Lack of depth costs Hogs

BY RICK FIRES

Posted on Sunday, June 8, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/228062/

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas tried to convince anyone who’d listen at the start of the season that its pitching staff had more quality arms and was deeper than the year before.

No one believed it, especially the hitters in the SEC.

Poor pitching, inconsistent hitting and injuries to key players led to a disappointing season for the Razorbacks (34-24, 14-15 ), who finished ninth overall in the SEC and failed to make the league’s tournament for the first time since 2001. Arkansas was selected to play in the NCAA Tournament, then went 0-2 with losses to Pepperdine and Stanford in the Stanford Regional at Palo Alto, Calif.

“I’m not happy sitting here and not getting ready for a Super Regional,” said Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn, who has taken three teams to the College World Series, the last with the Razorbacks in 2004. “I told our guys that if you don’t want to go to Omaha [site of the College World Series ], then go somewhere else. Being mediocre, I can’t live with that.”

Arkansas anticipated a downturn after losing many of its top players, including three weekend starters, from a team that won the SEC West championship in 2007. Nick Schmidt, Duke Welker and Jess Todd went a combined 27-11 before all three signed professional contracts after being taken among the top 82 picks in the June draft that year.

Cliff Springston, a transfer from Baylor, was the only reliable starter this season and he led the staff with just five victories. The Razorbacks had a combined ERA of 5. 81 in SEC play and a porous bullpen led to some tough defeats, like when Arkansas failed to hold a nine-run lead against Georgia and blew a three-run, ninthinning lead at Mississippi State.

The 6-5 loss to Mississippi State enabled South Carolina and Ole Miss to leapfrog the Hogs into the eight-team SEC Tournament.

“You’ve got to have a pitcher win nine, 10 or 11 games,” Van Horn said. “Then, you’ve got a chance to go to Omaha. We had one guy win five games and we still went to a regional. But the biggest downfall since I have been at Arkansas is our bullpen. It has not been good since we had Jay Sawatski [in 2003-2004 ]. We had our closer last year, Jess Todd, and we had to put him in the starting rotation.

“ Our pitchers have got to step up and show that when we have a six-run lead, we know we are going to win the game.”

Arkansas will lose its top two players from this season after Springston and third baseman Logan Forsythe were selected in last week’s major league draft. Forsythe was selected by San Diego with the 46 th overall pick in the compensation round and Springston went in the 11 th round to Texas with the 333 rd overall selection. Both are expected to sign.

Junior outfielder Chase Leavitt was not drafted and he’ll return after leading Arkansas with a. 366 batting average. The Razorbacks hope to add some new players to a solid freshman class led by outfielder Brett Eibner, first baseman Andy Wilkins and pitcher James Mahler. Eibner led Arkansas with 57 RBI and he’s expected to be more of a factor on the mound next spring after pitching in 11 games this season.

Left-hander Dallas Keuchel and right-hander Justin Wells, who climbed the depth chart to start seven games this season, are the top returning pitchers. The Razorbacks also hope to keep some of their top signees, like Zack Cox, a pitcher / first baseman from Louisville, Ky., and left-hander Austin Wright of Chicago.

“We’ve got a foundation there, but they have to get better,” Van Horn said. “I love watching Wells pitch, but he had a 6. 00 ERA. He’s voted the team’s most valuable pitcher with a 6. 00 ERA.”

Arkansas will have a favorable home schedule next season after playing many of its key games on the road. The Razorbacks in 2009 will host nonconference games against Nebraska, Arizona State and Kansas and SEC series against LSU, Ole Miss and Florida, among others.

“We had 31 home games this year, and it’ll be 38 home games next year,” Van Horn said. “It’s a heck of a schedule with some quality teams coming in.”