Technology Added Next Week Will Make Hog Fans Happy, but More Needed

Two incidents last week, including Arkansas Razorbacks, proves SEC may not be doing enough

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Dave Van Horn talks with the umpires in the sixth inning against the Cal Sate Fullerton Titans during game one of the College World Series. Arkansas defeated Cal State Fullerton 10-6. | Crystal LoGiudice-Imagn Images

Next week Arkansas Razorbacks fans will finally get to have a little teeth behind their neverending battle with SEC officials, in this case baseball umpires.

For years, much like many of their SEC counterparts, they have stared at the screen and yelled in agony at a pitch they felt certain was a strike that didn't get called. Nevermind the camera angle making it rather difficult to tell for sure on the broadcast how close the pitch actually was.

Their Hogs got treated dirty and it was surely going to change the outcome to an Arkansas loss. Well, next week it will be up to the Razorbacks coaching staff to rectify some of these issues.

Now, instead of yelling at umpires, Hogs fans will have yet another reason to second-guess head coach Dave Van Horn. He obviously won't see as many missed calls as the fans naturally see with their keen eyesight, so it will definitely be frustrating during that first game, especially when Van Horn nails one.

"See! If you'd just challenge it, you would see they've all been strikes," fans will scream. "This umpire hates us and our pitcher. His mother probably wouldn't go out with him when they were in high school together or something."

Of course, there will also be the umpire who loses most of the challenges used against him. It will be hard to watch as each overturned call wears against him.

Yet, it won't be because he isn't consistent.

He will likely be the most consistent umpire there. It's just that his strike zone has shifted over the years to where he believes it should be versus where it technically should be. 

When I was in Babe Ruth, this particular umpire was referred to as Popeye. He was an elderly, tough as nails veteran who looked like the cartoon character for which he was nicknamed. 

He was my favorite umpire to draw both as a pitcher and hitter. His strike zone was just over six inches lower than standard, but we all knew it.

It was laser precision accurate. No one was more consistent, so since we all knew the strike zone and it was always called the same, it was easy to pitch and also hit.

Of course there were the guys who tried to call the official strike zone who were all over the place. It created insanity because the zone moved each inning. There was nothing more infuriating than chasing a strike zone.

However, despite the latter being less desired, of the two, it is the Popeyes of the world who will be driven insane by the robot challenge review. It will embarrass them.

They will look bad as they lose challenge after challenge even though if you ask the players, they are probably the preferred umps. Fans may want their pound of flesh, but they may doom themselves to a less predictable umpire over time.

Still, the job is to be accurate. We will see if that is the result or if the game just runs slower instead.

One more robot needed

While the SEC is pushing the envelope by adding in challenges on pitch calls, last week proved the conference might want to work in at least one more piece of technology into decision making.

There seems to be strong evidence for the utilization of Trackman  when it comes to determining home runs. Twice last week potential home run balls disappeared.

The less famous incident happened on a clear day in Fayetteville when Gabe Gaeckle threw a pitch early in Game 2 of the Arkansas-Oklahoma series that was ruled a home run even though no players, nor the officials working in the field saw the ball land.

Since it didn't land in the field of play, it was presumed to have gone over the wall, but no one knew if it left the yard in fair territory or what came of the ball at all.

In fact, it was originally ruled a foul ball until the umpire eventually said to switch it. The game stopped for a couple of minutes to deal with the confusion, but it might have been avoided if Trackman can be used properly.

FAIR BALL‼️ Lachance launches one!@DeitenLachance pic.twitter.com/YyIPEEK8VS

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) May 9, 2026

It's quite possible data from Trackman could have shown where the ball went and how far it traveled, providing at least enough evidence to make everyone comfortable with it being ruled a home run.

In the more well-known incident of the weekend, the Trackman data definitely could have resolved the issue. Vanderbilt and Missouri decided to play in the fog for the final inning in Columbia.

Unfortunately, what appeared to be a home run was hit that would have put the Commodores up by two. However, the Tigers' outfielder, perhaps cleverly, raised his hand to signal a ground-rule double.

The problem with this other that it being impossible to see where the ball landed through thethick, soupy fog is no one in the outfield looked in the grass for the bounce first and Trackman said the ball easily cleared the fence. 

The crew couldn't use that data to decide how to call it, so they settled for the run-rule and shut the game down until the next day.

Vanderbilt ended up losing a game the technology says it should have won. The result was the end to the Commodores' postseason hopes.

Both instances were good arguments to increase the amount of technology being employed in decision making next week in the NCAA Tournament. Fans will get to see how the challenges work while everyone will have to wait to see if Trackman finally finds a home in the SEC postseason next year.