HOGS BOUNCE BACK STRONG

Charlie Shields
SEBaseball.com Staff Writer

Baseball is a sport filled with unwritten rules. You don't bunt to break up a no-hitter. You don't throw at somebody's head. And if you're an umpire you do NOT break the home teams rally momentum with a silly little rain delay.

More on that later.

The Razorbacks broke a streak of what had been pretty good baseball with a trip to Tuscaloosa, where they racked up three loses. Combine the sweep with the loss to Auburn the previous Sunday and a loss to Wichita State in between the two conference road series, and the Hogs were headed home for a make up game with Missouri Southern. It turned what should have been an easy win into a must win.

But I get ahead of myself.

The coaching staff must have been concerned with the lack of consistent starting pitching (which I wrote about in my last article), and shuffled the starting rotation heading into Alabama, with what can only be described as less than lackluster results. (Okay, so there's a lot more ways to describe it. I was just trying to sound intelligent. Lackluster effort on my part, I guess.)

Freshman Charlie Boyce started game one against the Tide, as usual. He went just 1 2/3 innings and gave up four runs as the Hogs lost 10-2 in a route. In game two, Junior Transfer Jay Sawatski got his first start of the season and managed to go 5 shutout innings before running out of gas. The Hog bullpen would give up a huge 6 run seventh inning and the Hogs would fall 6-2 to the Tide. The Hogs had previously won 4 straight SEC series, and lost only one series until that point (swept by Mississippi State in mid-March). On Sunday, Senior Josh Merryman got his first conference start of the season and went just 3 innings. The Hogs gave up another huge inning, a 9 run fourth, as the Tide put a cherry on top of their series sweep, 14-2.

Hog fans were leery with Missouri Southern coming to town for a make up game. For as long as anybody can remember, the Hogs have opened the season with Missouri Southern, and the all time series record stood a comical 43-1-1. But given that baseball fans are pessimists by nature, all we could think was how awful it would be if we couldn't snap out of this losing gimmick. After all, losing to MISSOURI SOUTHERN?

An exhausted Arkansas team tried their best to give the game away, committing five errors in the game (and getting two gifts from the official scorer) but managed to come away with a 7-3 win. Six Razorbacks pitched and combined to hold the Lions to 3 runs on 7 hits. Sure it was a win, but with Ole Miss coming to Fayetteville for the weekend, it didn't seem much like a victory.

A glance at my stat sheet on Friday night told me everything I needed to know about Ole Miss: pitching, pitching and more pitching. They had allowed just 17 home runs on the season. Arkansas outfielder Ryan Fox has hit 18 by himself (leading the SEC).

The Hogs suffered a power outage (apparently the Rebels are good at causing those), and hit a grand total of ZERO home runs on the weekend. Sure the wind was blowing straight in from right on Sunday, but this is the kind of stat that can worry a baseball fan (aka a pessimist).

Luckily, the Hogs wouldn't need power to take the series.

In game one, Senior Jarrett Gardner got his starting position back and pitched seven strong innings. But the Hogs couldn't hold off the Rebels, and lost 5-2.

When we came to the park on Saturday, we had our teeth clenched, our fists balled and our hearts pounding with the knowledge that the losing streak ends TODAY. (And that was just the fans!) Here is where that inexplicable rain delay comes into play.

It was a sunny day to start, but the clouds rolled in sometime around the middle innings. The Hogs were down for most of the game, but it was back and forth and in the SEC, and in college baseball, no lead is safe. So down two runs (5-3), the Hogs came up to bat in the bottom of the eighth just as the clouds started to get darker. The Hogs plated a run to cut the lead in half and had runners on second and third with just one out.

The rain had begun to fall but it was nothing more than a smattering. Most of the blue hairs and intestinal fortitude challenged had retreated to the confines of the concourse, but I, and my compatriots, were determined to stick it out in our own seats. (To be honest, the rally had started with my ass planted squarely in seat 104 J 15 and I wasn't about to move.)

When what to my wondering eyes should appear but a goofy umpire throwing up his arms to signal a rain delay! I was mad to say the VERY least. And WE WERE THE HOME TEAM! And, WE HAVE TURF! We chanted "let them play." We insulted the Umpire's looks, haircuts, manhood and pretty much anything else we could think of. Head Hog Dave Van Horn argued with the umpire as we chanted his name and did the RVD thumb point thing (which, if you're not a wrestling fan, will mean nothing to you.) In an act of defiance, he wouldn't let our team put the tarp out. But mostly we sat in the rain for 15 minutes.

Finally the rain stopped and the sun peaked out and the Umpires signaled for the tarps to be taken off. But their work there was done, as the Hogs rally was squashed. They would get no more runs that inning.

HOWEVER! The Hogs spirit could not be crushed and neither could the fans. I have seen so many comeback wins from my seat in Baum that I didn't even flinch when the Rebels scored one insurance run in the top of the ninth to push the lead to 6-4. Last season the Hogs played fifteen innings at Baum against South Carolina. In the top of the 15th inning, the Gamecocks scored 2 runs. In the bottom of the inning, the Hogs scored 3 on a home run by shortstop Jeff Fletcher (his first of the year). So, in my mind, if we were going to make a comeback, it would be just as easy to come back from two down as it was one down. (I know, that logic doesn't follow. I'm as delusional as I am pessimistic.)

The Hogs got two on in front of Ryan Fox. (You know, that guy leading the conference in home runs.) He didn't hit a home run. He hit a LOOOONG fly ball that bounced off the wall and scored only one. I could imagine Razorback play by play radio announcer Chuck Barrett making that call and knew that all the fans listening at home were having heart attacks right about then. (That ball's gonna goooooooooooooooooooooo! .long dramatic pause.. Off the wall!)

So with runners on second and third and one out, the Rebels walked Kirk McConnell to set up the double play and Andrew Wishy stepped up to the plate. Andrew is batting .333 and leads the team in doubles with 21. We were giddy with excitement...until he struck out.

No fear. Catcher Brady Toops stepped up to the plate. He hadn't started the game, but pinch hit and came into catch earlier in the game. His family was down from Minnesota to watch the game. So, Brady, bases loaded, down by 1, two outs, bottom of the ninth.hey, this sounds like one of those cheesy "No Fear" T-shirts.

Brady managed to rip a ball down the first base line which I would swear on a stack of Bibles hit the bag (I should know since I was looking RIGHT at it) and the umpire called foul. Now, I'm not one to criticize umpires (wait, yes I am) but that ball CLEARLY hit the bag. I would have thought up a witty insult for him if I wasn't so keyed up. I knew that Brady already had one game winning walk off home run this season.

Well, He didn't hit a home run, but he did hit a double down the right field line that plated two and won the game. I wish I knew what happened after that but I think I passed out.

On Sunday, Charley Boyce once again took the ball for the Hogs, and pitched 7 and 1/3 great innings and got some AWESOME defensive help (two spectacular catches in the game, one by Pitts in left and one by Fox in center) as the Hogs went on to win 6-3.

So with two SEC series remaining for the Razorbacks (and one non-con game against Southwest Missouri State, which has turned into a heated rivalry) the Hogs are tied for 4th place in the conference and in good shape. Hog fans hope that patch of losing was just a bump in the road, but know that in the SEC, the tough part of the schedule is always the part that is right in front of you. The Hogs travel to Tennessee and then come back home for the final series to face LSU, which of course is the team Hog fans love to hate.

The last time the Tigers came to Baum Stadium, they were ranked number one in the country, the Hogs were in the cellar of the SEC West, and the Tigers left with three big loses. It was one of the greatest weekends of my life and I don't mind saying so. Because really, after this article, does anybody actually think I'm trying to be objective here?

A quick check of the stats

Brady Toops is leading the team in batting average, hitting .357. Six Razorbacks are batting over .300 and 3 others are within five points of the mark. Ryan Fox leads the team with 18 home runs and could possibly break the single season record for the Razorbacks (24 by Ryan Lundquist in 1997). Ryan is also leading the team in RBIs, with 46. Andrew Wishy has 45, and junior first baseman Haas Pratt has 42.

On the pitching side, Scott Roehl is still leading the Hogs with 7 wins, but Charley Boyce is up to 5. Roehl and Caton Hall are tied for the lead in appearances with 19, and Jay Sawatski has 17. Boyce leads the team in strikeouts with 41.