FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn reacted sharply last Thursday when he was asked by a reporter if he was following the scores of other SEC games.
“I could care less,” Van Horn said after Arkansas’ 2-1 defeat to Ole Miss. “I don’t know any scores. Why do you think [SEC scores] weren’t on the scoreboard and weren’t announced? I’m not worried about everybody else.”
Van Horn was indeed following the scores closely on Saturday, when Arkansas won the SEC West championship after sweeping a doubleheader from Ole Miss. But his reason had more to do with a decision on whether to use his best pitcher in the second game against Ole Miss.
Arkansas (36-18, 15-15) secured the No. 2 spot for the SEC Tournament with the help of DJ Baxendale, who earned the save in the Razorbacks’ 5-3 victory over the Rebels. Baxendale volunteered to pitch in relief Saturday after he went 8 1/3 innings and threw 107 pitches during Thursday’s loss to the Rebels.
Baxendale wouldn’t have been needed had Arkansas’ status for the SEC Tournament had already been determined. But with the possibly of Arkansas winning the Western Division championship or missing the tournament entirely, the Razorbacks’ No. 1 starter was called to the mound for the second time in the series.
Baxendale entered the game in the seventh after two Rebels walked to begin the inning, and he got the final three outs to preserve the victory for freshman Barrett Astin (4-1). Van Horn said he made his decision to use Baxendale again after checking with Clay Goodwin, Arkansas’ director of baseball operations, who was relaying updated scores from around the SEC on Saturday.
“The reason I had Goodwin keeping me up is that I didn’t know whether to use DJ or not,” Van Horn said. “I was nauseated putting him in the game. I did not want to pitch him. Then, I knew we were going to win the West all by ourselves or we weren’t even going to go to the tournament.”
Baxendale made Van Horn’s decision easier by volunteering to pitch Saturday, if needed. That opportunity came in the seventh inning after Arkansas pitching coach Dave Jorn sent a couple of pitchers to the bullpen to warm up.
“I heard Coach Jorn tell a couple of guys to get loose and I told him I wanted to be down there,” said Baxendale, who leads Arkansas with eight victories on the season. “He told me to get down there and I am really thankful the coaches thought I could get the job done.”
Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco was not surprised Arkansas brought back Baxendale to finish Saturday’s second game. Matt Crouse, a left-hander who pitched 6 1/3 innings for Ole Miss on Thursday, was also available but the Rebels decided to stick with Bobby Wahl and Brett Huber in relief.
“We could have gone to Crouse, and Crouse wanted to pitch,” Bianco said. “But we liked Wall and Huber at the end, the right-handers going against a right-handed lineup. [Baxendale] was tough and gutsy, but nothing you wouldn’t imagine from him after watching him perform on Thursday night. He’s certainly an ace and a tough kid.”
Van Horn must now decide whether to start Baxendale on Wednesday when the Razorbacks open the SEC Tournament against Alabama at 9:30 a.m. He could save Baxendale for Thursday’s second-round action and go with Randall Fant, who pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Arkansas’ 2-0 victory over Ole Miss in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
“I might save DJ for Thursday,” Van Horn said. “Randall did a great job in giving us 6 1/3 quality innings and he didn’t throw a lot of pitches.
Up next
WHAT SEC Tournament WHO Arkansas vs. Alabama WHEN Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. WHERE Regions Park, Hoover, Ala. FORMAT Double-elimination tournament
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY off TUESDAY off WEDNESDAY SEC Tournament THURSDAY SEC Tournament FRIDAY SEC Tournament SATURDAY SEC Tournament SUNDAY SEC Tournament
SEC Tournament
at Regions Park, Hoover, Ala. WEDNESDAY’S GAMES GAME 1 No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 7 Alabama, 9:30 a.m. GAME 2 No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Mississippi State, TBD GAME 3 No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 8 Auburn, 4:30 p.m. GAME 4 No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 Georgia, TBD THURSDAY’S GAMES GAME 5 Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 9:30 a.m. GAME 6 Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, TBD GAME 7 Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 4:30 p.m. GAME 8 Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, TBD FRIDAY’S GAMES GAME 9 Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 7, 3 p.m. GAME 10 Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 8, TBD SATURDAY’S GAMES GAME 11 Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 9, 9:30 a.m. GAME 12 Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 10, TBD GAME 13 Winner of Game 11 vs. Loser of Game 11, 5 p.m. GAME 14 Winner of Game 12 vs. Loser of Game 12, TBD SUNDAY’S GAME Championship Game, 1 p.m.
- — If necessary
Sports, Pages 13 on 05/23/2011