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Razorbacks Discover Life's Going to Be Tougher in SEC Games

Small mistakes costly for Arkansas against Ole Miss, falling too far behind early to catch up

Daniel Shi

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn in the dugout in a game against Louisiana-Monroe at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn in the dugout in a game against Louisiana-Monroe at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images
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OXFORD, Miss. — Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn isn't panicking after a 10-6 loss to No. 13 Ole Miss to open SEC play. After all, there's still 29 conference games to go.

"One game at a time," Van Horn said. "It's just one of 30. There's a bunch of them  Our guys are just disappointed we lost, but we got to learn from it and just move on."

Arkansas played catch-up from the first pitch when Zach Root was welcomed to the SEC by freshman Hayden Frederico when he deposited an off-speed pitch into left for a leadoff homer.

Ole Miss also had a trick up its sleeve, showing the willingness to bunt and play small ball on at least three separate occasions, leading to two successful sacrifices and a base hit after only having two successful sacrifices in nonconference play as a team.

The Razorbacks didn't particular play clean baseball any of the three phases. They struck out a season-high 14 times and walked just twice.

Arkansas did have 13 baserunners, but struggled to land a knockout punch against Hunter Elliott, the Ole Miss starter.

"That’s what he does," Van Horn said. "We talked about it yesterday as a team, in that you’ve got to find a way to get the hit against him. We got his count up.

"Fouled off a lot of pitches. Took a lot of pitches. He was throwing at least 20 pitches an inning, for the most part. We just, it was one run, one run, instead of two and three."

Third baseman Brent Iredale dropped the ball on a routine double play ball that led to a run. The Hogs also dove twice for a ball in the outfield, allowing the ball to get by on both occasions.

On the mound, Zach Root lacked the command that Hog fans have become accustomed through his first four starts. He threw just 46 of his 74 pitches for his lowest strike percentage of all his starts.

Looking ahead, the SEC schedule only continues to get more difficult. 14 of the 16 teams enter the first weekend of conference play with 13 wins or more. One of the two teams that has less than 13 wins is Texas A&M, who was the consensus preseason No.1. 12 teams are also ranked in the latest D1Baseball poll.

Game two of the series has been moved back to 6 p.m Saturday to accommodate inclement weather. The game will be streamed on SEC+.

HOGS FEED:

• Razorbacks drop SEC opener against Rebels by thousand paper cuts

• Injuries may have placed Razorbacks on bouncing bubble for NCAA

• Arkansas loss exactly what Hogs needed

• Red-hot Hogs must stop Ole Miss slugger in first SEC series

• Dix Confident Relationship with Sorey Will Create Dynamic LB Duo

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Published 2 Hours Ago|Modified 8

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Daniel Shi
DANIEL SHI

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