Dave Van Horn responds to Alabama coach Brad Bohannon's ejection, Hog Call mock

Things got awfully heated on the diamond on Saturday, with Alabama baseball head coach Brad Bohannon’s frustrations boiling over in a seventh inning ejection. On his way back to the dugout, Bohannon looked up into the Arkansas crowd and mocked the Razorbacks’ Hog Call.

At the time of the ejection, Alabama held a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning. But in the eyes of Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn, Bohannon knew exactly what he was doing and he couldn’t have been surprised by the ejection due to him going back-and-forth with umpires for much of the game.

“Well, I like Brad. He got emotional,” Van Horn said of Bohannon’s ejection. “That was the second time in the game that he really got on the umpire about not calling a pitch. Both of them were on breaking balls. I couldn’t believe he didn’t even get a warning the first time or get thrown out. A lot of umpires won’t put up with it. They put up with it for a long time right there. We felt like we got called strike three on on a pitch that was way outside with the go-ahead run on third.

“Brad got emotional. He’s trying to fire his team up. I think obviously, he knew if he kept arguing that he was going to get thrown out.”

Alabama baseball head coach gets ejected and then mocks the Hog Call on his way to the dugout 😂 pic.twitter.com/58RAe68u6T

— Jonathan Acosta (@_jacosta) April 1, 2023

Arkansas responded by completing comeback to even the series

With runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Arkansas center fielder Tavian Josenberger stepped up to the plate in a monumental spot. Josenberger then took the 2-2 pitch down the right field line for a double, driving in both runs and giving Arkansas a 6-5 lead over Alabama.

While Bohannon’s ejection might have ultimately been to try and fire up his Alabama players in an important game, Arkansas instead came out on top. And Saturday’s SEC contest was one that Van Horn knew his team needed to win.

“I think our guys were just trying to stay focused, in the zone,” said Van Horn. “We were already fired up enough, we needed a win in the worst way.”

A win is exactly what Arkansas got. Alabama added another run in the eighth inning, but the Razorbacks stormed back with three of their own in the home half of the inning. Ultimately, Arkansas came away with a 9-6 victory over Alabama.

The series, being hosted by Arkansas in Fayetville, is now evened up at 1-1. Alabama won Friday’s series opener 12-1 over Arkansas, who entered the week ranked as the No. 6 team in all of college baseball. Now, a rubber match will be played on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET. The winner will pick up an impressive series victory.

Alabama enters Sunday’s game with a 21-7 overall record that includes a 3-5 record against SEC opponents. Arkansas, meanwhile, is 22-5 overall and 5-3 against the SEC.