Omaha? CWS? Hogs, Bears just need to win

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn, left, greets Missouri State coach Keith Guttin before a super regional game of the NCAA college baseball tournament, in Fayetteville, Ark., Sunday, June 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn, left, greets Missouri State coach Keith Guttin before a super regional game of the NCAA college baseball tournament, in Fayetteville, Ark., Sunday, June 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' baseball team will play Missouri State tonight for the first time since the Razorbacks beat the Bears 3-2 in an NCAA super regional game last season at Baum Stadium.

That victory sent Arkansas to the College World Series.

The site and circumstances are a lot different this time. The teams are meeting at Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo., and neither is feeling super about the season.

"We both need a win in the worst way," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said.

The Razorbacks (26-18, 7-14 SEC) and Bears (28-14, 3-8 Missouri Valley) are struggling to keep alive NCAA Tournament hopes after promising starts.

Arkansas has played better of late, going 3-3 in SEC play at Kentucky and against No. 2 Texas A&M after losing eight consecutive conference games.

Missouri State has lost five in a row and is 1-7 its past eight games after being swept in a three-game series at Indiana State last weekend.

Van Horn said he can relate to how the Bears are feeling.

"They're probably just frustrated," he said. "It happens. Baseball can run in cycles a little bit. There are a lot of ups and downs are far as how guys are handling things mentally, the time of year, who you're playing, injuries.

"Sometimes you just need to have the perfect storm for it to go right for you and it doesn't happen, and you've got to persevere through it. I think that's what we're trying to do."

Arkansas' pitching staff is depleted after the Razorbacks played 29 innings in two days against the Aggies last weekend. The teams played a Saturday doubleheader after Friday night's game was postponed because of rain. Arkansas won the opener 9-5 and lost the nightcap 11-8 in 11 innings, then the Aggies won 6-2 Sunday.

The Razorbacks open a three-game SEC series Friday night at No. 15 LSU, and that has placed the Arkansas coaching staff in a quandary about who to pitch tonight.

"We did use a lot of pitching trying to slow down that A&M offense," Van Horn said. "Obviously, we want to win the game.

"We need to win as many games as we can, but we also need to have some fresh arms when we hit Baton Rouge on Friday night."

Freshman left-hander Weston Rogers (1-0, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to start tonight, but Van Horn said it doesn't really matter who begins the game.

"Because he's not going to stay out there very long," Van Horn said. "We know we're going to run through some arms there.

"We're going to pitch by committee and try not to overpitch anybody. Almost pitch like it's a bullpen for them."

Other pitchers who figure to be in the mix tonight include Scott Loseke, James Teague, Josh Alberius, Doug Willey, Jordan Rodriguez, Hunter Hart and Kacey Murphy.

"Maybe some of our left-handers go out and throw an inning instead of just throwing to a left-handed hitter, because that's been their role," Van Horn said. "Maybe we try to get them through an inning.

"Just look down the roster. Anybody we travel is available."

Missouri State was a No. 8 national seed in the NCAA Tournament last season, but the Bears had to play the super regional at Arkansas last season rather than host because they share Hammons Field with the Springfield Cardinals, St. Louis' Class AA minor-league affiliate that plays in the Texas League.

Springfield hosted Midland the same weekend as the super regional and because of that conflict the NCAA moved it to Fayetteville.

Arkansas drew 35,730 for the super regional and took two of three games from the Bears. The NCAA allotted Missouri State 600 tickets per game.

"The atmosphere at Baum Stadium was incredible," Van Horn said. "I had never seen it better. They stuffed them in here and people were loud."

Bears Coach Keith Guttin never complained publicly about playing at Arkansas, but Missouri State fans were vocal in their criticism of the NCAA for not working out a schedule in which the Bears could play the super regional at home with games scheduled around the Springfield-Midland series.

"That was too bad for them," Van Horn said. "Really, when you look at it, I can see their frustration.

"If I was in Coach Guttin's shoes, I'd have been really upset about it myself."

Arkansas advanced to the super regional after winning the Stillwater regional at Oklahoma State as a No. 2 seed.

"When we went over to Stillwater, all we wanted to do was win a regional," Van Horn said. "If we had to go to Missouri State or whoever won that thing or if we got to play at home, it was all good with us.

"We were just trying to survive. They were coming off a big-time season and hosting a regional and I could see their point."

Sports on 05/03/2016

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