Dave Van Horn has lost 433 games in addition to winning 826 in 21 seasons as the University of Arkansas baseball coach.
The latest loss, 9-8 to Georgia on Saturday at Foley Field in Athens, Ga,, was among the toughest, at least in the regular season.
Georgia (23-17, 7-11 SEC) scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning — including a grand slam by Connor Tate against Ben Bybee — to rally from an 8-4 deficit.
On Bybee’s next pitch after Tate’s 13th home run of the season tied the score, Parks Harber hit a game-winning home run.
Christian Foutch and Bybee, both freshmen, failed to record an out in the ninth inning.
“It was one of the tougher ones,” Van Horn, who was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing a called strikeout on Jace Bohrofen, said of the loss. “It was really one of the tougher ones because of where we are.”
The No. 5 Razorbacks (30-11, 11-7) played the series without starting left fielder Jared Wegner (broken thumb) and catcher Parker Rowland (back), and lost center fielder Tavian Josenberger (hamstring) in the fourth inning Saturday. They also have been down three pitchers with season-ending injuries to Jaxon Wiggins and Koty Frank and Brady Tygart out since March 1.
“We fought like crazy,” Van Horn said. “I mean, we’ve got [injury] issues and we still almost won the game.
“I thought we fought well. We played pretty well. It’s just, we didn’t finish.”
The last SEC team to score five runs in the ninth to come back to beat Arkansas was LSU, when the Tigers won 10-8 in 2017 at Fayetteville. Arkansas led 8-5 going into the ninth inning.
“I’m telling you that was unbelievable,” Georgia Coach Scott Stricklin said of the Bulldogs’ rally Saturday. “Unbelievable. I hardly know what to say or how to describe it.
“I do know this — the wind was blowing and I thought before the game that it might turn into a slugfest. It did, just at the end. Tate and Parks got two fastballs up and got ahold of them.”
Sophomore left-hander Hagen Smith, who has pitched in relief in five of Arkansas’ SEC victories, started Saturday and went five innings after not appearing in the first two games of the series, which the Bulldogs won 6-5 and 7-3.
“Some people always wonder, ‘Why do you save that really good pitcher and don’t start him?’ ” Van Horn said of using Smith to close if the Razorbacks have a lead. “Well, there you go. You’ve got to be able to finish the game.”
Freshman Gage Wood replaced Smith in the sixth inning with Arkansas leading 3-2.
Van Horn said the pitching plan was for Wood to pitch three innings and then have Foutch for the ninth.
But Foutch came in with two outs in the seventh inning with two runners on base and Arkansas leading 5-4 after Wood went 1 2/3 innings on 52 pitches.
“The issue was we needed three innings out of Wood and we only got five outs,” Van Horn said. “So it put a lot of stress on Foutch having to throw more pitches than we were planning.
“I think he just obviously got a little tired there at the end, and what happened after that, happened. There were some mistakes made.
“Then give Georgia credit, man. Those dudes, they got their hits, and they got the big hit.”
Foutch struck out Will David to end the seventh inning, then Arkansas third baseman Caleb Cali hit a three-run home run in the eighth to push the Razorbacks’ lead to 8-4.
After Foutch retired the Bulldogs in order in the eighth inning, it looked like the Razorbacks would avoid being swept in an SEC series for the first time since they lost three in a row at Mississippi State in 2018.
But Georgia loaded the bases against Foutch to open the ninth inning as Mason LaPlante walked and Ben Anderson and Charlie Condon followed with singles.
Bybee came in and gave up Tate’s third grand slam in SEC play this season on a 1-2 pitch.
“You’re ahead 1-2 in the count, the pitch is supposed to be down and away,” Van Horn said. “It ended up being kind of up and in, and the ball left the yard.”
Sophomore Dylan Carter, who pitched 2 2/3 innings Thursday night, has been one of the Razorbacks’ best relievers, but Van Horn said he wasn’t available Saturday. Carter has thrown 21 1/3 innings in eight SEC games.
“We were letting him rest,” Van Horn said. “He’s pitched a lot for us. He’s having just a little bit of soreness, and he hasn’t had much soreness, just normal stuff.
“But we just felt like we didn’t want to hurt him, obviously, and we didn’t feel like we could put him in there.”
Georgia, which is 6-3 in its past three SEC series against Kentucky, Florida and Arkansas, swept a top five-ranked team for the first time since 1993 against Mississippi State.
It was the Bulldogs’ first sweep of Arkansas for the. Their first sweep of the Razorbacks was in 2000.
“I think everyone knows we’re a good team, and we’re starting to show it,” Stricklin said. “And that’s a top-five team that we just beat. They’re really good and they’re going to be a regional host.”
The Razorbacks went ahead 5-3 in the seventh inning when they loaded the bases on Kendall Diggs’ walk and singles by Cali and Brady Slavens. Diggs scored on Polk’s sacrifice fly and Cali scored when he beat the throw home after a bunt by John Bolton.
Georgia made it 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning on an RBI single by Tate.
Cali hit a two-run home run — after Diggs walked — and Polk followed with a home run to put Arkansas ahead 3-2 in the fifth inning.
Georgia, which took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Charlie Condon’s two-run home run, tied it 3-3 with an unearned run in the sixth with the help of Wood’s throwing error.
Smith went 5 innings and held the Bulldogs to 3 hits, 2 runs and 3 walks with 8 strikeouts.
“I thought he did a great job,” Van Horn said. “He would tell you he didn’t have his best stuff, but his stuff was good.
“He made a mistake, gave up a two-run homer on a breaking ball that he left up. And he knew it right when it left his hand.
“But other than that, he competed hard. I thought he finished strong.”
Smith struck out the side in the fifth inning, but was up to 96 pitches.
“He used a lot of emotion and a lot of adrenaline in that last inning and we just felt like it was time to get him out,” Van Horn said. “He pitched well and gave us every opportunity to win the game.”