Dave Van Horn discusses Arkansas' comeback effort, credit Texas A&M closer

The SEC Baseball Tournament didn’t end quite the way Arkansas wanted, as the SEC regular season champions fell to Texas A&M 5-4 on Saturday in their semifinal matchup.

Down 5-1 to start the ninth inning the Razorbacks dug themselves out of a hole and their offensive slump with three runs to come within one score of tying the game. But unfortunately, they did not have quite enough gas to get the job done. And after the game, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn spoke about that final inning.

“Well, there was a lot that went on in the ninth. We almost batted around. I’ll tell you about the last two outs. We swung at some bad pitches. Had two of our best hitters up there, and that was probably the most disappointing part to me about that inning,” Van Horn said.

The Razorbacks got to work quickly to start the ninth inning as a single from third baseman Caleb Cali and second baseman Peyton Holt getting hit by a pitch put runners on base immediately for Arkansas. A John Bolton double down the right field line sent Cali and Holt home to score to give the team some momentum.

“I loved that inning. I loved the way we rallied,” Van Horn said. “John Bolton’s at-bat, fouling off pitches and smoking one opposite field down the line, just did a great job there fighting to get to the next pitch.”

The early offense forced Jim Schlossnagle, as he replaced Brandyn Garcia on the mound for Troy Wansing. The pitching change seemingly didn’t faze the Razorbacks, as Tavian Josenberger singled through the left infield to get on base and a fielding error by the Aggies sent Bolton home to score to bring the game within one point.

But with two runners in scoring position on base and just one out in the game, Wansing came up big for the Aggies, striking out back-to-back hitters to seal the deal and send Texas A&M to the SEC Championship game.

“Obviously we needed another hit to tie it up, and had the 3 and 4 hole hitter up and a guy throwing pretty much exclusively sliders, and they didn’t find the barrel at all. Congratulations to Wansing. He did a great job finishing us up,” Van Horn admitted.

Arkansas may have fallen short, but the resilience and fight they showed in the final inning of the ball game is certainly something to be proud of.

The Razorbacks are one of 16 teams that will host regional play ahead of the upcoming NCAA Tournament, as they now await their seeding and matchups which will be announced Monday at noon ET on ESPN.