FAYETTEVILLE — The super regional showdown between Arkansas baseball and Tennessee was supposed to resemble a heavyweight prize fight.
Instead, the Razorbacks landed punch after punch while the Vols were left floundering. Arkansas cruised to an 11-4 victory Sunday afternoon, clinching a sweep at the Fayetteville Super Regional and booking its 12th trip to the College World Series. In the process, the Hogs ended Tennessee and head coach Tony Vitello’s reign atop the sport.
And in doing so, the Razorbacks cemented themselves as the favorites no matter which eight programs qualify for Omaha over the ensuing 24 hours.
According to ESPN, no team entered the NCAA tournament with more MLB draft prospects than Tennessee. SEC Pitcher of the Year Liam Doyle will be a first-round pick. Marcus Phillips — Tennessee’s second-best arm — won’t be too far behind him.
Arkansas beat them both. Doyle’s loss represented his second defeat of the season inside Baum-Walker Stadium. Charles Davalan crushed a two-run homer off the lefty Sunday and an Arkansas lineup regarded as one of the best in the country scored 11 earned runs across two Doyle starts.
“There wasn’t really a change in our approach,” Arkansas outfielder Logan Maxwell said. “We still wanted to be aggressive. We just played on a weekend when the ball was kind of flying and we got the ball in the air a couple times and the ball kind of carries.”
The lineup is a nuisance from top-to-bottom. SEC Player of the Year Wehiwa Aloy had just one hit and zero RBIs in the super regional. His lackluster performance did not matter.
Maxwell picked up the slack with a grand slam Sunday that proved to be the decisive moment, stretching a two-run lead to 7-1 in the top of the fourth. Brent Iredale hit a home run in the ninth, and eight of the nine Arkansas batters scored a run in the series clincher. The only player who didn’t was catcher Ryder Helfrick, who entered the game as the Hogs’ hottest bat with an 11-game hit streak.
But Arkansas’ ascension to Omaha this weekend was equally about its pitching. Tennessee led the SEC in home runs and averaged 8.2 runs per game. Future draft picks like Andrew Fischer and Gavin Kilen had limited answers for a Hogs staff that held the Volunteers to five runs. Arkansas didn’t have to use quality options like Dylan Carter and Will McEntire.
“They’ve got great stuff,” Davalan said of the Arkansas pitchers. “They fill the zone. I mean, they always give us a shot to stay in the game, so they’re awesome.”
Van Horn said he wasn’t surprised that his team went through the first two stages of the NCAA tournament with a 5-0 record. There’s been a silent confidence in the group all season from the head coach still seeking a first national title in his 23rd year coaching his alma mater.
“It would have been hard for me (if) this good a team didn’t get to Omaha without winning a championship somewhere,” Van Horn said. “They didn’t win a trophy. They didn’t get a ring. They didn’t get the SEC Championship. They didn’t win the tournament championship. I mean, if we would have lost this series, it would have been like that’s the best team that didn’t do anything here.
“Now, it’s one of the best teams to ever come through here.”
Beginning next weekend, Arkansas will have the opportunity to prove its the best team in the country.
Vitello thinks the Razorbacks are talented enough to win the final game of the year. If they do that, Arkansas will lift the trophy it so desperately craves.
Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@gannett.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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