Murphy, strong over six innings, grew up in nearby Rogers.
“I've heard about the rivalry,” he said. “I remember 2012 when we played them (in Houston).”
There's enough to know the wins over Texas are sweet. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 54-29. The Hogs are 13-15 against the Longhorns in Fayetteville ahead of Wednesday's game.
Freshman lefty Hunter Milligan will get the start for the Hogs, but don't expect him to go long. Van Horn said it will be a day to work the staff with an eye toward a big series this weekend against No. 4 Kentucky.
One of the best of the freshman pitchers won't throw for the Hogs against the Longhorns. Jackson Rutledge is battling a sore arm after pitching twice against Southern Cal.
“We may give him off until the weekend and maybe through the weekend,” Van Horn said. “He may not throw until Charlotte.”
Too bad. He's something that reminds of vintage Texas, all those heat throwers the Hogs saw through the years.
There were some fans who openly spoke of Rutledge going against the Longhorns during the late innings as the Hogs romped. There are many who still remember seeing UT's legends.
“I sure do,” said Scott Tabor, a freshman on the great UA team of '79. “What we thought Gustafson did was take all of his scholarships and get the top 10 pitchers in Texas every year. They sure were good.
“This is fun because I remember taking some lumps from them. Heck, they couldn't hit much back then and I'd pitch knowing they wouldn't score much, but you might not score more than one against them. They pitched that well.”
There's one more game before any old-time Hog fans are going to say the Longhorns can't pitch like that now. Texas didn't look like Texas on Tuesday night, but it's not over.
“That's what I know about Texas,” one fan said. “I've seen good Texas baseball for a long time even if they did struggle tonight. Baseball can change on the next pitcher.”