Dave Van Horn Already Had a Plan for Baseball's New ABS Challenge

Razorbacks coach admits he doesn't know yet if it's good for the sport but he knows it's coming whether coaches like it or not.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn in fall scrimmage at Baum-Walker Stadium. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

Dave Van Horn doesn't rattle easily. Three-plus decades of college coaching will do that for you.

When the SEC introduced its new automated ball-strike challenge system at this week's tournament, the Arkansas coach didn't walk into his Tuesday morning press conference wide-eyed.

He walked in prepared.

Van Horn said the SEC held a Zoom call with coaches the previous week to walk everyone through the ABS challenge system before the tournament tipped off in Hoover.

He and his staff didn't stop there.

"We were educated about it last week from the SEC, had a Zoom call," Van Horn said. "Coaches were in there and then we're trying to analytically look into it.

"We have talked to pro people about it, when's the best time, what count that really makes sense (to challenge in) and just to get a little bit of that. And then obviously just the feel of the game. You get a couple of them and if you get it right, you keep them. So (we're) watching a lot today to see how it goes."

That's a coach doing his homework. Study the data. Talk to people who've already lived with the system. Finally, you just trust what you see.

Van Horn Sees the Writing on the Wall

The Razorbacks coach didn't pretend to have a strong opinion on whether ABS challenges are good for the sport. He's seen this movie before.

The pitch clock landed in Major League Baseball in 2023 and showed up in college dugouts by 2024. Van Horn expects the ABS system to follow the exact same path.

"Whenever we do this, we kind of experiment a little bit, do what Major League Baseball is doing, it's just a year or two before it's in (college baseball)," Van Horn said. "I would think it's coming down the road.

"Do I think it's good? I don't know yet. Don't want the umpires all upset all the time, but you know, whatever. We got to do what we got to do. We're going to do what the big leagues do."

That last line is really the whole story. College baseball follows the majors. It's not a question of if, it's a question of when.

Helfrick's the Guy Who'll Make the Call

If Van Horn's the one doing the pre-tournament research, Ryder Helfrick's the one who'll actually have to pull the trigger on any challenge from behind the plate.

The Arkansas catcher was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team on Monday and owns the nation's best pitch framing rate at 19.93.

Nobody on the field outside the home plate umpire has a better read on where a pitch crosses the zone.

Helfrick's approach? Keep it simple and trust what he knows.

"I feel like I have a good sense of what the strike zone is and isn't," Helfrick said. "I was talking to (director of analytics DJ Baxendale) and he kind of joked. He's like, 'I don't think there are a lot of pitchers that tap their glove or do anything, because if they see me receive something they'll think it's a strike. I'm just going to keep it plain and simple."

Pitcher Hunter Dietz essentially confirmed that. He's not planning to signal anything from the mound. That means the decision-making responsibility lands squarely on Helfrick's shoulders and he's fine with that.

The math also works in his favor. A catcher fields dozens of pitches across nine innings.

Two or three challenges aren't going to fundamentally shift how he works. Helfrick understands that reality.

"I don't think it's really affected by ABS," Helfrick said. "Because you only get two challenges in a game. You still try to catch every pitch best as possible and, you know, don't mess up."

Van Horn's not suddenly going to second-guess Helfrick because a new system showed up this week in Hoover.

"I love having Ryder back there," Van Horn said. "You know, Ryder makes a lot of pitches that are marginal look like strikes, so it kind of makes me nervous too, because he thinks everything he makes look like a strike is a strike, kind of jokingly. But I appreciate that. I mean, it's, we just want him to be pretty sure about it."

More on ABS at the #SECTourney ⬇️https://t.co/fP1G5pF2g1 https://t.co/l5KgSeGyrC pic.twitter.com/uLeMvGSpT9

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) May 19, 2026

What Actually Happened Tuesday

While Arkansas watched from the sideline and did its homework, the ABS challenge system quietly made history in the early games.

Ole Miss became the first program in college baseball to trigger a review of a home plate call. The ruling was confirmed and the challenge was lost.

Missouri followed a few innings later and came away with the sport's first successful reversal.

Two challenges. One overturn. Then everyone got back to playing baseball.

The rules are straightforward: three challenges per team per game. A successful challenge means you keep it. A failed one costs you. In extra innings, each club gets one per inning and they don't roll over.

It's a system that's been running in MLB all season.

Tuesday in Hoover was simply its college debut and it went about as quietly as you'd expect from something still finding its footing.

The Hogs Take Field Wednesday

The ABS storyline will keep developing as the week moves along, but the Razorbacks have bigger things to focus on.

Arkansas plays Wednesday in the second round, taking on whoever emerges from Tuesday afternoon's Tennessee-South Carolina matchup. First pitch is set for approximately 4:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

Van Horn's done the prep work on the new challenge system.

Helfrick's not changing his approach behind the plate.

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