HOOVER, Ala. - When it comes to the SEC Tournament, the only baseball team with a lower winning percentage than Arkansas is a basketball school.
The Razorbacks’ .396 winning percentage (21-32) in 18 previous SEC Tournament appearances ranks 11th in conference ahead of only Kentucky’s .383 among the 12teams that played in the event prior to this season.
Arkansas isn’t among the nine teams to win an SEC Tournament title, though the Razorbacks have reached the championship game three times. They lost to Auburn in 1998 and Alabama in 1999 when Norm DeBriyn was their coach, and lost to Vanderbilt in 2007 under Coach Dave Van Horn.
Van Horn won three Big12 Tournament titles as Nebraska’s coach. At Nebraska and Arkansas, his combined NCAA Tournament record is 46-32 with five College World Series appearances.
But at the SEC Tournament?
Van Horn’s Razorbacks are just 9-17.
“I’m not making any excuses. We haven’t played great here,” Van Horn said. “Sometimes we’ve actually semi-limped in here, a little bit tired or beat up, battling injuries. Getting out of here and going and practicing, resting up for four or five days and kind of getting everything squared away has really helped us in the postseason.”
Last season Arkansas went 0-2 at the SEC Tournament, then finished third at the College World Series.
Considering that scenario, do the Razorbacks even need to put an emphasis on winning the SEC Tournament this week? Arkansas (35-19) had a first-round bye and opens tournament play at 9:30 a.m. today against Ole Miss (37-20), which beat Kentucky 4-1 on Tuesday in a first-round elimination game.
“Obviously, we’d like to stick around here and play,” Van Horn said. “We want to win it, there’s no doubt about that. Any time you step on the field, you want to win the game. If we can win some games here, I think it will definitely build some confidence for us going into the postseason.”
Razorbacks junior closer Colby Suggs said the Razorbacks would love to advance to Sunday’s final and win it.
“That would be really cool to hoist up the SEC trophy,” Suggs said. “We’re going to come out here and and try and win as many games as possible, and play our hearts out, because that’s the way we go about our business. But at the same time, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work out. We’re ready for the playoffs.”
Senior outfielder Matt Vinson has played for Arkansas teams that are 2-6 in the SEC Tournament. Two of those teams won NCAA regional titles.
“The SEC Tournament is important, but it’s not our long-term goal,” Vinson said. “If for some reason we don’t do well in it, we’ll look forward to winning in the postseason again.”
Arkansas’ deep pitching staff is built for a long run this week. The Razorbacks continue to lead the nation with a 1.90 team ERA and have a nice combination of right-handed and left-handed relievers behind right-handed starters Barrett Astin and Ryne Stanek and left-hander Randall Fant.
“I think Arkansas sets up extremely well in any type of tournament setting, and particularly when you get into regional, super regional setting, because they can flat-out stuff you on the mound,” Alabama Coach Mitch Gaspard said. “They just have so many weapons they can match you up as you get late in the game.
“It’s power arms, but I think what separates Arkansas’ staff with some others is the breaking balls. They have tremendous explosive secondary pitches that are wipe out pitches that can get strikeouts. It’s such a challenge to score off of them.”
Kentucky Coach Gary Henderson said Arkansas’ pitchers are “dynamic in terms of stuff’ against hitters from either side of the plate.
“Their pitching staff is good enough to go through the tournament,” Henderson said. “There’s no question about that in my mind.”
Arkansas’ starters figure to be on pitch counts.
“You don’t want to burn yourself out or hurt people, create sore arms and put yourself at a disadvantage if you’re playing in a regional the next weekend,” Van Horn said. “So we’re going to go out there and do everything we can to win game one and then go from there.”Tournament failure
Of the 12 teams that have played in the SEC Tournament prior to this season - newcomers Missouri and Texas A&M made their debuts in Tuesday’s games - Arkansas ranked 11th in winning percentage at .396 and is not among the nine teams that have won a tournament title. A look at the all-time standings entering this week’s SEC Tournament: TEAM APP. REC. PCT. TITLES 1. LSU 27 64-37 .634 9 2. Vanderbilt 17 43-31 .581 2 3. Alabama 24 43-36 .544 7 4. Tennessee 12 25-21 .543 3 5. Miss. State 28 53-45 .541 7 6. Florida 33 55-55 .500 3 7. Ole Miss 17 29-31 .483 5 8. Auburn 22 30-41 .423 1 9. Georgia 20 28-40 .412 0 10. S. Carolina 20 25-37 .403 1 11. Arkansas 18 21-32 .396 0 12. Kentucky 15 18-29 .383 0 Source: SEC baseball media guideToday’s game ARKANSAS VS. OLE MISS WHEN 9:30 a.m.
WHERE Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Ala.
RECORDS Arkansas 35-19; Ole Miss 37-20 RADIO Razorbacks Sports Network, which includes KQSM-FM 92.1 in Fayetteville; KURM-AM 790 in Bentonville-Rogers; KABZ-FM 103.7 in Little Rock; KASR-FM 92.7, in Conway; KHGG-FM, 103.1, in Fort Smith; KELD-FM, 106.5, in El Dorado, and KOMT-FM, 107.5, in Mountain Home. Not all games will be carried by affiliates. Check local listings.
TELEVISION Comcast Sports Southeast, Cox Sports Television, ESPN3 INTERNET www.arkansasrazorbacks.com PITCHING MATCHUP Arkansas: Barrett Astin (RHP 4-4, 2.02 ERA). Ole Miss: TBA SHORT HOPS Razorbacks left fielder Brian Anderson has gone 16 for 28 in his past 8 games to raise his batting average to .349. … Ole Miss is 39-34 all time against Arkansas, including 3-2 in SEC Tournament games. … Arkansas has a .261 team batting average. Ole Miss is batting .279. … The Razorbacks lead the nation with a 1.90 ERA. Ole Miss has a 3.09 ERA.
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/22/2013