BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- In Coach Dave Van Horn's eyes, whatever the Arkansas Razorbacks accomplish at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., this week is bonus material.
Van Horn thinks the No. 13 Razorbacks (39-15) clinched the big prize, a host spot for an NCAA regional, by winning their series at Texas A&M with an 8-0 shutout Saturday, giving Arkansas an 18-11 SEC mark and the No. 4 seed for the league tournament.
"After the game, obviously we won the series, so we're excited about that and we have momentum going into this week and feeling like that game might have got us a regional back in Fayetteville," Van Horn said during the Razorbacks' workout day at the University of Alabama-Birmingham baseball facility Tuesday. "I mean ... I feel like we've earned it and that got us over the hump, winning the last two series. We have a good RPI, we have a lot of wins, and we finished with 18 wins in league play."
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville's SEC Tournament opener was scheduled to start tonight at 8 p.m., but weather delays Tuesday already have altered the schedule. The Razorbacks were set to play the winner of the night's last game between No. 5 seed Mississippi State and No. 12 seed Georgia, but that game was postponed until today at 9:30 a.m. The Razorbacks now will play the winner at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Arkansas bounced back from a stretch in which it went 3-5 with SEC series losses at Auburn and against Ole Miss, and a two-game split at Tennessee, to win five of its final seven games. The Razorbacks took two of three against both Vanderbilt and Texas A&M to close out the regular season.
"We don't talk about it too much, but we definitely know that playing at home is an advantage," sophomore All-SEC catcher Grant Koch said. "We know how big it is and how much support we'll get at Baum Stadium.
"We're trying to win every game we can right now, because if we do, we could have a good shot for hosting postseason, which would be huge for us."
Arkansas is ranked No. 14 in the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index rankings.
"The Vandy and A&M series were big for us," junior Luke Bonfield said. "It got our confidence up a lot, and it just made us feel like we can play with the best. We can play with anyone."
Junior first baseman Chad Spanberger, who hit three home runs in College Station, Texas, to take over the team home run lead with 14, said the past two series have the Hogs on the upswing.
"We've got confidence right now and going into the regional, hopefully we can host," Spanberger said. "That'd be huge for this team to get our fans out there. That would give us an advantage over the other three teams."
While Van Horn doesn't see it as imperative for the Razorbacks to win at least one game at the Hoover Met this week to pull down a home regional, he also understands winning a tournament title is a big motivator.
"The tournament's important because you want to stay, you want to play," he said. "I think it keeps you sharp playing such good competition. But on the other hand, you have to be smart about it.
"You don't want to leave it all here when there's still another weekend ahead that is just as important or more important. You're goal at the beginning of the year is to get to Omaha and have a chance to win the national championship."
Junior pitcher Trevor Stephan, who is slated to start the Razorbacks' opener, said the team understands how to keep this week in perspective.
"Absolutely, the main goal is to win the trophy," Stephan said. "We're also going to make sure we're well rested going into the regional and that we're healthy and have our legs under us."
Shortstop Jax Biggers, a second-team All-SEC choice, said playing good baseball in Hoover is the key.
"It's just baseball. You don't try to overcomplicate it," he said.
"I think we just take it game by game," Bonfield said. "As an offense we're going to do our part. We're going to grind on some pitchers. We're going to try and just hit the ball hard, get quality at-bats.
"The pitching staff will do their part. That's why the coaches are the coaches. They get paid to make the tough decisions and we just play."
Van Horn said the most important part of playing in the SEC Tournament, which the Hogs did not qualify for last season, is for the players to have a great experience.
"It's also a little touchy for the coaches because you want to win the tournament, you want to win every game, but you don't want to injure anybody, over-pitch, over-use kids, throw too many pitches," he said. "Sometimes we have to battle that a little bit mentally. But it's a great time to be together as a team and play ball."
Up next
ARKANSAS VS. GEORGIA/
MISSISSIPPI STATE WINNER
WHEN 9:30 a.m. Thursday
WHERE Hoover, Ala. RECORD Arkansas 39-15, 18-11
SEC MATCHUP The Razorbacks will face the winner of today’s opening-round game between No. 5 seed Mississippi State and No. 12 seed Georgia on Thursday in double-elimination play.
Sports on 05/24/2017