Even-keel Hogs say more to do

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks were exuberant about closing out Sunday's 4-3 victory over Dallas Baptist and moving on to the NCAA super regional round, but they kept their celebration in check.

No dog piles for the Hogs.

"I'll say we're excited, obviously, but there's a lot more we want to accomplish, and we're locked in on that right now," said reliever Jake Reindl, who picked up the victory with seven innings of long relief.

"We're excited, but it's a process and this is just one step along the journey we have ahead of us," added freshman outfielder Heston Kjerstad.

The low-key celebration was in line with Coach Dave Van Horn's expectations.

"That's what you're supposed to do," Van Horn said. "To me, you don't dog pile at a regional. To me, the only time you dog pile is if you get to go to Omaha, and I don't even like it then.

"I don't want anybody to get hurt. You win a conference championship, maybe you can get excited. But they are pretty businesslike, and they know we've still got some work to do to get to the goal that we're trying to achieve and go from there. I appreciate the way they acted. They acted like they've been there before."

Closer Matt Cronin, asked about the Razorbacks' mood after the regional victory, brought up words of advice from pitching coach Wes Johnson.

"Coach Johnson always says, 'After midnight, forget this one and move on to the next one,' " Cronin said.

Replay review

Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn lamented what appeared to be a bad "safe" call at first base on a ground ball by Dallas Baptist's Jameson Hannah. The call gave the Patriots runners at first and third with no outs in the ninth inning of a 4-2 game.

Razorbacks closer Matt Cronin allowed a sacrifice fly, but the call did not come back to haunt the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville as he retired the next two batters and left Hannah at first base to end the game.

"You know, it's interesting that we have instant replay throughout the season in the SEC and in our tournament, and one of the biggest times of the year we don't have it," said Van Horn, who unsuccessfully argued the call with first-base umpire David Brown. "I think it might have swung the other way."

Replays will be on tap for the Arkansas vs. South Carolina super regional this weekend, but the current rules would not have allowed for a review of the Hannah play since regional sites were not allowed to use replay.

He's back

Closer Matt Cronin threw 36 pitches in two innings to save the Razorbacks' 4-3 victory over Dallas Baptist in his only work at the regional and only his fourth appearance since returning May 13 after a bout with mononucleosis.

In those four games, Cronin pitched 8⅔ innings and allowed 6 hits, 4 earned runs and 3 walks while striking out 14. His stamina has improved along the way, and he's picked up saves in each of the past three outings -- an 8-6 victory at Georgia, an 8-2 victory over Florida at the SEC Tournament and the 4-3 victory Sunday.

"I'm 100 percent now," Cronin said late Sunday.

Jake's stuff

Right-hander Jake Reindl did not expect to get a call as early as he did Sunday -- three batters into the game.

Reindl said he threw six or seven warmup pitches and wasn't as sharp as he'd been lately.

"I didn't have very good stuff," Reindl said. "I really couldn't command very well and the ball wasn't moving like it usually does, so it was a grind.

"I kind of had to figure out a way to get out of some jams and do some stuff I hadn't done before. I usually rely on this pitch or that pitch to help me get out of a jam. But yeah, it was kind of interesting."

Reindl's grind worked out well, as the former Shiloh Christian standout gave up 5 hits and 1 run in 7 innings to a Dallas Baptist team that had scored 27 runs in its previous 18 innings.

"Reindl did a really nice job," Dallas Baptist Coach Dan Heefner said. "He threw both pitches for strikes. Obviously, he's got really good numbers on the year. He maintained his stuff throughout the whole game."

SEC 3 guarantee

The SEC will send three teams to the College World Series next week.

How do we know? Because all six SEC teams that remain in the final 16 square off against each other in NCAA super regionals.

In addition to No. 5 seed Arkansas (42-18) hosting a series rematch against South Carolina (36-24), overall No. 1 seed Florida (45-18) will host Auburn (42-21) starting Saturday, and Vanderbilt (34-25) will host Mississippi State (35-26) starting Friday.

Grand Gran

Dallas Baptist outfielder Devlin Granberg put on a hitting display, played two outfield positions during the NCAA Fayetteville Regional and was named MVP after going 12 of 18 with a double, 2 home runs, 7 runs scored and 5 RBI.

Granberg would've been 13 of 18 if not for Heston Kjerstad's home run-saving catch above the left-field fence in the sixth inning Sunday.

All four coaches at the regional sang Granberg's praises.

"You don't get him out very much," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "He reminds me of a right-handed hitting Wade Boggs. He's always talking to the umpire after every pitch. 'Was that a strike? Was that a ball?'

"He's always talking. You try to beat him inside and he gets his hands inside the ball. You try to throw him away, he hits the ball the other way. And he's got 14 or 15 home runs. He's like a professional hitter. And I think he's going to hit with a wood bat. I think he's going to hit his way to the big leagues.

"How did we pitch him? We pitched him in, we pitched him out. We tried to get him to chase up. We tried to get him to chase down. And then sometimes you just have to throw it over the plate and hope he hits it at somebody."

The Razorbacks held Granberg to a 2-of-4 night, which included a walk, double, an RBI groundout and the near home run.

Red cheek

Heston Kjerstad was all smiles in the postgame news conference after the Hogs' 4-3 victory Sunday, and for good reason. Kjerstad drove in a critical insurance run in the seventh inning and made the best catch of the regional by going over the wall to rob Devlin Granberg of a would-be tying home run in the sixth inning.

Kjerstad also sported a bruise high up on his left cheek, where a misplay on a pop fly led to him taking a ball off his face.

"It's fine," said Kjerstad, beaming as usual.

Coach Dave Van Horn addressed Kjerstad's perpetual grin after the freshman hit two home runs in the Hogs' 10-2 victory over Oral Roberts on Friday.

"It's obviously fun having Heston on the team with the personality he has," Van Horn said. "He's always smiling and he doesn't get down too much.

"Sometimes he frustrates me because he's smiling too much and I don't think it's funny all the time, but he's just a great kid. He's a great student. He's a straight-A student. If you had a bunch of Hestons on your team, you'd want to coach until you're 80, I'll tell you that."

Sports on 06/06/2018