February 2, 2001

Charlie Shields
Staff Writer

When the UA baseball team opens the 2001 season Sunday against Missouri Southern State University, it will be trying both to avenge a disappointing 2000 campaign and to establish itself.

The Razorbacks followed up their Southeastern Conference Championship season of 1999 with a less-than-spectacular performance last year, ending the season with a 24-30 record (8-20 SEC) and a sixth-place finish in the SEC West. The Hogs were picked to finish fifth in the SEC West this season.

"We try not to set any goals that are too high to reach, but this team could do a lot. Last year was a disappointment, and we feel like we've gotten better and better and could do well in the SEC," said Scott Crossett, a senior outfielder from Batesville.

If this team does accomplish a lot this season, they will do it with some new faces and some guys playing in a bit of a different role than last year.

One player with a new role is senior Wes McCrotty from Russellville. He will focus primarily on pitching this season, whereas, in past seasons, he has played both first base and pitcher.

"I think concentrating on one thing will help me out, just knowing what I'm supposed to do," McCrotty said.

Senior Kyle Washburn will also have a different role as a catcher, a position he hasn't played since his sophomore year of high school. A native of Fort Smith and transfer from Westark College, Washburn played third base last season for the Hogs.

"I'm working hard every day , and everything's starting to come back into place. It's a lot of fun, because you get to be the field general, you have to know a lot of stuff, but you get to go out and lead the team," Washburn said.

Washburn isn't the only candidate for the catching position, said Norm DeBriyn, head baseball coach.

"Right now, we're looking at Washburn as our guy behind there. He's doing OK, but he hadn't caught before so it's kind of hard. He's getting better every day. We have a lot of catching candidates. There are a lot of people in the mix."
Fans should expect to see a lot of new faces on the team this season.

"Anybody that sees us should come in with a scorecard because it will be a completely different team than last year. Everybody's new, there's not very many returning people at all, and they will need to check the numbers and the people because there are a lot of new people and a lot of people that aren't just the same familiar faces," DeBriyn said.

The returning players have some positive things to build on from last season. The Hogs finished the year by winning their last three SEC series, taking two of three games each from Kentucky, South Carolina and Ole Miss.

South Carolina was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time and had a 21-game overall winning streak and 17-game SEC winning streak. The Hogs were just the second team to win a series from the Gamecocks. The other team was national champion Louisiana State.

Scott Crossett ended the season on a 12-game hit streak, the longest by any player in 2000.

"We finished strong last season. We have a lot of new players that are trying to learn their roles, but the guys that were here last year are definitely going to try and pick up where we left off last season and keep it going forward and try not to run into any problems like at the beginning of last season," Crossett said.
Some of the problems last season were in the pitching, and one the biggest problems was the loss of Charlie Isaacson, sophomore pitcher.
Isaacson was an All-SEC first-team pitcher, a first-team freshman All-American and a second-team All-American following his freshman season, in which he won nine games and lost none.

He injured his shoulder after just three appearances last season. The shoulder is doing just fine, though.

"All fall, I've been throwing just fine, so I'm looking forward to the season to get here and playing in front of some fans again," Isaacson said.
He said he also has high expectations for the rest of the pitching staff.

"It doesn't matter who's on the mound, " Isaacson said. "I think we have enough confidence in anybody that, whoever it is, we believe we can win.

"Our bullpen has been our weak point for the past few years, but this year they will be better. [Pitching] Coach [Tim] Montez has done a really good job recruiting some new guys to come in and fill that role," he said.
DeBriyn also has a lot of faith in the pitching staff.

"If you look at our club, it looks like our strength would be in our pitching, and if that's the case, then we're going to be OK," he said.

The Hogs have scheduled some competitive non-conference opponents to prepare themselves for the always-tough SEC. Overall, the Hogs have nine pre-season Top-25 teams on the schedule.

"I think by doing that you find out where you're at, and you're playing the kind of competition you play in the SEC. Then, once you get into SEC play, it should be about the same," DeBriyn said.

The Hogs open the season with Division II Missouri Southern at 1:30 Feb. 4 at Baum Stadium. Several pitchers will pitch in the game, in an effort to determine who will start next weekend. Wes McCrotty is tentatively slated to start.
Next weekend, the Hogs travel to Texas-San Antonio for a three-game series. After that, it's back home to host yearly powerhouse and No. 22 Long Beach State University.

The Hogs also play third-ranked Miami and fourth-ranked, defending national champions LSU this season.

Razorback opponents South Carolina, Auburn, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi State are also ranked in the pre-season polls.

Among others on the schedule are Ole Miss, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Wichita State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Kansas State.

The first 1,500 fans at the game Sunday will receive a free schedule poster, and as always, students get in free.

This story was printed in the Arkansas Traveler, the UA student newspaper.