This has been a rough 12 month cycle for Razorbacks athletics. The football team starts 1-3 and squanders big opportunities early, which cost them dearly later in the season. The basketball Hogs never were able to turn the corner, despite coming so close on so many occasions. And now, the one consistently good major sport that fans have leaned on over the past 5 years is playing their worst baseball in….well, I don’t know how long. What is the deal with Arkansas Baseball?
I’m not the kind of guy to declare that the sky is falling. I understand that all sports, and especially baseball, are not sprints. They are marathons that have to finished one step at a time. That being said, as a Hogs fan, I’m a little frustrated with that fact that all 3 major sports have started their marathon off by falling flat on their faces.
No, the Diamond Hogs haven’t pulled a Toledo or blown a lead like the basketball Hogs did against Stanford. But it’s not much better right now on the diamond. The Arkansas Razorbacks just got swept by the Ole Miss Rebels for the first time since 2009. The Hogs never once had a lead in the series, and have struggled to find their identity on the field despite coming into the season as a ranked program.
What the heck happened? This isn’t like last year, when Arkansas started slow, then figured themselves out and went on a run that ended in Omaha. This is different. The Hogs started off the season winning 10 of their first 12 games, and even before getting into conference play looked strong.
Then conference play started. The Hogs got swept by South Carolina, regrouped with a sweep over Auburn, only to drop a series to MISSOURI and now just got swept by Ole Miss. Arkansas is losing series to not-so-great programs. What is going to happen when Texas A&M, Florida, and LSU step into the box vs the Hogs?
That’s not exactly a great feeling to have, especially not halfway through the season. The Arkansas baseball team is struggling in positions that were supposed to be rock solid, most notably on the mound. The Hogs have too much talent throwing the ball to be giving up runs and streaks like they are.
All that being said, maybe losing a great group of upperclassmen AND the best player in all of college baseball after last season was a little bit too much to recover from so soon. Fans made the same mistake in their expectations for the football and basketball teams this year.
Some folks will point to last year’s slow start and turnaround as a reason to stay optimistic. They’ll point out that Dave Van Horn teams usually start playing their best baseball later in the year, and will use last year as an example. I’m not denying that DVH and the Hogs can still turn it on and make a run.
What I’m saying, to Bielema, Anderson, and DVH, is that I would prefer to start the season well and then finish strong. I know that may seem like a lot to ask, but this whole sports calendar year has been slow starts and missed opportunities.
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Arkansas baseball needs to get over it, too. And quickly. Because the road through the SEC that leads to Hoover is treacherous, and as it stands, I’m skeptical that the Hogs will be able to right the ship fast enough to finish in the tournament.