Diamond Hogs Notebook: Van Horn wins 800th, Stovall sits, Slavens plays 3rd

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn watches from the dugout Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, during the third inning of the Razorbacks’ 13-2 win over Eastern Illinois at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ 13-2 victory over Eastern Illinois on Friday was Dave Van Horn’s 800th win in 21 seasons as Arkansas’ coach. 

It came a little more than two full seasons after Van Horn recorded his 700th victory on March 11, 2020, in the final game before the covid-19 shutdown ended that season after 16 games. 

Van Horn’s teams had records of 50-13 in 2021 and 46-21 last year, and the Razorbacks are 4-1 this season. 

“I’ve had a lot of good players,” Van Horn said when asked about his 800th victory. “Hopefully we can talk about it again in another 100."

Van Horn has a record of 800-424 at Arkansas and 1,120-583 in 29 seasons as a Division I coach. He also had 51 victories as a Division II national championship coach at Central Missouri State in 1994, and 214 victories coaching junior college in Texarkana from 1989-93.

Arkansas lost 35 games between Van Horn’s 700th and 800th victories — the fewest of his career between similar milestone wins. The Razorbacks lost 45 games between Van Horn’s 600th victory in 2018 and his 700th in 2020.

Other loss totals for every 100 wins under Van Horn were 48, 60, 56, 56, 65 and 59. 

Van Horn is nearing other career milestones. The NCAA record book recognizes his 1,171 victories during 30 seasons combined at the Division I and Division II levels. 

He is one game shy of tying former UC Irvine and UCLA coach Gary Adams, and two games from tying former Rice coach Wayne Graham for career victories. 

With seven more victories, Van Horn will pass Andy Lopez (Pepperdine, Florida, California State-Dominguez Hills and Arizona) and Tony Robichaux (McNeese State and Louisiana-Lafayette) for 30th-most wins, according to the NCAA record book.

Stovall sits

Arkansas second baseman Peyton Stovall did not play Friday due to a left thumb injury he suffered during the Razorbacks’ victory over Grambling State on Tuesday. 

Stovall, a sophomore, had swelling on the thumb after he jammed it while diving into second base. He finished Tuesday’s game and was feeling better before he had trouble gripping a bat Friday, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said on the Razorback Sports Network prior to the game. 

During the same interview, Van Horn said Stovall might take off the entire weekend series against Eastern Illinois. 

VIDEO: Dave Van Horn, players, recap EIU Game 1

Van Horn said after the game that Stovall had a negative X-ray on the injured thumb earlier Friday. Van Horn was awaiting the results of an MRI when he spoke with reporters. 

“We think he’s going to be good, but I just didn’t want to put him out there today,” Van Horn said. 

In addition to Stovall, Van Horn said back-up shortstop Harold Coll is battling a back injury. 

“We’re a little thin in the middle right now,” Van Horn told RSN. 

Slavens at third

With Peyton Stovall out of the lineup, Arkansas modified its starting infield for the series opener. 

Ben McLaughlin started at first base, Peyton Holt started at second base and Brady Slavens started at third base. John Bolton started his fifth game at shortstop. 

It was the first start for McLaughlin, Holt and Slavens at their respective positions this season, and the first for McLaughlin and Holt — transfers from a junior college — in a Division I game. 

Slavens had not started at third base since the 2020 season at Johnson County (Kan.) Community College, and he said last month that he had also played the position during the 2019 season at Wichita State. Slavens worked at third base some during the preseason. 

“Brady played third base and shortstop in high school, and he played third base in junior college and wanted to play third base when he got here three years ago,” Van Horn said. “We had some pretty good third basemen, so we moved him around a little bit. I thought he did a good job.”

Slavens fielded both balls hit his way cleanly in the second and third innings. 

“It felt pretty good,” Slavens told the Razorback Sports Network after the game. “It kind of felt like what I’ve been used to coming into here. I mean, I came in as a third baseman and it’s just been a while.”

Slavens, who was Arkansas' starter at first baseman the first four games, was the third player to start at third base through five games. Caleb Cali and Jayson Jones have started two games apiece there. 

“I’m not saying (Slavens is) going to stay over there,” Van Horn told RSN before the game. “If it goes well, you never know. I’m just trying to get some other guys in the lineup.” 

Making a scene

Eastern Illinois coach Jason Anderson was upset with some fans located in Arkansas’ left-field Hog Pen while his team was in the field during the seventh inning Friday. 

According to Anderson, a ball was thrown three times by spectators toward EIU center fielder Lincoln Riley. That prompted Anderson to protest with home-plate umpire Mark Wagers.

“After the second time I said, ‘I’m going to make a scene if that happens a third time,’” Anderson said. “Sure enough it happened a third time, so you (saw) me running around like an idiot out there. Then somebody said something over the intercom finally.” 

This is EIU’s sixth trip to Arkansas during Anderson’s 11 seasons as an assistant or head coach. He credited the Razorbacks’ outfield atmosphere on Thursday in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in which he said, “The people there treat us awesome. They do a good job of razzing the guys in the outfield, but not in the wrong way.” 

“This was the complete opposite,” Anderson said Friday when reminded of those comments. “This was a joke. I’ve never seen that here before.”

Diggs walks off again

Kendall Diggs has hit a three-run home run to end a game twice at Baum-Walker Stadium. 

They came in much different situations. 

On April 30, 2022, Diggs entered the Razorbacks’ game against Ole Miss as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and hit a game-winning home run to right field to give Arkansas a 6-3 victory. 

On Friday, Diggs’ three-run homer to left-center field put the Razorbacks ahead 13-2 to trigger a run rule of 10 runs after seven innings. 

“I wasn’t going up there planning on hitting a home run or anything like that,” Diggs said. “Mainly I was just focused on the approach — staying back, driving something back up the middle and put a good swing on it.” 

Wiggins surgery

Arkansas junior right-hander Jaxon Wiggins underwent Tommy John surgery on his injured right elbow Wednesday. 

“He’s doing fine,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “They’ll rehab him for a day or two there, and then he’ll be back.” 

Wiggins’ surgery was performed by Texas Rangers team physician Keith Meister in the Dallas area. Rehab for the surgery typically lasts around one year, but timetables can vary in each situation. 

Wiggins is eligible for this year’s MLB Draft. Prior to his injury he was ranked the No. 61 prospect in the draft by Baseball America. 

He appeared in 34 games with 19 starts during his freshman and sophomore seasons, and recorded a 9-4 record with a 6.17 ERA in 89 innings. Wiggins has 110 career strikeouts and 57 walks. 

Wiggins showed improved consistency during fall practices after a summer of working with former MLB pitcher Dustin Moseley.

“He was going to be a weekend starter…and that (injury) came out of nowhere,” Van Horn told SiriusXM SEC Radio on Thursday. “He threw great in the fall and hadn’t even really thrown yet this January or February — a couple of light bullpens — so who knows when that happened.” 

Tom Murphy contributed