FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ 13-2 win over Eastern Illinois on Friday marked Dave Van Horn’s 800th win in 21 seasons as Arkansas coach.
It’s been just over two seasons since Van Horn recorded his 700th victory in the final game on March 11, 2020, and the covid-19 shutdown ended that season with 16 games.
Van Horn’s team is 50-13 in 2021 and 46-21 last year, while the Razorbacks are 4-1 this season.
When asked about his 800th victory, Van Horn said, “I have many good players. I hope we can talk again in 100 years.”
Van Horn is 800-424 in Arkansas and has a 1,120-583 record in 29 seasons as a Division I coach. He also coached the Division II Nationals in Central Missouri in 1994, where he won 51 wins, and from 1989 to 1993, he won 214 as a junior college coach in Texarkana. I was.
Arkansas lost 35 games between Van Horn’s 700th and 800th victories. The Razorbacks lost 45 games to Van Horn between his 600th win in 2018 and his 700th win in 2020.
The total other losses per 100 wins under Van Horn were 48, 60, 56, 56, 65, and 59.
Van Horn is nearing another career milestone. The NCAA Record Book recognizes his 1,171 wins during his 30 seasons combined at Division I and Division II levels.
He is one game shy of tying former UC Irvine and UCLA coach Gary Adams and two games shy of tying former Rice coach Wayne Graham for a career win.
With seven wins to go, Van Horn passes Andy Lopez (Pepperdine, Fla.; Dominguez Hills, Ariz.) and Tony Robichaux (McNeice-Lo., Lafayette) for 30th, according to the NCAA record books It will be a large number of wins.
stovall sits
Arkansas second baseman Peyton Stovall did not play Friday because of a left thumb injury sustained in the Razorbacks’ victory over Grambling State on Tuesday.
Sophomore Stovall had a swollen thumb from a jammed thumb while diving to second base. He finished Tuesday’s game feeling better before struggling to hold the bat on Friday.
In the same interview, Van Horn said Stovall might start an entire weekend series with Eastern Illinois.
video: Dave Van Horn, Players, EIU Game 1 Recap
Manager Van Horn said after the game that an X-ray of Stovall’s injured thumb early on Friday was negative. Van Horn said he was awaiting the results of his MRI when he spoke to reporters.
“I think he’ll do well, but I didn’t want him out today,” Van Horn said.
In addition to Stovall, Van Horn said backup shortstop Harold Koll is battling a back injury.
“We’re a little skinnier in the middle right now,” Van Horn told RSN.
3rd place slave
With Peyton Stovall out of the lineup, Arkansas changed their infield start for the series opener.
Ben McLaughlin started at first base, Peyton Holt at second base, and Brady Slavens at third base. John Bolton started the fifth game at shortstop.
It was the first starts in their respective positions of the season for McLaughlin, Holt and Slavens, and the first in a Junior College transfer Division I match for McLaughlin and Holt.
Slavens had not started at third base since the 2020 season at Johnson County, Kansas Community College. He said last month that he also played in the position during his 2019 season at Wichita State. Slavens worked at third base during the preseason.
“Brady played third base and shortstop in high school, he played third base in junior college, and when he came here three years ago, he knew he wanted to play third base,” Van Horn said. “We had some pretty good third basemen, so we moved him around a bit. I thought he did well.”
Slavens hit both balls cleanly in the second and third innings.
“I felt great,” Slavens told the Razorback Sports Network after the game. “I felt like I was used to coming here. I mean, I came in as third baseman and it’s been a while.”
Slavens, who was the Arkansas starter at first base in the first four games, was the third player to start at third base in five games. Caleb Kali and Jason Jones each started two games.
“I’m not saying[Slavens]will stay there,” Van Horn told RSN before the game. “I don’t know if it will work. We’re just trying to get other players into the lineup.”
make a scene
Eastern Illinois coach Jason Anderson pissed off at some fans in Arkansas’ leftfield hogpen when his team was on the field in the seventh inning on Friday.
According to Anderson, a spectator threw the ball at EIU center fielder Lincoln Riley three times.
“After the second time, I said, ‘If it’s the third time, I’ll go crazy,'” Anderson said. “Sure enough it happened for the third time and you saw me running around like an idiot. Then someone finally said something on the intercom.
This is the EIU’s sixth trip to Arkansas during Anderson’s 11 seasons as assistant or head coach. He praised the atmosphere in the Razorbacks’ outfield in an interview with the Arkansas Democratic Gazette on Thursday, saying: They do a good job of overwhelming players in the outfield, but not in the wrong way. ”
“It was the exact opposite,” Anderson said Friday, recalling those comments.
Diggs walks away again
Kendall Diggs hit a three-run homer at Baum-Walker Stadium to end the game twice.
They came in different circumstances.
On April 30, 2022, Diggs entered a Razorbacks game against Ole Miss as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning, hitting a home run to right field to give Arkansas a 6–3 victory.
On Friday, Diggs’ three-run homer to left center field gave the Razorbacks a 13-2 lead, with the 10-run rule enforced after seven innings.
“I wasn’t going to hit a home run or anything like that,” Diggs said. “Mostly, I was focused on the approach — stepping back, putting something back in the middle and adding a good swing to it.”
Wiggins surgery
Arkansas junior right-hander Jackson Wiggins underwent Tommy John surgery for his injured right elbow Wednesday.
“He’s fine,” said Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn. “They rehabilitate him there for a day or two and then he comes back.”
Wiggins’ surgery was performed by Texas Rangers team doctor Keith Meister in the Dallas area. Rehabilitation from surgery usually lasts about a year, but schedules vary.
Wiggins is an eligible pick for this year’s MLB Draft. Before his injury, he was the 61st overall pick in the American draft.
He appeared in 34 games during his freshman and sophomore seasons, made 19 starts, and went 9-4 with a 6.17 ERA in 89 innings. Wiggins has 110 career strikeouts and 57 walks.
Wiggins showed improved consistency in fall practices after working with former MLB pitcher Dustin Moseley over the summer.
“He was going to be the weekend starter…and it[injury]came out of nowhere,” Van Horn told SiriusXM SEC radio Thursday. “He pitched great in the fall, but in January or February of this year he hadn’t even really pitched yet. Two light bullpens.
Contributed by Tom Murphy
