FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn isn’t shying away from the facts as his team prepares for another regional.
It’s the 21st time the Razorbacks have been in this position in his 23rd season.
The Razorbacks reached a remarkable level of consistency for a program which has only missed the postseason once across his tenure in 2016. COVID killed the 2020 season after just 16 games.
The last two seasons, fans at Baum-Walker Stadium have watched a pair of Big 12 teams, TCU and Kansas State, take the spoils on their home field.
“If you’re not learning [then] you’re going the other way,” Van Horn said. “You gotta learn from your mistakes. You gotta learn from experience. And there’s nothing more –– You can’t learn any more without the experiences the way you get it. You learn. You learn by, hey, that happened.”
Van Horn still remembers all of it. He probably could give a play-by-play of what happened in the Regional. It’s all still fresh in his mind. They were just one of two regional hosts that failed to make the regional final.
“Last year we walked people,” Van Horn said. “We got in trouble Game 1. You get a big lead, you’re up 8-1, and you’re in the fifth inning. So yes, you can probably figure, I still remember it. Then your pitcher goes out and walks like the bases loaded, and we just punched in five runs. Next thing you know, it’s 8-8.”
Arkansas is trying to avoid the carryover effect that ultimately sunk the team in 2024. Even though the Razorbacks won the first game against Southeast Missouri State 17-9, Gabe Gaeckle threw 62 pitches on Friday.
He was not used for the rest of the weekend as SEMO won the rematch a day later in the 1-1 game to end the Razorbacks’ season.
“What you do today is going to affect tomorrow and the next day,” Van Horn said. “It really did [last year]. Hopefully our guys will go out and pitch well. Hopefully we’ll field well. We didn’t field well in the first inning the other day against Ole Miss and it cost us the game.”
The 2025 team is not like the two teams that have come before them. Their offensive numbers are in a different league. They set the school record for the most homers hit in a season before the regionals even started.
Unquantifiable traits are better on this team too. pitcher Will McEntire, who is one just two players who has experienced postseason success with Arkansas, is confident that the team has an intangible quality that has been missing the past two years.
“This team feels really complete in every aspect of the game,” McEntire said. “We’ve played a bunch of tough games, especially toward the end of the stretch. We’re a battle-hardened team and we’re ready to get after it.”
The team is also more prepared should a similar situation arise again. By starting Aiden Jimenez in the first game, it shortens the bullpen slightly by moving the top relief arm to the rotation.
The Hogs should be better equipped to handle that this year 14 different pitchers on staff have a sub-5.00 ERA and most have pitched in high-leverage situatuions at some point.
“If something like that happened again we’re deeper in our bullpen than we were last year,” Van Horn said. “We won’t wait quite as long.”
Arkansas will play the first game of the regional against North Dakota State 2 p.m. Friday followed by Creighton and Kansas at 7 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
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