Coach Dave Van Horn had a good feeling Monday morning. That feeling resulted in a renewed confidence throughout the day — and with every passing inning Monday night — as the Razorbacks defeated Washington State 7-2 in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional championship.
Arkansas will travel to play Arizona State later this week, with Game 1 of the Super Regional in Tempe, Ariz., scheduled for an 8 p.m. CT start on Saturday.
The team is thankful for the extra day of rest, but Van Horn was probably more focused on the special day that was Monday.
“This morning we were eating breakfast and I had two or three guys come up to me and say, ‘I can play. I can pitch,’” Van Horn said. “Basically, I had a really good feeling coming into tonight like we were going to win because I knew the team really wanted to win — guys that are high-profile guys that are willing to lay it out on the line and pitch on a day’s rest or do whatever they have to do on an injury. I was really proud of them.”
We talked about this in my column late Sunday night, but it bears repeating: Arkansas needed a gut-check Monday night, especially from injured stars Brett Eibner and Zack Cox.
The Hogs delivered in front of 6,774 at Baum Stadium, Cox was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 25th pick in the MLB Draft and Eibner got to move from center field and close out his career at home by pitching in the final inning.
It was a good night for the Razorbacks, who are headed to their third Super Regional in Van Horn’s eighth season at the helm. Arkansas has advanced to the College World Series in its previous two appearances in a Super Regional. Will Arkansas make it a third trip to Omaha — this time on the road against the No. 1 national seed?
“I’ve still got a lot of unfinished business here at Arkansas, because I’ve got a lot of goals I haven’t accomplished here,” said Cox after the win and his selection by the Cardinals in the MLB Draft. “I want to win a national championship. There’s a lot of things I want to do.”
You can read more about the win in the Tuesday edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and WholeHogSports.com. I’ll have more thoughts, quotes and a column on the blog and WholeHogSports.com in the morning. I’ll also post some video.
Until then, here’s the Tempe Super Regional schedule and an open line for you to post your thoughts.
TEMPE SUPER REGIONAL
all times Central
Saturday
Arkansas at No. 1 Arizona State (50-8)
8 p.m. (ESPNU),
Sunday
Arkansas at No. 1 Arizona State (50-8)
9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Monday (if necessary)
Arkansas at No. 1 Arizona State (50-8)
6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Make sure to check out WholeHogSports.com and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more coverage. You can also follow us on Twitter for breaking news updates with @bmarcello and @wholehogsports.
