Razorbacks ready to host No. 1 Longhorns as rivalry renews

Forget that Texas is ranked No. 1. Forget that the Longhorns boast the SEC's best pitching stats. Forget that the 'Horns have won 12 straight.

What makes this the biggest weekend of the season for Arkansas fans is simple: They detest anything that is burnt orange.

Although the schools haven't faced off in a regular season conference game since 1991, at least a dozen years before most of today's stars were born, the three-game series that begins tonight is the one Hog fans circled when the schedule was released.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn understands the dynamics. He might've even heard the story of how Razorbacks outfielder Hank Thompson scored on a close play at the plate in 1976 at Texas' Disch-Falk Stadium and was hit with a beer to the face by the Longhorns' crowd as he reached the edge of the dugout.

Van Horn was Arkansas' second baseman in 1982. He earned All-Southwest Conference honors. He was the SWC's Newcomer of the Year. He was named the Hogs' most valuable player.

Van Horn was drafted in the 10th round by the Atlanta Braves, but returned to Arkansas three years later to begin his coaching career as a graduate assistant. He understands the rivalry that was fueled by Arkansas challenging Texas for SWC supremacy while reaching four College World Series from 1979 to '89.

"I was here as a player and as a grad assistant when it was pretty hot and heavy and it was fun," Van Horn said. "It just brought a little extra excitement."

The SEC folks in Birmingham, Ala., do not understand the history, however, so the Hogs and 'Horns will not square off every year.

"They’re not considered one of our rival schools that we play every year," Van Horn said at Wednesday's meeting with the media. "We’ve got Missouri and Ole Miss for that, in baseball anyway.

"But I’m sure that our fans are going to see it as a huge rivalry. Texas is having a great year and that throws a little fuel on the fire, so to speak."

The Razorbacks have battled injuries, but also failed to win close encounters while losing six of their last eight SEC games.

They rolled into Georgia on April 11 as the country's No. 1 team and now sit 11th in the poll. They lost that series, then one at home against preseason No. 1 Texas A&M, and another last week at Florida.

That's three straight SEC series that saw the Hogs go 3-6. Regaining confidence and momentum will be especially difficult against Texas.

"We’ve been struggling a little bit, battling injuries and a few other things," Van Horn said. "But I’m sure that our players that are on the team now will kind of get a feel for what’s up when the games start and they see how our fans probably react to having the Longhorns in town again."

On paper, it's a showdown between the SEC's best pitching staff and the premier hitting team. Texas leads the SEC in the most important pitching stats and Arkansas tops the charts in hitting.

Texas hurlers boast an impressive earned run average of 2.88 in SEC games, first in the conference, and Arkansas is a distant fourth at 4.70.

The Hogs are first in batting average at .313, far ahead of runner-up Mississippi State (.282). Texas is eighth at .268. Arkansas is also the top slugging team.

Great pitching usually stops great hitting. We'll see how that plays out beginning with tonight's 6 p.m. game at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Friday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the series finale at 2 p.m. Saturday. Tonight's game is televised by ESPN2.