FAYETTEVILLE -- Tyler Spoon wasn't along for the ride to Omaha, Neb., when Arkansas played in the College World Series in 2012, and that memory brought tears to Coach Dave Van Horn's eyes Sunday night.
After Arkansas beat Missouri State 3-2 in an NCAA Super Regional game at Baum Stadium to earn its first College Series since 2012, Van Horn and Spoon shared an emotional embrace before the Razorbacks met as a team in right field.
"Coach came over and hugged me and said, 'Spoon, we got you there buddy,' " Spoon said. "It was something I'll never forget.
"It was an awesome moment in my life."
Spoon, a fourth-year junior right fielder from Van Buren, redshirted in 2012. When the Razorbacks went to Omaha, he was 3,400 miles to the north playing for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in the Alaskan Baseball League.
"I'll never forget, Tyler sent me a text," Van Horn said Sunday night, his voice cracking. "It said something like, 'Hey Coach, congratulations on getting to Omaha. Best of luck. I wish I was there.'
"It broke my heart, I'll be honest with you. I'm extremely happy to get him to the College World Series."
About 35 games into the 2012 season with the Razorbacks struggling offensively, Van Horn talked to Spoon about the possibility of taking off his redshirt and playing.
"I called him up in the office and I said, 'Hey, Tyler, I think you can get in the lineup,' " Van Horn said. "'I think I can play you a lot. I don't know what to do.
" 'How do you feel about it, taking you off a redshirt?' He just acted kid of funny. His look talked me out of it.
"I said 'Tyler, get out of here. I'm not going to un-redshirt you.' "
Spoon said Tuesday in recalling the meeting that he probably had a shocked look on his face. He didn't know why Van Horn wanted to see him but wasn't expecting his coach to talk to him about playing the latter part of the season.
"I was speechless," Spoon said. "The look on my face was probably like, 'Are you sure about this? What's going on?'
"But I would have done whatever he wanted me to do for the team. If he really wanted me to play, I would have done it in a heartbeat."
Arkansas senior left fielder Joe Serrano -- the only remaining Razorback who played in the 2012 College World Series -- and Spoon are the last members of their recruiting class still on the team.
"We both came in here together and we were just trying to do whatever we could to get into the lineup," said Serrano, who became a starter late in the 2012 season. "Tyler worked as hard as he could. I felt like he was a guy that should have been there with us in Omaha.
"It was really emotional Sunday, especially seeing DVH in the huddle after the game and seeing Tyler. I teared up a little bit, because it's a special moment for this team, but it's a really special moment for one of my good friends. I'm just really excited for Tyler that he's going to get this opportunity that he should have gotten our freshman year."
Van Horn's emotion Sunday night seemed to indicate he felt some remorse for not playing Spoon in 2012 and depriving him of a chance to play in the College World Series, even though Spoon's reaction showed he wanted to continue redshirting.
Spoon said he felt happy for his teammates in 2012, not sorry for himself.
"I was super excited for the guys," said Spoon, who watched the Razorbacks' games in Omaha on his cell phone in the dugout before his Alaska Baseball League games started. "I wanted them to succeed and get there to Omaha, and they did. So I was just happy for them more than anything.
"For sure I wanted to be there, but I hadn't played all spring, so I was ready to go to Alaska and play. I was cheering them on from Alaska."
Spoon has been key in helping the Razorbacks advance to the College World Series, batting .331 in the cleanup spot with 6 home runs, 20 doubles and 54 RBI. He has committed one error for a .992 fielding percentage and has five assists throwing out runners from right field.
"People have no idea how much the Razorback uniform means to Tyler Spoon," Arkansas hitting coach Tony Vitello said. "I think it means so much that it even hurt him sometimes."
Spoon hit .256 last season with 3 home runs and 37 RBI after hitting .288 with 4 home runs and 47 RBI in 2013 when he was a redshirt freshman.
"This year he's kind of shed that pressure he puts on himself and has just gone out and played baseball, and he's pretty dang good at playing baseball," Vitello said. "He's a hard worker that's very skilled, great kid, very coachable.
"But the one main difference is how he sees himself on the field. He sees himself as Tyler Spoon, a great Razorback, as opposed to Tyler Spoon, a guy who has to live up to what he's always dreamed of doing."
Spoon said playing in the College World Series has been a dream, and he's going to get a chance to live it when Arkansas plays Virginia at 2 p.m. Saturday in Ameritrade Ballpark.
"Everything that happened the other day was just more than I could have ever imagined," Spoon said of the celebration after winning the super regional. "To be able to finally go to Omaha is just awesome."
Sports on 06/10/2015