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Hogs Need Win Over Arkansas State to Hold Off Taunts from Tennessee Volunteers

Razorbacks surrender several home runs as Red Wolves pin Van Horn's team against wall
Bob Stephens|
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn knows Tuesday's loss is just one of 60 regular-season games but hopes for a quick rebound in today's 3 p.m. finale of the short series.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn knows Tuesday's loss is just one of 60 regular-season games but hopes for a quick rebound in today's 3 p.m. finale of the short series. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

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Arkansas RazorbacksArkansas State Red WolvesTennessee Volunteers

Arkansas baseball fans delighted in taunting the Tennessee faithful after the Vols lost a three-game series to mid-major Kent State last week.

Well, the tables are turned thanks to the Razorbacks' desultory performance Tuesday during a 12-4 loss to Arkansas State. The Red Wolves plated six runs in the second inning and never looked back while disappointing an announced Baum-Walker Stadium crowd of 9,049.

The decision left both teams with a 6-2 record. An added jolt of confidence has the Red Wolves primed to claim a two-game sweep that would shock the college baseball world.

The Red Wolves' Cross Jumper took advantage of the wind blowing out to left field and homered twice for three RBIs. Lead-off man Ash Quillen also homered and knocked in four.

It would also provide Tennnessee Vols fans with social media ammunition against Razorback rooters. While the Vols are without their most successful coach, Tony Vitello, who led them to the College World Series title two years ago, Arkansas is led by Dave Van Horn, who is seeking his 11th Series appearance.

Vitello became the first college coach to jump directly into a Major League Baseball manager's office. Whether the Vols will survive that loss is hard to say at this point, but Tennessee is 6-2 and ranked 20th in the nation.

Arkansas is No. 6 in the D1 poll, though likely to drop next week following Tuesday's setback.

The SEC boasts 12 of the 25 teams in the rankings. That includes Ole Miss at No. 25. The Rebels are 9-0, which includes a nail-biting 7-6 home win against Arkansas State eight days ago.

Arkansas State earned respect last season when first-year coach Mike Silva led the team to 26 wins, its most since 2019. ASU was picked to finish last in the Sun Belt Conference, but earned the No. 8 seed while doubling its conference win total.

The Sun Belt is no slouch when it comes to baseball. The league champ was the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, who outlasted Arkansas in last year's College World Series and lost to LSU in the championship round by scores of 1-0 and 5-3.

Still, the Hogs will have a hard time looking in the mirror if they lose to Arkansas State again today. Their five-game winning streak was snapped Tuesday as Hogs starting pitcher Peyton Lee surrendered six earned runs on six hits and two walks in just two innings.

Arkansas lead-off hitter and center fielder Maika Niu gave the home crowd a thrill with his second homer of the season in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.

But the Red Wolves exploded for six runs in the second, chasing Lee and quieting the crowd. Arkansas scored once in the second inning but never got closer than a four-riuun deficit.

Arkansas' Zack Stewart smashed his second home run, a monumental blast that cleared the Hunt Center beyond the right-field fence. Undocumented reports say the ball took one hop into Foghorn's, the popular gathering place across the street from Baum-Walker.

It was Stewart's second round-tripper in two starts and he might be hard to get out of the line-up. The senior transfer from Missouri State slugged 44 homers in three seasons at MSU.

Stewart and Niu each had two hits and two RBIs, accounting for all of Arkansas' runs. An inconsistent offense has been part of the Hogs' early-season DNA but that's not unusual as teams are trying to figure out lineups and players are searching for consistency.

Van Horn hopes his Razorbacks figure it out quickly and rebound with an SEC-caliber performance today to preserve their reputaton and earn a split of the series.

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Bob Stephens
BOB STEPHENS

Bob Stephens won more than a dozen awards as a sportswriter and columnist in Northwest Arkansas from 1980 to 2003. He started as a senior for the 1975 Fayetteville Bulldogs’ state championship basketball team, and was drafted that summer in the 19th round by the St. Louis Cardinals but signed instead with Norm DeBriyn's Razorbacks, playing shortstop and third base. Bob has written for the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, New Jersey Star-Ledger, and many more. He covered the Razorbacks in three Final Fours, three College World Series, six New Year’s Day bowl games, and witnessed many track national championships. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Pati. Follow on X: @BobHogs56

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