[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the Hog Sports Network daily podcast.
Now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Arkansas basketball moving on at the SEC tournament. We'll talk to Anthony Christensen about that today. Bubba Carpenter is also going to be in studio to talk about Razorback baseball as they get ready to play Ole Miss at or at Ole Miss this weekend in the SEC baseball opener. Oliver Miller passed away yesterday. We'll get some thoughts on him and his legacy for Razorback basketball. We're not going to talk a lot about this Arkansas Ole Miss game that's being played today because again, with all these noon games, by the time you listen or watch this podcast, there's a chance the game may already be over. So what I want to do is talk to Anthony a little bit about number one. Anthony, what do you think this did for the Razorbacks NCAA tournament hopes? I mean, I think there's a lot of people who believe that they're in now regardless of what happens the rest of the week in Nashville and that if they beat Ole Miss or they beat Auburn tomorrow or however far they can go at that point, it's, it's just about building, you know, building their seat up for the NCAA Tournament that they don't need these wins to get in. Where do you think they are?
[00:01:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I think, I don't know if you remember I said I was hesitant to put a lock status on them. I think it was. What was that? Friday, Monday, somewhere in that range. All the days run together in my head. But I think I am ready to put lock status on them. I don't see really any, any way in which they would fall out of the tournament picture at this point just because, I mean, they've, they've won the games that they've won. And some of the bubble teams that are kind of in that competition with them just don't have the same resumes. Right. Like North Carolina only has the one quad, one win you got. I mean, Ohio State is probably out in his 17 and 15 and just lost in the Big Ten tournament. So what they are is what they are. So, I mean, then you've got some, some teams like, you know, Wake Forest could maybe do some damage or maybe UC Irvine goes far enough to get a, get a look. But I just don't see a world in which, you know, Arkansas would fall off of the, or fall onto the wrong side of the bubble. And frankly, I think Joe Lenardi had him just off the bubble completely in his latest projection. So, I mean, it would, it would take an act of the Good Lord. To keep Arkansas out of the tournament, it seems at this point. But yeah, like you said, at this point I think these games are just receding just because, I mean, you want to put yourself in the best, best possible position to, you know, put yourself in a. And to put yourself in the best possible position to make a run in the NCAA tournament. So that's kind of where I think things are right now. And yeah.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: Latest brackets. Jerry Palm at CBS has Arkansas as a number 10 seed playing Kansas in Cleveland in the first round. Would be matched up against Tennessee and Omaha on the other side. And then Joe Lenardi, as Anthony mentioned, he has Arkansas off the bubble completely as the Razorbacks as a number nine seed, playing Marquette in Atlanta with either Auburn, siu, Edwardsville or Jackson State as a. I wonder who would win any.
[00:03:16] Speaker C: Of those hypothetical knife sets.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: I think we know who might win that and it's interesting, you know, and this goes to show you just how good the SEC is and how many teams are going to get in. There was a time, and I guess there still is a time that the NCAA did not want two conference opponents playing each other in the NCAA Tournament before the Elite Eight. And in both of these scenarios, Arkansas would potentially play another SEC team in the second round.
[00:03:43] Speaker C: Yeah, nine. It is kind of forcing the NCAA and the selection committee to kind of throw some rules out the window with regard to the SEC just because of how many teams you're going to get in. I mean, right now it's probably looking still probably like 12 or 13. You know, Oklahoma took a big step towards the NCAA tournament with its win last night. You know, Texas is still maybe trying to work its way in. I still think Texas is probably wrong side of the bubble, but obviously did itself, you know, no harm in winning yesterday. So there's, there's some stuff to, to look at there. And the SEC has obviously had the success it had in the non conference season and it's going to get the amount of teams that it's going to get in and probably deservedly so. So I mean, and it, it just forces the committee into doing things it typically wouldn't do just because of the sheer volume that the SEC is going to head in the NCAA tournament. So yeah, I mean the league as a whole has done really well. Obviously you've got a couple of duds in South Carolina and lsu, which I, I mean it is what it is. You're not every team in the league is ever going to be great. But yeah, I mean the SEC is, it looks like it's going to surpass the Big east in 2011 for the most bids ever and deservedly so. And it's kind of forcing the committee into, into some things it typically wouldn't be doing, which is, which is, you know, interesting. It's kind of fun to, to see and I, I'm intrigued to see how they put, put, put the bracket together on Sunday.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: Did notice in Leonardi's latest bracket that they've got Vanderbilt as back on the, on the bubble. Vanderbilt's lost three in a row and so a little bit of a tough situation there for the Commodores. Think they're going to make the tournament, but I think they're gonna sweat now on selection Sunday. Whereas about a week ago, really going into the Arkansas game, Vanderbilt felt safe. Racebacks beat South Carolina 72 to 68 yesterday. And this is what John Calipari had to say about the win.
[00:05:44] Speaker D: At this point, you want to win games, I'll look at the tape and figure out.
But I just thought we got tentative and was trying to get out of the gym. You can't play that way. And we have a bunch of guys that compete and did what they had to to win the game. So I'm happy.
Would you like to have it a big score? Yeah. But at this time of the year, everybody's fighting for their lives.
And in South Carolina, in a different league, they're not. They're good. They got big guys, they got guards. I mean, this league is unforgiving.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: John Caliperi after the game yesterday at the SEC tournament there in Nashville and, you know, he says the league is unforgiving. Anthony the. I think, you know, part of the reason. And he was talking on SEC Network too, about a lot of the football. Television money has helped build basketball. But, you know, I think most of the people in the SEC would tell you that John Calipari is the reason SEC basketball has become unforgiving. What he did at Kentucky for all those years, so many people were trying to chase Kentucky to the top and, you know, I, I think he's had as much to do with this as anybody at ESPN or in the conference office.
[00:07:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, there was the days of the, the SEC tournament being the Kentucky Invitational. Right. So that still is, I mean, obviously. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's, you know, I guess a testament to, you know, what he built or continued to build there. Kentucky, obviously the tradition at Kentucky has been there for forever. You know, even just looking back to the days about all for up and, you know, what they built even way back in the day. So there is, there's that. And he obviously had a ton of success in building his teams and winning a lot of games. And you know, you could, you could say that. I think there's also a lot to be said about, you know, that TV money as well. Just because, I mean, you look at SEC Network more often than not. I mean, I think the thing is when they put that together, the thing was like they were emphasizing you guys need to build up your men's basketball programs because that's what's going to be broadcast on this television network more than anything else. So I think that's a, that's a huge part of it. But like you said, I mean, people were chasing John Cal Peri of Kentucky for a long time. So I think there is, there is something to be said for that and how he kind of helped build the league into what it is. But yeah, there's a lot of factors and he's definitely one.
[00:08:17] Speaker B: You talk about the Kentucky Invitational. Many, many years ago, I used to go cover the SEC basketball tournament. I was there in 08 when the tornado hit the Georgia Dome. I was in the building. It was one of the scariest moments ever. But in the days that followed, they played the games over at Georgia Tech's arena and, and the only people who could get in were official parties. So parents or people who had typically big boosters who had university credentials and they could get in, or media members or cheerleaders and band. And I was outside the arena walking in the morning. So what happened was when the tornado hit, Alabama and Mississippi State were playing and then Kentucky and Georgia were going to play the Nightcap. They didn't get to play the Nightcap and they had to play the next morning over at Georgia Tech. I'm walking into the arena that morning and I've got Kentucky fans offering me lots and lots and lots of money for my credential so they can get into the building. They used to call it Cat Lana whenever they would play in Atlanta. So I've, I've certainly got my memories of, of being there for the so called Kentucky Invitational. You know, it felt like Arkansas has won this same game that they beat South Carolina yesterday three times in the last couple of weeks. Texas big lead in the second half. They lose the lead, they go to overtime and they win. Happened again against Mississippi State. They were up 16. Mississippi State took a late lead. Arkansas ends up winning by one. Same thing yesterday. Arkansas is up by 20. South Carolina pulls within one. Razorbacks end up winning by four.
I mean, it feels like they've kind of been in survive in advance mode here for a few weeks now. John Caliperi, Anthony actually asked the question yesterday about all of these second half collapses and losing these big leads in the second half and what's going on with the Razorbacks in those scenarios. And this is what John Calipari had to say about it.
[00:10:09] Speaker D: First of all, you got to say, geez, you got up double figures on all those teams and what's happened is it kind of tells you that we're still in the process of getting better.
Did we win all those games?
We figured out how to win them? Did we let people back in the game with a chance to beat us?
Yes, all of them.
Now we just, you know, it's that time of year where you're going to show some tape and just say, did we, Was this necessary?
Was this necessary? We gotta. Let's not beat ourselves.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: John Calipari on all these second half collapses. You know, Anthony, what I think is happening, and you tell me if you think I'm wrong, they're down to seven players and I think the players are getting tired. They're building up these big leads, which says something a little bit about the talent they have. But the last eight, ten minutes of the game, they're tiring out and they're not finishing the game. I guess they're finishing the games the way they should, but you know, you know, they're not playing down the stretch maybe the way that they should in these basketball games. And you know, I have to believe that there might come a point, whether it's against Ole Miss or Auburn, that if they haven't built up a big lead, there's a chance one of these games could really get away from them. Because this is a pattern that we're seeing now. Somewhere around the 8, 10 minute mark, they just go cold for a long time.
[00:11:39] Speaker C: I leaned over to Ethan and it's like, yeah, this game, this game's done a 20 point lead with whatever 17 minutes left to go. And I was like, yeah, I'm gonna start writing. And then obviously they just decided to not hit any more shots and that was that. But you know, I think, you know, fatigue obviously is going to be a factor just when you have such a limited number of guys. So I think that could be, that could be part of it. Some of it is, I think, you know, obviously they're playing against a lot of really good coaches in this league. I mean, you know, Lamont Paris has been around for a long time, and he's, you know, very well respected in the industry. And I mean, sometimes when you get, you know, players like Trey Johnson in Texas who are just going to get hot and drop 40 points on you or 39 or whatever it was that he got, you know, sometimes that's going to happen when you're playing against, you know, a lottery pick in the NBA draft, potential top five guy. And then, yeah, Mississippi State, Chris Jans has really kind of, I don't want to say change his identity, but he's really added a stronger offensive element to, to that Mississippi State team. So there, there are those factors as well. I mean, you're playing against good teams, good players, good coaches, all of that. So, I mean, they're never going to just lay down and say, all right, this is the end of it.
So there is that. And then you add in the fatigue factor of, you know, seven guys playing 40 minutes. That's going to be, you know what I mean? But that's going to be tough to, to balance and sometimes, you know, not to, not to use the cliche, basketball's game runs. It's, I vow to try to never put that in any of my stories, but it does kind of run true a little bit just because, I mean, you're always one run away from winning a game or losing a game. So there's, there are all those different factors in there. So I, I think that it, I don't think there's just one thing to blame for, you know, them letting these teams back into it. I mean, they, you look at the Vanderbilt game, for example, I mean, they kind of, they kind of controlled that one from. I don't want to say start to finish, but like midway through the first half to finish and really controlled it. Didn't really let Vanderbilt back into it. So maybe there is, you know, some of that, maybe there's some fatigue, but I do think there's a decent few factors in there.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: Anthony, appreciate your time. Enjoy covering today's game over there in Nashville.
[00:14:05] Speaker C: I will do my best. I'm having a great time in Nashville, that's for sure.
[00:14:08] Speaker B: You can read all of Anthony's coverage. Ethan Westerman there, too. Hank Layton, our
[email protected] when we come back, Bubba Carpenter is going to be here in the studio. We'll talk Razorback baseball. But first, a word from our sponsors at Kindle King.
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[00:14:53] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. Want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. Committed, professional, versatile if you're looking for a quality leader in Northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can come by and see them now at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com Bubba Carpenter is here in Studio we're going to talk Razorback baseball here in just a second, but first I want to talk about Oliver Miller, who passed away yesterday at the age of 54. One of the all time great Razorback basketball players. I mean, we talked within the last few weeks about who ought to have banners hung in Bud Walton arena and I said there were six players who I think you could hang their banner right away and Oliver Miller was one of those six to add to the two banners that are already hanging. And you think about Razorback basketball history and then I think that tells you really all you need to know. I was talking to Matt Zimmerman last night and he made the point. He said that Oliver Miller is the most versatile big man Arkansas's ever had. He said, you think about Joe Klein, he could, you know, he could, he could power down somebody on the block, but he didn't have the passing ability of an Oliver Miller. Bobby Portis was a great passer, was a great shooter, but he didn't have the block ability. Daniel Gafford didn't have the passing ability. Oliver Miller is the only Razorback to have over 100 blocks and 100 assists in the same season. At 6 foot 9 and over 300 pounds, he was an incredible basketball player and was a huge piece of Nolan Richardson's early success at Arkansas. Help laid the foundation for when the Razorbacks won the final four in 1994. You remember Oliver Miller was one of the first people out there on the court hugging the Razorbacks on the floor. Was a big Razorback fan, had a big heart. And I'll tell one more story that Matt told me yesterday, Bubba. He said that Todd Day within the last week sent a group text out. Everybody knew that Oliver Miller wasn't doing well. He had cancer, couldn't make it to the 1990 team reunion. A few weeks back, Todd Day sent out a text, told everyone that Oliver Miller had been placed in hospice care. And Scott Edgar, who was an assistant coach when Oliver played here, he sent a text out to everybody. He said, I think we need to fast for Oliver and we need to pray for a miracle for Oliver. And Matt told me that Arlan Bowers, who was a player, then texted back, he said, coach, when do we start? And a bunch of grown men in their 50s, hard nosed tough guys who, you know, a lot of them came from tough backgrounds, people who went on to play in the NBA. They have been on a liquid fast for the last five days, praying for a miracle because of just how strongly they felt about Oliver Miller. And he's passed away now, but I just thought that was such a testament to the impact and the legacy that he had on his teammates. And I think anybody would feel honored to know that they had done that to the people around him.
[00:17:55] Speaker E: Yeah, I tell you what, it's a sad story, Matt, but it's good to see those guys come together like that and just go show how much they cared about the big O.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: You know, you were in school when he was playing here, how big of a, you know, I mean, you talk about, you know, the guys who are the big man on campus. I mean, he really was the big man on campus whenever you were in school.
[00:18:15] Speaker E: Oh, he really was. I mean, everyone loved him. You know, I remember the big O. Everywhere you went, it was, it was a big O. And so, you know, I'd see him driving up down the road some and from his apartment we would pass each other and, you know, he was just like bigger than life, you know what I mean?
[00:18:31] Speaker B: And I'd always, it's always that way. It feels like a lot, you know, the guys who are bigger than life, they're always, you know the old song, the Good Die Young.
[00:18:38] Speaker E: Yeah. So, yeah, it's really sad. It's really sad.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: You know, there's, there's a chance a lot of people on here never saw or listening to us, never saw Oliver Miller play. If you get a chance, go find some Oliver Miller highlights from his Arkansas days. Just an incredible, incredible basketball player and he passed away yesterday at the age of 54. Arkansas baseball is back in action this weekend. They're going to go to Ole Miss. Three game series begins tomorrow night over in Oxford. Ole Miss is ranked number 15. Arkansas ranked number three. And this week's coaches pulled the Razorbacks on a long winning streak. They haven't lost since that first game or their only loss of the year was that first game down in Arlington. And now they go, it's a 12 game winning streak. They play an Ole Miss team that just had a 14 game winning streak snapped in the midweek against South Alabama.
You know, let's start with the Razorbacks. Midweek they beat UCA 9 to 2. Four big swings in that game. Three run home run by Cam Kozal, a couple of two run home runs by Brent Iredell and Kahila Loy. And then Iredell had a big two run single too.
Good pitching. What do you feel like you saw from the Razorbacks on Tuesday?
[00:19:48] Speaker E: Well, I saw good pitching, good defense and timely hitting. You know, I was impressed. I thought UCA came in, played a good game, but you can't give us extra outs. You can't walk our guys. You know, one inning we get a walk, next thing you know it's a home run. Next inning they get a couple outs and then they hit a couple batters. And then a single. I thought the single from Iredell was huge. Single up the middle against a tough sidearm guy.
And then Koja goes. Oppo shows the power. Oppo. And it was kind of from there on, it was kind of, you know, the game.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: There was a pitch clock violation assessed to Kozal. I think there have been two pitch clock violations this year against the Razorbacks. And there was a home run on the next pitch because it happened to Cahillo.
[00:20:37] Speaker E: Yeah, you're right. Yeah. The very next pitch.
[00:20:38] Speaker B: Yeah, those are the only two I can remember this year.
[00:20:41] Speaker E: I think you're right.
[00:20:42] Speaker B: Isn't that amazing?
[00:20:43] Speaker E: Yeah. You know, and a lot of times, I mean, that goes show that, you know, first of all, Kuhio is just, I mean he's up there just ready to hit. And then Kojo, just a tough guy. I mean, a lot of times the guys you see that happen and next thing you know, they swing in a bad, oh, one pitch and you know, end up having a crappy at bat. But, you know, it's good to see those guys. Good to see Koza showing that Oppo power. That ball was hit hard.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: The. Oh, by the way, it was, it was a single that Kahiyo hit. An RBI single after his pitcock violation, won a home run. But still two big swings in those games. So let's on the two. I'm losing my train of thought here on the two pitches. It's in the fourth inning and it's a four to one game. I just thought that that Showed, you know, Iredell hits a single and then Kozal hits his home run and all of a sudden in the span of two pitches, it goes from a three run game to an eight run game. And that shows you the danger of, of especially the middle of that Arkansas lineup.
[00:21:46] Speaker E: Absolutely. And this team can, can bite you really fast. That kind of goes back to what we talked about earlier in the week about the 10 run rule. And that goes to show you right there how quick a game can turn. And it's, it's fun to watch this team because if the other team makes an error or they walk us, it seems like we always take advantage of that. And we've already talked about their respondability. I think that's your word.
But yeah, when they give us a, give us an extra bat or an extra out, I mean, they always take advantage of it. Especially, you know, in what the middle of the lineup did. I mean, the bottom of the lineup didn't do much, but you know, it's always someone different. It seems like picking up the team.
[00:22:29] Speaker B: I want to ask you about Colin Fisher because he, I thought he was going to throw more. I talked to Matt Hobbs on Monday and he said we got to build his pitch count up, we got to get him back in, you know, kind of have that feeling of being a starter. And then I heard David Horn on the pregame show with Phil. He said that, you know, we'd like to go three innings. I'm wondering if, because he only threw 39 pitches, I'm wondering if he is more efficient than they thought he was going to be. You know, like maybe they had him on a pitch count of 50, 55 and they thought that, you know, he would be getting close to that 50, 55 in three innings. He only throws 39 pitches. And I looked this up the other day. In his outings this year, he's averaging 13.8 pitches per inning. It's incredible efficiency from him and he's been really, really good. And I feel like he's getting better each time that we see him.
[00:23:18] Speaker E: I think so. And, and I, I love watching him pitch. He works quick, he can pitch both sides of the plate. A really good three pitch mix.
He's, he's tough. I, I still compare him to a Kaikal, you know, the way he's on that third base side of the rubber, the ball. He can run it, he can throw it in on a righty or he can just barely clip that outside edge with a fastball or his change up and he's got A good breaking ball to go with it.
[00:23:45] Speaker B: Kaikal. There was a book called Astro Ball. It's kind of a version of Moneyball, but how the Astros, you know, went from being so bad to being World Series champions. They said that Dallas Kuichel learned how to pitch by playing MLB the Show. And he, like, that's how he learned to Mitch to mix his pitches. He would.
Maybe he was throwing with Greg Maddox in the game, but, you know, he would throw with a pitcher who was not real overpowering, and he would mix his pitches in that game, and that's actually how he would approach it whenever he actually went out on the mound.
[00:24:18] Speaker E: It's pretty cool. My kid plays that all the time.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: See? So when you think Dalton is, you know, wasting his time on video games, he's actually preparing for that third MLB contract.
[00:24:28] Speaker E: In that book, did they talk about the trash can, how they it's addressed?
[00:24:33] Speaker B: No, actually, let me think. I don't think. I think the book.
I wonder if there's a second edition to it. I think the initial book was written right after they won the World Series. So, you know, it was like two years until that all came out. That was like 20, 19, 2020, when hold, you know, the cheating was discovered. And so I don't think it is in the. In that book. I don't think it's mentioned, at least in the edition I read.
[00:24:58] Speaker E: There needs to be another edition.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: There could be. They're very well. And there may be.
I think there might be, actually.
[00:25:04] Speaker E: But to your point about Kaiko, I think it's awesome that he. That, you know, that that's. That that helped him.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:11] Speaker E: You know, I mean, because he. He really did. He. He kind of. He got better. Every year. He got a little bit better. You know, a few adjustments on the mound, a few adjustments with his pitch sequencing, and I thought he was a totally different pitcher.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: Both of them are Okies. Dallas grew up over in the Tulsa area. Fisher from down around Oklahoma City, from Noble. His value to the team, I think that they're maybe they're like. There's like this little mental tug and pull with him right now. Do you start him on Tuesday? Do you save him for a big weekend relief type role? There's value in both. And I feel like maybe the way they're doing it right now is workable moving forward. Get you, you know, open him on a Tuesday night, get you off to a good start, but then save him for, you know, those 40, 50 pitches that he might need on the weekend.
[00:26:02] Speaker E: Oh, I. I love what they're doing with him right now because he gets. He knows he's going to start on a Tuesday. He knows he's going to get a certain amount of pitches or, you know, at least three innings. And then on the weekend they can use them in that floating role of if a starter struggles and comes out early, he comes in and be long relief can kind of relieve them. And I love that role for him. And then look, if something happens, he could easily slide into that weekend rotation which, you know, if someone gets hurt or someone struggles and they want to switch roles up, be nice. It's a good problem to have.
[00:26:36] Speaker B: Well, and I've mentioned a few times, think about how many times we've seen Arkansas in a regional have to go to that fourth game. And there is a lot of value in having a fourth starting pitcher. A lot of teams don't have that.
[00:26:48] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, that's a, that's a huge. And then just think when Gage comes back, then, you know, I mean, that's just a game changer right there. Having those two guys, you know, floating around there. They can do any role they want, you know, I mean, for that matter, they could close. I mean, you don't picture Colin Fisher as a closer, but outs are outs. If you get them in the first three innings or the last inning, you.
[00:27:13] Speaker B: Know, and you and I were talking about the closer situation yesterday, it feels to me like Carson Wiggins is their closer right now. Like if all things are equal, they're going to go to Carson Wiggins first, you know, for three or four outs left in the game.
Maybe there's a matchup and Christian Fouch is, you know, they feel like Fouch is a better matchup. But again, I feel like if all things are equal, Wiggins might be the guy when Wood comes back, they've got to figure out what to do with Gage Wood and Landon Beitleshees or, you know, maybe somebody else. I mean, Gackle, I mean, is he pitching well by that point?
Anyway, it's going to be interesting to see because I feel like with the issues that they've had at closer, unless Fouch and Wiggins just really jump up and take that position by the horns, there's a potential there for one of these other guys who's been a starter to potentially be used there in that back end role, you know, I could.
[00:28:09] Speaker E: See Gage Wood stepping back into it. If you look at Gage's pitches, every pitch is better this year. Fastball, I mean, it's got a little more Life on it. Sliders better. Love the cutter. And he don't change up. I mean, you need a plus. He's a strike thrower. Plus, he's mean out there on the mound. Everything. If you Google closer, I mean, that's the intangibles right there.
[00:28:31] Speaker B: Think about how mad he pitches and how mad he's going to pitch after he lost five, six weeks, however long this ends up being.
[00:28:37] Speaker E: Yeah, I wouldn't want to be the first dude to face him, but, you know, it takes a certain mentality to be that guy at the back end of the bullpen. Now you. Fouch looks like a closer has closer stuff. Wiggins looks like a closer has closer stuff.
It's just a matter of. Of. Of getting it done. You know, they. They both have the capability of doing it, but, you know, you get. You get a guy like Gage Wood, and I just think he's built. Even though he's been a starter his whole life. And he's a. He can. He can be a great starter for us. I still say those last three outs are the hardest to get.
[00:29:12] Speaker B: I go back to a conversation I had with Hobbs earlier this week. We were talking about, and he brought this up. All these starting pitchers, you know, those four guys who were in the conversation at the start of the year, he said the thing that he loves about those guys is that you could take one of them and ask them to do something different than start and you wouldn't hear anything about it from them. That they are. That they're that approachable and they're that accepting of whatever position the coaches feel like, you know, they should be in. And you don't get that a lot of times. You know, I mean, you can get some ego with players. You can get the guy who says, hey, no, I'm the Friday night guy. I'm the starting first baseman. I'm the closer. I'm this, I'm that. And so I feel like, you know, not having to deal with that ego has got to be refreshing. Number one, but probably a pretty good deal for the clubhouse.
[00:30:03] Speaker E: Well, okay, so don't you think that goes back to the kind of players they bring in here? I think. I think our staff does a phenomenal job of bringing the right guys in. I mean, when you look in the transfer portal, I mean, it's chaotic. There's good players all over the transfer portal, but I think it's about bringing in the right guys that fit here. Like, you look at Tommy White, I don't think Tommy White would have been A good fit here.
No, no, I don't.
Skiings we'd have taken him, but you know what I mean? It's, it's bringing in the right guys that buy into the team, man, because it's, I don't know. And there's just a vibe about this team that I really love. You and I talked about on the phone last night, late last night, our.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: Midnight calls that we have, you know, and we were talking about this because you were talking about Cam Kozel and something that you, you noticed about him after the game on Tuesday. And I'll let you tell that here in just a second. And I told you, I'm always watching people and perceiving little things about him. There was a press conference within the last couple of weeks and there's three guys at the table. The other two get up and they walk out and then Gabe Gackel stays behind and he pushes in every chair at the, at the table in the press conference room and just notice little things about that, like people. And I think it tells you a lot about their character.
[00:31:27] Speaker E: I think so. And, and those are the character I say all the time. Matt, the baseball part is easy. It's being a good teammate, doing the right thing, being a leader. Those are the hard things to do. I mean, when my career was over, I didn't want people to say, oh, he was a, he was a pretty good player. I want them to say he was a great teammate. That's all I want to hear.
And you see a lot of that on these teams. And I told you a story about when guys come try out for our organization, the prospects.
If I get a 10 year old kid that opens up the net for me or opens up the cage door and we go in where he says, yes, sir. If it comes down to him and a kid that's a little bit better, that has zero manners, I take the kid with the manners because he's going to be coachable, he's got a good family and he's. At the end of the day he's going to be a better, better player. But I'll tell the story about Cam Kozil. I go down to the dugout to interview him and you know, everyone's grabbing their stuff and you know, the game's over and they're, they're ready to get out of there. They want to get ready for Ole Miss.
He's picking up trash. I mean he's like getting, not just grabbing stuff, he's like reaching underneath the bench to get trash. That's underneath the bench. And not that other guys probably do it, but he was the only one at the time doing it. And that just struck me as like, wow, I like this guy. And I told him, I said, you're my new favorite player. You know, I saw J.J. blade doing it one day after a Vandy game. And I don't bring up Vandy very much because I don't like Vandy, but he's the best player on the team, can be a first round pick and the game's over, everyone else is gone, and you see him in the dugout picking up trash and, I don't know, stuff like that. It goes a long way with me.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: I had a similar situation like that when Heston Kirstad was a true freshman. I was out there covering fall ball and I was the only person there. He went five for five that day, you know, typical cursed head day in the fall. And this was his freshman year. This before I ever played a game. This would have been the fall of 17. And we couldn't find him. Couldn't find. I wanted to talk to him. Couldn't find him anywhere. And finally we found him. He was in the other dugout, sweeping the dugout. And now that's part of the freshman duties. Yeah, but, you know, I asked about it and I said, you know, they still make you do that after you go five or five. He goes, yeah, I got to do the little things, man. And I don't know, just. That was one of those things that, that's always stood out to me about Heston Kirstad.
[00:33:57] Speaker E: Yeah, it's funny because those kind of, those type of players are successful. Yeah, those little things mean a lot. You know, I talked to a scout several years ago and you, you've heard this, you know, many times, but he's like, look, I, I want the guy that's willing to drink out of the water hose. And he said, these days there's not that many guys out there, but I, I think Cam Koja would drink from the water hose.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Tastes pretty good.
[00:34:20] Speaker E: It doesn't. I love it. That's how I grew up.
[00:34:22] Speaker B: When you're out there mowing, that's all you got.
Not, Not a bad, Not a bad option.
[00:34:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: Going back to pitching on Tuesday, you know, one of the things that I couldn't help but notice was they throw Fisher first and then they bring in Ben Bybee and then they bring in Dylan Carter. And then after a couple of innings of Cole Gibler, here comes Will McIntyre, Jr. Whatever Carter is, I think he's like fifth, sixth year Will, sixth year, over 325 innings between those guys. I don't know of another team that's throwing that type of experience on a Tuesday night.
[00:34:58] Speaker E: I don't think there's very many. I mean, look at all this.
[00:35:00] Speaker B: And it's such a luxury.
[00:35:02] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: And I think it says something about the depth of the bullpen that, you know, those guys, they may throw on a weekend. We've seen will throw on a weekend this year. But, you know, the bullpen has gotten so deep that these guys who used to be, you know, some of the first players in on a weekend, now they're pitching on Tuesdays.
[00:35:22] Speaker E: Yeah, and it kind of goes back to the run rule, too. They're not getting their weekend innings, so you got to get them in those midweek games. And, but boy, the depth, it's, it's, it's fun to see. And so you mentioned Cole Gibler. Love him. I mean, every time I see him, I like him more.
[00:35:40] Speaker B: He's got to stop giving up these two out, two strike, RBI hits when we've got a run roll on the line. Yeah, that's two times now.
I mean, that's the only blemish for him for the most part. But that's something I noticed the other night, is it was. Had he not given up the two out, two strike hit the night of the lightning strike, we would have been out of there before the, you know, that whole ordeal even happened. But otherwise, I mean, he, you know, to your point, he is pitching pretty well.
[00:36:09] Speaker E: Yeah, I hate it when they steal that base in that situation and then a guy gives up like a cheap rbi, you know, late in the game. You know, I don't know. I mean, I get it. You're, you're not going to hold a runner there. You're, you're not worried about him. And that run doesn't mean anything but, boy, to that picture it does. And you see it happen all the time. Late in a game, you're killing a team. You know, they just let him steal second and then someone bloops in a hit and he gives up an rbi. I hate it. But I mean, it is what it is. Can't control that.
[00:36:40] Speaker B: And in fairness, there was not a run rule on the line, so to speak, against UCA, but it made a 9 to 1 game, 9 to 2, made it harder to put the run roll in.
In effect, Brent Iredell, let's talk about him for a minute because last four games for him, he has 15 RBI I think. Am I right about that? 15. Yeah, it was an 8, 8 RBI game, a 3 RBI game and a 4 RBI game. I mean, this guy's swinging the bat really well.
[00:37:08] Speaker E: Yeah. And I mean, just having him in the middle of the lineup and he kind of adapts. He does a great job of adapting to the arm that comes in and faces him. Like, you know, the dude before, before they brought in the sidearm, a totally different look. They bring in the sidearm guy, his release points, 3.3ft, 5 inches. You know, the ball's actually coming up vertical. His release, it's coming up out of his hand, and he stayed on. A ball hit up the middle. That's hard. That's a hard look for a righty. Probably a look they haven't seen. I want to say, I said on the broadcast, it's. It's a look they probably don't see much of because they don't have a sidearm dude on the team this year.
But is for him, it was simple. Just right back up the middle. The dude makes a mistake, he's going to hammer at the left field. I don't know. He's just a complete hitter. He just, you know, he. He knows he has a knack for getting those runs in.
[00:38:03] Speaker B: And I mean, it goes back to show how good of a hitter he is. But, and we've talked about this, it feels like so many of his hits are up the middle into right field the other way. And I mean, that's the mark of a great hitter.
[00:38:14] Speaker E: You know, think back in the past, Matt. We'll get runners at second and third, two outs, and we'll get a guy go up there and pull off of three sliders in a row.
You don't see him do that. I mean, you. He's got a good feel for what that pitcher is trying to do to him. Now, a lot of it's, you know, you got a tip of the hat to the scouting report. I mean, they've got a pretty good scouting report on everybody. But I'd have to say on. On uca, we probably don't have a lot of information on some of their guys. A lot of those guys are JUCO guys. So that's him just going up there and getting it done.
[00:38:48] Speaker B: Iredell, batting average up to.431 now, almost as caught. Cahill and RBI is 31 to 29. They're tied for the home run lead. They're both second, tied for doubles with six apiece behind Viva with seven.
And Iredell has done a lot of his damage really here within, I would say, during this, this home stand. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's, he's really.
There were some. There have been little pockets of struggle with him, but it feels like he's come a long way here the last couple of weeks. I want to ask you about Kozil. And, you know, I know he had a rough game when he got in the lineup. One of those games against Portland. I think he ended up getting an RBI ground out, but he went over four, you know, but for the most part, he's shown some really good stuff at the plate. And then I think defensively at first it still looks raw, but it's coming along.
[00:39:43] Speaker E: You know, first base isn't. It's not as easy as people think it is. I remember the play, the footwork play at Globe Live Field where he got trucked. You know, you make that throw to second base, you kind of. You've got a feel like if you've played first base a lot, you know where the bag is, it's automatic. You make that throw, you kind of backpedal back, you put your first on the bag and you catch the ball. He didn't know. He didn't know how to get back to the bag. You could tell he hadn't played it. But just watching him day in and day out, you look at the play he made on Beha's ball up the middle, behavior went way up the middle, open up, threw the ball kind of sailed on him or kind of, kind of, you know, his momentum took it up the. Up the line towards. Towards past the back right field side. He did a great job of stretching and got every inch that he could and caught that ball. I mean, it's. I don't know, it's just. It's like he just. I think Dave said it. Just call him a baseball player. That's what he is. And he's a baseball player. You could put him anywhere on the field and he's going to get it done.
[00:40:47] Speaker B: Clay Henry wrote a good piece on him within the last couple of weeks about his football background in Nebraska and how that kind of shows up on the field, too. And he's a country boy. I mean, didn't he say he went out there and he caught a fish in Lake Norm before the game?
[00:41:03] Speaker E: Yeah, so I talked to him about it. So usually when we do our. Our player of the game, it's two minutes to three minutes somewhere through there.
[00:41:11] Speaker B: This one was four.
[00:41:12] Speaker E: This was long. And we could. We could probably still Be there talking if.
Because we talked before we started the interview, and then we kept talking after the interview, all the way up to the press room. But he's so much fun to talk to. He talked about, you know, catching a bass, talking about shooting the snapping turtle, talk about the goose eggs. And it was just, I love the guy. I live on a river. And I told him, I said, man, you want to come out and fish? You know, whatever, Shoot snapping turtles, whatever you want to do, come on out and do it. So.
[00:41:44] Speaker B: And they're not like those are those alligator snapping turtles. I've seen one of them's gotten into the stadium before. You remember this?
[00:41:49] Speaker E: I remember him getting in the snake.
[00:41:52] Speaker B: Well, there are many snakes that have gotten in. There's snakes and groundhogs and raccoons, and it's kind of like it's critterville out there at bomb sometimes. Now, there was a. There was a fall practice. This would have been five, six years ago. And one of those alligator snapping turtles. You seen these things? They're mean. I got one in my backyard one time, and just.
Little piece of advice. Don't call Arkansas Game and Fish when you've got one in your backyard, because they'll tell you, don't shoot it, or you'll have committed a crime. But anyway, they. They scooped this thing up with a shovel, and they put it in a baseball in one of those buckets that they have baseballs in, and somebody took it and dumped it back out there in the pond. So they're not your normal snapping turtles.
[00:42:39] Speaker E: Yeah, those things are mean.
[00:42:41] Speaker B: Yeah, they're mean.
[00:42:41] Speaker E: You always get a stick and stick it out there, and, boy, they'll attack that stick.
[00:42:44] Speaker B: They, like, have, like, this kind of roar to them.
[00:42:46] Speaker E: I mean, they'll his at you. They're mean.
[00:42:49] Speaker B: Yeah, they're not real fun. Going back to camp Kozal, Dave Van Horn talked about him the other night and how he's played, and this is what he had to say.
[00:42:57] Speaker F: We knew he was a good player. That's why we brought him in here. We tried to get him out of high school. We came in second, but then we ended up getting him. So it worked out for us.
You know, we thought he could hit, and he's strong. He's just a really good leader. You know, even when he wasn't playing, he was right there, you know, helping his teammates. And it was fun to watch him in the dugout. And it came out swinging the bat, you know, just tough out and trying to think, okay, we got to get him in the lineup. And we talked about it last off season. If he hits, we might put him in first base. You know, if Souza's playing well and everybody's healthy and you know, we've, we've even been working him out at third. He's been taking ground balls in pregame at third, second and first. So he's really valuable to us. And he does a pretty good job against left handed pitching, but he does a real good job against right handed pitching. And I don't know, I just think it's his mentality. He thinks he's good strong.
I mean, he, he didn't get all that ball. He just flipped it into the left, left field bullpen. And, you know, it's been, it's been good watching him have success because he works so hard. He deserves it.
[00:44:09] Speaker B: That was David Horn after the UCA game on Tuesday night, wearing those gold hats. Those are starting to grow on me. I mean, they're obviously for a great cause for, you know, the childhood cancer awareness. But like, just the hats themselves have kind of grown on me over the years.
[00:44:21] Speaker E: Yeah, they, they look good. They look good in the dugout. They really do. And like DVH looked good in that interview right there.
[00:44:28] Speaker B: Some of the hats they wear, I don't like, like the, the St. Patrick's Day hats.
[00:44:33] Speaker E: Green, Green's not a good look. No, they're not.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: The yellow hats or gold hats, I like those. When we come back, we're going to talk about Arkansas Ole Miss this weekend. But first, a word from our sponsors.
[00:44:44] Speaker E: At Kindle King.
[00:44:45] Speaker A: We're proud of over four decades of design. We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kindle King, Soapbox and Shop Cart. Together, these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are Design.
[00:45:17] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back, Arkansas Ole Miss. This weekend, Ole miss ranked number 15, Arkansas number three. It's Arkansas's first road trip of the year. Now they went to Arlington, obviously and played games there, but those are kind of home away from home games at Globe Life Field. This is going to be a obviously true hostile road environment. David Horn was asked after the game Tuesday night what he thought about Ole Miss, his team, and this is what he had to say.
[00:45:41] Speaker F: I think they're pitching better.
You know, they've got, they've got their Friday night guy back from a couple years ago. That was injured and he gives them an opportunity to win every time he's on the mound. They've got some right handers with really good arms, a lot of velocity.
They've got some guys in the lineup that are swinging it well and hitting the ball hard and out of the park and just, probably just, you know, once you get to winning a little bit, you feel like you're going to win. And that program's a winning program, obviously. And so we, you know, we know that we've got our hands. Anytime you, you go on the road, the sec, you get your hands full. But realistically, it's every weekend.
[00:46:21] Speaker B: Arkansas is going to see Hunter Elliott on Friday night. And if the name sounds familiar, we, we've seen him before against the Razorbacks. He pitched for six innings, I think. Was it the game that Kendall Diggs hit the walk off home run in 22? I think it might have been. I think he might have started that game.
[00:46:37] Speaker E: Yeah, I think you're right.
[00:46:38] Speaker B: He didn't give up the home run, but I think he started that game. And then Arkansas saw him again in Omaha. He pitched six and a third, you know, on that night where they beat Arkansas and sent him to the losers bracket at the World Series.
Big time arm. When he came out of high school now he's had elbow problems. I think he's had at least one, if not two elbow surgeries, but basically elbow problems have cost him the last two years. And he's come back this year and he's pitching pretty well for him.
[00:47:06] Speaker E: Well, okay. So when a guy goes through those injuries like that, it hardens them, it toughens them up a little bit. It makes you really appreciate what you got when you're healthy. So he's a guy that knows how to pitch. He's probably, I would say he's, he's got a little toughness to him.
Lefties are hitting around 200, righties around 150, you know, so he's got a really good chance. So he's basically a fastball, curveball, slider guy. Fastball's got a little bit of, a little bit of carry on it. I don't think crazy carry sliders. All right. But I think the pitch that, that, that separates him is that change up. It's got really good depth on it. I remember that. I remember that. I remember him having a really good change up. And that's why, you know, that's, that's the pitch that gets the righties out right there.
So it'll be, I'll Be interested to see if Dave will load up the lineup with lefties or not load up, but just keep some of the lefties in there or if you'll go more right handed towards them.
[00:48:02] Speaker B: Elliott's. I mean you can make a case that he's been the best pitcher in the SEC this year. A 186 CRA in 19 and a third innings. It falls off a little bit behind him. Looks like Ole Miss. And we don't have the rotations in front of us yet, but if they do what they've done the first couple of weekends, you would see Riley Maddox second, a right hander. He's got a 344 ERA and 18 and a third. And then Mason Nichols, another right hander, a 420 ERA in 15 innings for them.
[00:48:30] Speaker E: Going back to the Hunter Elliott. You and I talked about it off the break. On the break is 11 walks. Yeah, he's 19 innings.
[00:48:39] Speaker B: Is it four hit batters?
[00:48:40] Speaker E: Yeah, 19. 11 walks, four hit batters. I mean leagues only. They're only hitting 177. Opponents are. But that's still. That's a, that's a big walk number right there to compare that to. Let's say Zach Root, 21 innings, six walks.
I don't know. I, I think that's a lot of traffic. And when we've already talked about what this team can do. If you give us a, you know, give us an opening, give us a couple extra hitters on base, we can hurt you. So you got to be. That's a number that I'm interested to see what happens.
[00:49:15] Speaker B: I asked Dave and Horn after the game Tuesday, how do you scout Hunter Elliott? Do you go back and look at the, the film from 22 or is that, you know, too long ago to even pay attention to? And he said they'll look at both. And then this is what he had to say. You know, he expanded on it and what he had to say more about Elliot Friends.
[00:49:34] Speaker F: I mean, he's coming off arm surgery. You know, he's got, he's got some intangibles too. You know, I mean, he's tough and he's, you know, he's. He's been through it a little bit and so. Yeah, you know, you just do you try to evaluate it as best you can through watching him pitch and video and technology and everything else. Bottom line, you got to go out there and try to find a way to score on him. He's tough to score on.
[00:50:01] Speaker B: Okay, so on Arkansas's rotation, we don't have the starting rotation yet as of Thursday morning. We'll get it at some point this afternoon.
There is at least some reason to think they might be considering starting Zach Root on Friday. Christina and I talked about this the other day. He was charting pitches on Tuesday night. A lot of times that's a telltale of who's going to start the next game. And then Van Horn was asked after the game if he was going to keep the starting rotation same. And he said, yes, we're going to start the same three pitchers. And I followed up, I said, does that mean you're going to keep them in the same order? And, and he said, we're not going to announce our rotation until Thursday.
So, you know, we'll see what happens here. But you and I were talking about this last night, that there's a lot of reason to think that Zach Root could potentially move into that Friday role, whether it be this weekend or at some point in the future. Number one, he's been Arkansas's best starting pitcher this year. I don't think anybody would dispute that at all. And then number two, I thought back to what Dave said after the Portland game on Sunday last week when he didn't like how Portland started hitting in that game and he thought it might have been because they had seen too many lefties in a row. Now they could have done some things with their bullpen and broken it up. But you know, and I want you to talk about this, I think there's something to be said about seeing left handers. Even if they see some right handers in between out of the bullpen, seeing two left handers back to back in starting roles, I think it's a definite.
[00:51:30] Speaker E: Advantage to the, the hitter. Even if they're different like you look at Vital Cheese and Root are two different type of pitchers, but they are both throwing from the left side.
Breaking balls are breaking in, change ups are fading away.
So they're, you're seeing a lot of the same stuff. Even though their stuff is, it plays different, it's still from the left side.
I think it does help a team. You know, it's always good to try to split those guys up. Now at the end of the day they still got to hit those guys. But then if you, if you think about it and you've got lefty, lefty and then you're bringing Fisher in out of the pin. You love Parker Coil and even a Cole Gibler. There's, there's a lot of lefties that could be stacked up on top of each other and you don't want to do. You don't want to make it easier on them now. I don't know scientifically, is there proof that that really benefits a team? I don't know. But I think as a guy that stood in the box for a long time, when I saw a bunch of righties in a row or a bunch of lefties in a row, I obviously adjusted.
[00:52:37] Speaker B: Think back to a lot of Van Horn's pitching staffs or rotations. They've gone, They've had one left handed starter, they've had two right handed starters. And there have been a lot of years, see like 2018, Blaine Knight, Casey Murphy, Isaiah Campbell. A lot of years where we've seen something like that, where they've gone right, left, right, or maybe they've got two left handers, they've gone left, right, left. It just feels like this is something that it's kind of in character for what they've done in the past here.
[00:53:04] Speaker E: I think so, but I don't disagree with you very often. But you've said Hunter Elliott's been probably the best pitcher. When you compare Zach Roots numbers to Hunter Elliott, I'll take Zach Root. His numbers are really better across the.
[00:53:17] Speaker B: Board, a little bit higher era. But no, I mean he's, he's been, he's been really good.
[00:53:21] Speaker E: Yeah. I mean, fewer hits, 36 strikeouts, 21.
[00:53:24] Speaker B: In a third innings. That's.
[00:53:25] Speaker E: Yeah, the strikeout number, the opponent's batting average. The only thing that's.
[00:53:29] Speaker B: I said arguably.
[00:53:30] Speaker E: Arguably.
[00:53:31] Speaker B: No. You're arguing.
[00:53:32] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah.
[00:53:33] Speaker B: Teed it up for you. It just took you a little while to get there.
[00:53:35] Speaker E: Appreciate it.
[00:53:37] Speaker B: No, I mean it's, there's a lot of good pitchers in this league.
[00:53:41] Speaker E: Yeah, they're, I mean, they're, they're all going to be good. Everyone is good. And you, you look at the. Riley Maddox, Mason Nichols. I'm sorry, I, I look at, I look at those guys and then I think of our offense. I think we're going to do well against those two guys. I really do. I think, I think the key is how we approach Hunter Elliott. Do we, did we play our game or do we play his game? We've got to hunt that change up, up and not chase that thing out of the zone. I know it's easier said than done when I'm sitting here at a desk.
[00:54:12] Speaker B: I was listening to Bianco on a interview a few days ago and even though they had won a bunch of games in a row, I mean, he was, he was talking in a manner that made it sound like he wasn't real pleased with how they had played the weekend before. And I mean, sometimes you can just out talent teams and beat them. And I think we've seen that with Arkansas before, but I thought about that, especially when they lost Tuesday night by nine runs against South Alabama. And I just kind of wonder, you know, what's. What's their mindset? How are they feeling about themselves as they go into the series?
[00:54:45] Speaker E: You know, it's tough to say. I mean, you know, they just got beat.
When I compare the numbers, though, Matt, I mean, and it's early. It's really too early. I try not to compare numbers until we're into SEC play.
[00:55:00] Speaker B: Because you like to compare what they've done against SEC teams.
[00:55:03] Speaker E: Exactly. So that really tells the story of a team. Once you get several SEC series under your belt, you can start to say, okay, this is what kind of team this is, is what kind of teams this is. But right now, if you compare our numbers, and I think the opponents were pretty comparable. I think our. Our schedule's been tougher than theirs, but our numbers are better across the board. Offensively and pitching, they're. They're better across the board. So, you know, but that's on paper. That's why you don't play it on paper. Anything happens, especially when you go to Oxford, you know, it's going to be thick. Three competitive games. But I. I like this team. I'm really interested to see how they respond going on the road.
A lot of these guys, first time in sec, how they respond.
[00:55:44] Speaker B: I want to go. I want to go this weekend. I'm not going. But I'm like. I'm like resisting that itch to just get in the truck tomorrow and drive down there and spend a few days and watch that.
Always kind of go through this, that first SEC series. But the second, third one, I'm like, okay, I'm good. Staying home. But that first one, like, kind of like to be there.
[00:56:00] Speaker E: Yeah, well, you know what? And then if you look at the weather, Friday looks okay. Saturday looks bad. I mean, the weather, the rain all day and then sunny looks good. I hope we can get all three games in. And I don't want to play the Sunday double adder, but we may have to doing that.
[00:56:14] Speaker B: May have to. Well, they can get the latest breaking news on all Razorback sports at whole hog sports.com most end up source for all Arkansas sports analysis, latest in recruiting, unique stories on all your favorite teams. Subscribe today.
One of the stories you can find There right now is on the 2020 Arkansas baseball team. I talked to Dave Van Horn, Matt Hobbs, Nate Thompson and Will McIntyre within the past couple of weeks about that 2020 team and the shutdown and just what might have been and really enjoyed it because, you know, you don't hear them talk about that effort. Their, their focus after the 2020 season shutdown was on 2021 and, and not really looking back. And so it was interesting to like, get them to reflect on that. Bubba. And when Matt Hobbs, you know, answered the phone, he knew why I was calling because I, you know, we set this up and he answered the phone, he goes, a very unique story you want to talk about today.
[00:57:10] Speaker E: You know, you try to forget about that whole year and everything that happened, but then you think back and it's hard to believe that's five years ago. I mean, it's crazy to think that.
[00:57:21] Speaker B: Did you read the story?
[00:57:22] Speaker E: Yes, I did read the story.
[00:57:23] Speaker B: Did you read it last night? Did you read it after you woke up?
[00:57:25] Speaker E: I read it last night and I paused.
[00:57:27] Speaker B: It didn't put you to sleep?
[00:57:28] Speaker E: I probably had crazy, I had crazy dreams last night, though. I don't know if that has something to do with the article.
We won't share those. On the.
[00:57:37] Speaker B: So what stood out to you from the story?
[00:57:40] Speaker E: No, I just, I liked how you, you broke it all down. What could have been. I mean, you think of Heston curse, dad. There's no telling what he'd have done that year. I mean, the guy was the, the guy was incredible. He was.
I mean, I'm trying to think back of guys that were that much better than everybody else. I remember thinking J.J. bloodet was one of the best hitters. And you look at same time frame too, with bloody. Yeah. I mean, you look at, you look at some of the best players that you've seen. Like, you, you could watch like a Dylan Cruz. You could tell he's definitely better than everyone else on that team. And you look at Heston and, I mean, the guy was incredible.
[00:58:20] Speaker B: Charlie Condon.
[00:58:21] Speaker E: Yeah. Yeah. Another one, another one. But I'll take Heston over him.
I don't know, I, I just. It's a shame that we didn't get to see how good he could have been that year. And, you know, I even broke down the numbers and they were off to a bad start, but I think that team was starting to come together. Right. You know, when we were headed to Mississippi State, I remember how excited I was for that series, but I'm not even going to go over the numbers, but their numbers are significantly lower than this year's team's numbers, but not Heston's.
[00:58:53] Speaker B: I mean, I will say college baseball's changed a lot since then. And that's one of the things I talked about, is that, you know, in 20 much younger players and it feels like you've got a lot more veteran, mature hitters now in college baseball. That probably caused those numbers to rise some, especially the power numbers.
[00:59:10] Speaker E: Yeah, you're right. I didn't take that into effect, but yeah, you're right. But then also back then there weren't run rules, so you're getting a few more bats.
But you look at Heston's numbers back then, he's hitting.448. You know, he had six home runs slugging.791 on base.513. I mean he was, he was, he was good. He was really good. And it was, you know, who knows how good he could have been. Golden spikes, no telling what awards he would have won that year. But I think, I think the team, and you look at the guys on that team, I like the squad a lot. I really think, I think they would have done some good things that year.
[00:59:53] Speaker B: Eston ended his career at Arkansas, by the way, on a 17 game hitting streak because he had a hit in the last game against Texas Tech at the World Series in 19. And then he had a hit in every game to start the 20 season, had 10 multi hit games out of 16 to start the 2020 season. In the story, Matt Hobbs told me that he spoke at the coaches convention in January of 20. And Dan McDonnell, the Louisville head coach, was in charge of setting up speakers that year for the coaches convention. And so he called Matt in the fall to set up this, you know, the speech that Matt was going to give. And McDonnell had coached Team USA in the summer of 19 and he told Matt, he said he is going to be one of the best, if not the best player in the country. He tore it up. In the summer tour, they went over to Asia, played Japan, played a team from Taiwan, and then in the fall, Arkansas couldn't get him out. And Matt told me, he said not only could we not get him out, he's like, we couldn't even get him to hit the ball softly. Even the ground outs were these screamers at a baseman. And you know, almost to the point, I think they said that they started to take him out of practice just so they could build up some confidence in their pitchers that they didn't have to face him.
[01:01:09] Speaker E: Right. Well, Heston's one of those guys when. When he came to the plate, you know, we talked about Kuhillo when he was in the middle of his hot streak. When he came to the plate, there was kind of a. A sound across the stadium, and that's how it was. Every time Heston stepped up to the plate. I mean, I stopped. I mean, I want. I focused on his at bat because you just felt like something. Something big is getting ready to happen.
[01:01:33] Speaker B: I'd forgotten until I was looking for some pictures. He was playing some first base that year, too. For the Razorbacks.
[01:01:38] Speaker E: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and I think that the one worry, you know, was that was the pitching staff. That. That year, you know, you had TBA on a Sunday, you didn't really know who they were going to be. Connor Nolan got off to good start, got hurt. I think that was going to be the big answer there. But I think offensively, I think team is going to be pretty good.
[01:02:01] Speaker B: And that was a year two where Wicklander, he wasn't pitching real well. Season shuts down, and then by Memorial Day, he's hospitalized in the ICU because he's having a diabetic episode.
[01:02:12] Speaker E: And.
[01:02:13] Speaker B: And that's when he figured out that he had type 1 diabetes. So, you know, who knows how that year would have gone for him on the mound. Caleb Bolden was pitching well for Arkansas that year, a name that, quite frankly, I'd forgotten about. Zebulon Vermillion, he was pitching well for him from a closer role. Now, we'll see. You know, it's one of those what ifs. But would he have kept that up? You know, his track record said that he didn't pitch that well. You know, he didn't hold those types of outings for that long.
So, again, you know, Casey Martin, that year, he was in a big slump, but he had raised his batting average by like 91 points right before the shutdown over the span of about a week. So you'll never know. It's one of those deals where it just.
Again, it's what might have been with that team. And I always felt like 2020 was a year that they were trying. Like, they had kind of. They were building toward that year. You had. Casey Martin was a junior, Casey Opitz was a junior. Heston Kirstad was a junior. Noland and Wicklander had been freshmen, all America starters the year before. And it was like, if something was going to come together, Christian Franklin was having a big year. If something was going to come together, it might Come together for that 2020 team.
[01:03:25] Speaker E: Yeah, I know, I agree.
And when the shutdown happened, I mean, those guys all came up and hit it.
[01:03:31] Speaker B: I wanted to talk to you about.
[01:03:32] Speaker E: This and it was really, it was really cool. So we had to like, you know, obviously we had to micromanage like when people were in there. So I wanted them in there by themselves. So I gave them a key and they could come in in the mornings. And then sometimes they would come back again at night when it thinned out. Like, you know, Jacob Nesbit kind of headed everything up him or Christian, Christian Franklin. And you know, sometimes I get a text late at night, hey, do you mind if we go up? You know, and they'd go up late at night and hit, but mostly during the day. They'd go in there and, and they'd even get some live at bats. They'd bring pitchers in there and they'd get some live at bats in. And it was just fun having those guys around. But under the circus stances sucked. But, you know, watching those guys work day in and day out, watch how hard they work was really impressive to me.
[01:04:23] Speaker B: And it was so tough for players just to find anything, you know, Like I was talking to Will McIntyre. He said he just went home to Bryant and he said I should have worked harder.
He's like. But I didn't have access to a whole lot. And so he came back, he said he was out of shape. He said, you know, quite frankly, he said I ate a lot of junk food because I was kind of depressed about the whole situation. And I don't think he was alone. I think that there were a lot of players who probably, you know, went through something like that just because there just was not a whole lot of access to these types of, you know, training that they were used to, whether it be weight training or whether it be, you know, actually being at. Matt told me that he had pitchers who were sending him. I don't know if you send him the videos, but they were saying that they were pitching into a net, you know, nobody to catch for him, just pitching into a net. I mean, it was like just a free for all, fend for yourself, do the best you can for however long. This is going to happen.
[01:05:18] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, it was frustrating. We tried to have everything up there for the guys. And if you remember that, I mean, no one knew. I mean, we didn't know.
We took our baseballs at night and sanitized them so we'd have fresh baseballs the next day. I mean, we're it's. But we didn't know. I didn't want anyone to get sick. I was paranoid about it. And so we tried everything we could to do and we, we every night we sanitized the whole building. I mean, it was crazy to the extent we went to, but, but it goes back to these guys. Like Matt Goodheart was up there all the time. Nesbitt, Braden Webb, Christian Franklin, Robert came up some. Robert Moore.
I don't know, it was just really cool. Curtis Washington, Zach Gregory. I forgot about those two. Zach was up there all the time too. And I don't know, it was just fun.
[01:06:08] Speaker B: You may be like me, I don't know. I, I look back on that time and in the moment it sucked. But then you look back on it five years later, it's like those are actually kind of some cool times. Just because everything was so unique. It's, it's, it's literally one of those once in a lifetime type moments that you live through. And once you're able to kind of remove yourself from all the, you know, the struggles of that era, it's like that was kind of a neat time.
[01:06:33] Speaker E: You know what, here's what I liked about it, is it made you appreciate what you've got. You know, when you get it taken away when the game of baseball. And not just that, when a lot of things are taken away, you take it for granted. And so once everything that next season, I remember the opening day, just how the excitement of opening day because like I said, you get that taken away from you. Not just these guys. I'm talking kids. I mean, it really affected the kids, the younger kids. And it was tough on everybody.
[01:07:08] Speaker B: I didn't. The 21. The 21 season was fun to watch that team. I did not enjoy it in the moment because of all the restrictions that were in place. We couldn't get in the press box in 21. We were covering the games from down there on the concourse, you know, which, you know, I mean, you're in the stadium and that's great, I think. But I'm going to tell you what, some of those early season games, you're sitting there trying to write, your fingers won't move.
[01:07:32] Speaker E: Yeah.
[01:07:33] Speaker B: Because they're so cold and. But they wouldn't let us in the press box because, you know, espn, they had this rule that, you know, their announcers had to be like 40ft away from each other or something. And so one was in the press box and one was in their booth. And it was just a tough deal. Two more thoughts number one, I don't think you get the 21 season without the 20 shutdown. I don't think you get Kevin Cops golden Spike season without the 20 shutdown.
I'm not sure you get the 50 win season without the 20 shutdown. It just. And you know, every team was, was hungry when they came back, but at Arkansas, there was just a hunger that was. And maybe it's because they thought they had such a good team the year before. Yeah. But that, you know, they came out and I mean, they were really good that year. They played hard together, they practiced hard.
So, you know, say what you want to about the 21 season. I know a lot of people think it was a failure because they were a number one seed and they didn't get to the World Series. Spare me that. They were a great team that year and it was a lot of fun to watch. And I think if you go back and you put yourself in that moment, you would probably agree.
[01:08:37] Speaker E: Oh, absolutely. And from day one, just the energy at the ballpark. Now I get it. We didn't have the crowds till late in the year. I don't remember what was the first game they opened up the stadium.
[01:08:47] Speaker B: Florida.
[01:08:47] Speaker E: Late in the year.
[01:08:48] Speaker B: It was Florida.
[01:08:48] Speaker E: Oh, okay.
[01:08:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:08:49] Speaker E: That was crazy.
[01:08:51] Speaker B: There was a rain delay the night they won the sec, if you remember. There was like a two, three hour rain delay.
[01:08:57] Speaker E: Right.
[01:08:58] Speaker B: And again, we're on those risers up on the concourse. I mean, we had people, just random people just sitting up there with us. I mean, people tried to get out of the rain. It was a, it was a, it was a wild, wild night there when they won the championship.
[01:09:12] Speaker E: But it goes back to, you know, not taking stuff for granted. I think, I think we, we're all guilty of that. I think, you know, you get something taken away from you and you realize, wow, I really love that. So. Yeah.
[01:09:27] Speaker B: By the way, a little birdie has told me that they keep missing baseballs at the ballpark and they think you're responsible that you grab one whenever you go out to talk to the coaches and you never put it back. You know, what do you do with the baseballs?
[01:09:39] Speaker E: I give them to kids down below me and they. I always have kids come up to the window and I can't look at a little kid if he doesn't have a ball in his hand. I want to give him a ball.
[01:09:52] Speaker B: Many to donate, like $5 for a new.
A new baseball or something.
Yeah. So. All right, Bubba. We appreciate you being here again. Arkansas Ole Miss tomorrow in Oxford, Arkansas, Ole Miss basketball today in Nashville. Hope you come to our website, wholehogsports.com for all of our coverage, not only on basketball, but baseball and everything else that's going on right now. We're back with another podcast tomorrow. Hope to see you then. Have a great day, everybody.
