By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
FAYETTEVILLE - Putting themselves in the driver’s seat doesn’t guarantee the checkered flag.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn reminded his Razorbacks of such Wednesday after they defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 7-4 in their winner’s bracket game of the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park.
At 2-0, having defeated the since eliminated Texas Longhorns 11-5 in Sunday’s first round game, the Razorbacks are the lone undefeated team in their bracket.
At 7 p.m. tonight on ESPN, they play Thursday night’s loser’s bracket survivor between Texas Tech and Florida.
The Red Raiders were a first-round victor over the Gators before falling Wednesday to Arkansas, while Florida eliminated Texas on Tuesday.
Win tonight, and the Razorbacks play for the national championship in a best two-of-three series starting Monday against the other bracket’s winner, which today pits the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 2-0 so far this week, against the Oregon State Beavers.
The Beavers lost their first-round game to North Carolina, but have since eliminated Washington and the Tar Heels, both of whom lost to Mississippi State.
Should Arkansas or Mississippi State lose today, they would Saturday in a winner-take-all final determining who starts playing Monday for the national championship.
Van Horn reminded his 2018 Hogs about the 2012 Razorbacks, who sat in this driver’s seat these Hogs sit now, but never made it to the finish line, beaten twice by South Carolina before Arizona beat the Gamecocks for the national championship.
Obviously, none of these Hogs were on that 2012 team, but the ones growing in Arkansas like second baseman Carson Shaddy and catcher Grant Koch, both of Fayetteville, third baseman Casey Martin of Lonoke and pitchers Blaine Knight of Bryant and Kacey Murphy of Rogers among others remember it well.
The rest certainly know now.
“Like I told the team, we've been here before and it didn't go very good,” Van Horn said. “We haven't really done anything yet. We're 2-0. It's a great feeling. What it gets us is a day off so you can rest some guys. Other than that, it's like I told them, it's like being in a regional being 2-0. You still haven't won the regional. It doesn't really matter yet. You've still got work to do.”
At Thursday’s off day practice, Van Horn was asked more specifically about that 2012 College World Series and relating it to these Hogs just one win away from playing for the national championship.
“Well, in '12 we could really pitch,” Van Horn said of those Hogs, who led the nation in ERA. “We just didn't score a lot of runs and that's what got us in the end. We won a couple of close games and lost two close games, I think a one-run game and a two-run game. Had runners on, just didn't drive them in.
"It's, you know, we've got to take advantage of opportunities and score when we get that opportunity.
"Whoever we play, they're awfully good. I mean, I don't know who we're gonna play, but they both are strong all the way around. It really doesn't matter who we play. We've just got to find a way to beat them.”
Arkansas now is 2-0 against Texas Tech.
Arkansas beat the Red Raiders 5-1 in an April scheduled two-game series in Fayetteville with one game rained out.
Arkansas (46-19) is 2-2 against Florida.
In their SEC series at Florida, the Razorbacks won the first game 6-3, then lost the next two 17-2 and 5-4.
Arkansas beat Florida 8-2 in the SEC Tournament.
Right-hander Isaiah Campbell is expected to start tonight for Arkansas.
In his last start, Campbell provided four solid innings before handing off an 8-2 lead to winning reliever Barrett Loseke for the 14-4 Super Regional clinching victory over South Carolina that sent the Hogs to Omaha.