Some Key Numbers That Can Help Shape Promising Future for Razorbacks

Things looked bleak for Arkansas, but these key stats have Van Horn's team rolling

Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Gabe Gaeckle on the mound against the Xavier Muskateers at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Arkansas Communication

Baseball is obviously a game heavily driven by the numbers.

Someone can be handed a box score and sort out what all took place without having seen a single second of the game.

It was the numbers on the rear of baseball cards back in the day that drove the value of that tiny piece of cardboard.

When it comes to the Arkansas Razorbacks, those same numbers that once drove the value of the contents of a 25¢ wax pack are currently driving the value of Dave Van Horn's latest team.

After seeing their perceived value fall off a cliff just a couple of weeks ago during a stretch where the Hogs went 2-7, including a midweek loss to Missouri State, the Razorbacks have rebounded, going 7-1 over the past eight games with a perfect 4-0 record against Top 10 teams as part of it.

That success was capped with a big win, 6-3, over No. 5 Georgia to start the series in Fayetteville Thursday. So, what numbers drove the outcome of that game?

100

One of the big goals for Arkansas was to keep a high-powered Georgia offense from reaching its 100 home runs milestone for the season.

The Bulldogs had been stuck on 98 for a while, and the long ball is the biggest weapon Wes Johnson's club has in its aresenal.

While Arkansas ace Hunter Dietz wasn't able to keep Georgia from getting 100, it was bittersweet for the Bulldogs because, once again,

Dietz gave up a pair of home runs while masterfully limiting the damage each brought forth.

Dietz gave up a pair of home runs to No. 8 Alabama last week, but since they were solo home runs and the only offense produced across six innings, the Hogs were able to easily utilize Dietz's nine strikeouts to come away with a 7-5 win. It was the same case Thursday night.

Dietz left the game in the sixth with the Razorbacks holding a comfortable 5-2 lead because he produced a strikeout per inning, limiting Georgia baserunners.

Because of this, Georgia reached its milestone with a pair of home runs, but only came away with a a single run for each of their Herculean efforts.

31

Much has been made of the Hogs' RPI. At one point it drooped all the way down into the upper 50s, lower 60s range.

Arkansas has made up ground dramatically with its big wins recently. Following the win over Georgia, the Hogs came in at No. 31 in the RPI rankings.

Unfortunately, that puts the Razorbacks behind 10 other SEC schools. It will be interesting to see how much weight the selection committee puts on RPI vs. conference standings.

At the moment, the Hogs rank No. 5 in the SEC behind Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M and Florida, which is a much better showing than RPI rankings.

24

This is the number of pitches thrown by former Friday night starter Gabe Gaeckle Thursday.

Van Horn has been persistent on shoving Gaeckle into action in Game 1 regardless of the mental block he had early on that led to high numbers of hits and runs.

Last week against Alabama in Game 1, with a chance to break an 18-game home winning streak of the Tide, Gaeckle came in and threw 28 pitches, 16 of which were strikes,

in one inning of work. With his pitch count being so low with his body still conditioned as a starter, Van Horn felt comfortable bringing Gaeckle back in Game 3 and just let him ride, throwing 40 pitches across two complete innings with 25 strikes.

He handed the ball off to Ethan McElvain for the final two innings, which went strong, allowing Gaeckle to claim the win.

It looks like a similar pattern is shaping up against Georgia. Since Gaeckle only threw 24 pitches in two innings of work Thursday night, odds are high that Van Horn will turn to him again Saturday with no leash.

Gaeckle will get to pitch as long as he wants provided he keep runs off the board. If all goes well, he may officially carve out a defined new role for the remainder of the season.

19

This is the number of wins Arkansas had before turning things around. When things were 19-12, there was a great deal of concern as to whether the Hogs might be playing themselves out of regionals.

Now, Arkansas has 26 wins, which puts them two short of the 28 Oklahoma State got in with last year as an at-large bid.

As an SEC team with numerous wins over Top 10 teams, it will be even harder to keep the Hogs out, even if they just disintegrate the rest of the season.