Van Horn recounts ‘wild’ weekend

The weekend line score for University of Arkansas baseball Coach Dave Van Horn was 2 wins, 1 loss and 3 grandchildren.

Van Horn led the No. 1 Razorbacks in their 1-0 victory at Auburn on Thursday night and flew home to Fayetteville on Friday morning to be with his family when his daughter, Hollan Clark, delivered healthy triplets.

On Saturday, Van Horn returned to Auburn, Ala., to be back in the visiting dugout at Plainsman Park when the Tigers beat Arkansas 8-6.

The Razorbacks won 6-5 on Friday night with pitching coach Matt Hobbs serving as acting head coach in Van Horn's absence.

"It was a great weekend," Van Horn said. "When you step back and take a look at it, it was easy for me.

"My daughter had to carry three babies in her for a long time, and it's not fun I'm sure. I'm really proud of her. It was just back and forth on the plane a few times. It was all worth it, though, and I feel great.

"I'm glad [the babies] are here, glad they're being taken care of and I'm looking forward to watching them grow up."

Van Horn said on the Razorback Sports Network pregame radio show Saturday that it "was a wild one" on Friday.

"I got up in the morning and got a text that said they were going to take the babies [Friday]," Van Horn said of labor being induced. "I thought we had a couple, three, few more days.

"There's always things going on in there [at the hospital delivery room], and they felt it was time to go. Get in there.

"So I got back home. ... I'm just so glad I could be there. [Friday] night we got to go look at [the babies], and my daughter's first time to see them, I got to be in there and watch her.

"It was a special moment and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

The Razorbacks came from behind three times in Friday night's victory and won on a ninth-inning home run by backup freshman catcher Ryder Helfrick.

"I told the guys the staff did a great job managing the game," Van said on RSN of his pregame meeting Saturday with the players. "I also felt like the team did a great job backing them up. That's what it takes.

"The game was a total team effort. It wasn't dominating pitching, it wasn't dominating hitting.

"It was just a bunch of guys chipping away and making plays."

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