College World Series report

Van Horn: Texas not rival today

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn follows batting practice at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., Friday, June 15, 2018. Arkansas plays Texas on Sunday in the NCAA College World Series baseball tournament. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn follows batting practice at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., Friday, June 15, 2018. Arkansas plays Texas on Sunday in the NCAA College World Series baseball tournament. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

OMAHA, Neb. -- A reporter asked Coach Dave Van Horn at Friday's news conference at TD Ameritrade Park, which also featured Texas Coach David Pierce, Florida Coach Kevin O'Sullivan and Texas Tech Coach Tim Tadlock, if Texas was still the No. 1 rival for the Razorbacks.

"I would say maybe for adults over 50 they might be," Van Horn said, triggering laughter. "Our players, you know they want to beat LSU and Florida and Mississippi and I could go on and on. But I think a lot of our fan base, they still see it that way."

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The Razorbacks beat Texas 13-4 and 7-5 on March 13-14 at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville to drop the Longhorns to 9-9. The Horns would go 33-12 the rest of the way and face the Razorbacks on Sunday at the College World Series.

"We had nice crowds, big crowds," Van Horn said. "If we played them on a weekend, we'd have SEC crowds, because that's the way a lot of the fans feel about it.

"And when I say SEC crowd, anywhere from [9,000] to 12,000 a game. Doesn't matter what the weather's like."

Van Horn, who was a conference rival against the Longhorns as an infielder for the Razorbacks in 1982, said he didn't see Texas as a rival now.

"It's just a storied program, and they beat up on a lot of people back in the Southwest Conference days, and so a lot of people liked beating Texas back then."

Appearances

Texas has by far the most College World Series appearances of all time, as the Longhorns are making their 36th trip to the CWS. They have won six national championships.

Washington is the only school making its CWS debut this season.

Florida is making its 12th appearance, North Carolina its 11th, Mississippi State its 10th, Arkansas its ninth, Oregon State its seventh and Texas Tech its third.

They're No. 1

Texas Coach David Pierce praised the work the Florida Gators and Coach Kevin O'Sullivan did to get back to Omaha after winning the College World Series last year and opening the season as the No. 1 team. The Gators were the No. 1 national seed for the NCAA Tournament.

"In 2003, I was with Rice and we had an opportunity to start the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the country and I just credit Sully here, because that's tough to do when you go out and you have to represent a national championship and then maintain that No. 1 spot."

Deep appreciation

Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn is making his fifth visit to the College World Series with the Razorbacks and his seventh overall. The feeling never gets old and it probably gets more special, Van Horn said.

"As you get older, I think you appreciate it so much more," Van Horn said. "Maybe even try to enjoy it a little more and take in all that's going on."

Van Horn led Nebraska to its first two CWS berths in 2001 and 2002, and the Cornhuskers have been back to their home-state venue only one other time, in 2005 under Mike Anderson.

Who's hot

Arkansas second baseman Carson Shaddy is hitting .450 during five NCAA Tournament games. Shaddy has 9 hits in 20 at-bats, including 2 home runs, and is leading the Razorbacks with 14 RBI.

Five other Arkansas players are hitting .300 or better: Heston Kjerstad (.381), Eric Cole (.375), Casey Martin (.346), Jax Biggers (.316) and Jared Gates (.300).

Luke Bonfield is not far off at .292, and the senior is coming off a 3 for 4 game with 4 RBI in the Razorbacks' 14-4 victory over South Carolina in the super regional clincher.

Who's not

Two of Arkansas' regulars are hitting just above .200 in the NCAA Tournament, center fielder Dominic Fletcher at 5 for 23 (.217) and catcher Grant Koch at 5 for 24 (.208).

Fletcher went 0 for 10 in the three-game super regional against South Carolina, with four strikeouts and two RBI.

"Dominic, I just think was getting a little rushed, kind of jumping at the baseball a little bit, trying to force action," Arkansas hitting coach Nate Thompson said. "And I think when he slows down, he's better. He's got to take a good deep breath and try to stay within himself and not try to force action so much. He's got a great swing. He's got a lot of pop."

Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said Fletcher had a good batting practice Friday at TD Ameritrade Park.

OF critiques

Dave Van Horn was asked Friday how he assessed his outfielders based on the dimensions at TD Ameritrade Park, which can play big and lead to key throws and defensive plays in the outfield.

Van Horn's assessments included "his jumps and reads are incredible" on Dominic Fletcher in center field, a quick update on right fielder Eric Cole fouling balls off both of his feet and ankles "but he gets good jumps on the ball," and then a summary of left fielder Heston Kjerstad, who has mixed home run-robbing catches with some misplayed balls.

"Heston Kjerstad, good job defensively, struggled a little the last couple of weeks," Van Horn said. "Lost a ball in high sky. He overran a ball that was slicing back by him and kind of an in-between daylight and dark, a little tough to see, but gets pretty good jumps on the ball."

Hot Clemens

Texas second baseman Kody Clemens is riding a hot streak going into the Longhorns' game against Arkansas.

In six NCAA Tournament games, Clemens is batting .500 (11 for 22) with 5 home runs and 11 RBI. He hit two home runs in the Longhorns' 8-3 victory over Texas A&M in the Austin Regional and hit three home runs in three super regional games against Tennessee Tech.

"First off, he doesn't get cheated," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "When he sees a pitch he likes, he lets it go, and he hasn't been missing it. He's in a groove right now, that's for sure."

Clemens has started all 63 games and is batting .356 with 24 home runs and 72 RBI. He has walked 40 times and scored 58 runs.

The Razorbacks did a good job keeping Clemens in check when the Longhorns played two games at Arkansas in March. Clemens was 2 for 8 with a single and double in the Razorbacks' 13-4 and 7-5 victories.

"When he took batting practice here those couple of days, I was really impressed with him," Van Horn said. "His at-bats were good. I think he's really learned how to work the counts and look for a pitch, and if he doesn't get it, he takes it. Especially early in the count. I think when you're going as good as he is, when he gets something in his zone he's just hammering it."

Loseke's work

Right-hander Barrett Loseke provided 51/3 innings of quality relief in the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional, including a critical 21/3 innings behind Isaiah Campbell on Monday, two days after he fired 49 pitches in three scoreless innings to save Blaine Knight's 9-3 victory.

"We were hoping maybe two innings out of Loseke," Van Horn said of the second appearance. "He wasn't real happy with me when I went out there to get the ball. I had to tell him, explain it to him, he threw 40-something pitches the other day and he just threw 41 more, and if all things go right, you're going to pitch again and we need you to be healthy.

"I don't think he smiled, he gave me the ball and he left. I'd rather have it that way than them running down the hill to give me the ball, to be honest with you."

Around the horn

• Arkansas has announced junior right-hander Blaine Knight (12-0, 2.74 ERA) as its CWS-opening pitcher on Sunday, while Texas Coach David Pierce said junior righty Nolan Kingham (8-4, 4.34) is 95 percent certain to start for the Longhorns.

• Arkansas utility infielder Hunter Wilson celebrated his 23rd birthday Friday.

Sports on 06/16/2018

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