Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn on Loss
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn recapping 5-0 shutout to Alabama Crimson Tide in season first not scoring and dropping first series of season.
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00:00Well, as Zane Adams, man, I never even heard of the guy.
00:03He looked pretty good.
00:04What made, what'd you think of him and what made him so tough today?
00:09Yeah, he threw a lot of strikes and kept some guys off balance.
00:13We let some good pitches go by and swung at bad pitches and
00:19got ourselves out a lot.
00:20But I think, give him credit, he was ahead to count.
00:24And we just, we didn't get him early.
00:28We hit some balls hard early, and they went at people.
00:31And I think our hitters got a little frustrated, pressing a little bit.
00:35But he walked two hitters the whole game as both, well, he walked one.
00:42And Loy, and then Davis walked Loy again there in the ninth.
00:47But he didn't give us anything, and we didn't hit very well, obviously.
00:51And then Brady, I think that was his most innings in an SEC start,
00:56and most since early March against, I don't know, some Murray State or somebody.
01:00Just, I know he pitched with some traffic, but what'd you think of Brady's game?
01:05I thought he battled, competed, really did not have his breaking ball for
01:10the first three innings, cuz we were a little concerned because he couldn't land
01:15it, maybe one time in three innings.
01:17And then, the last couple innings,
01:19he started throwing a little more around the play, got a strike out or two with it.
01:23And was able to get us through five, just down a run.
01:28And that's all you can ask, he did his job.
01:34In May with Alabama scoring five, it didn't turn out to be so big.
01:38But when Sprague-Allott didn't score from third,
01:40looked like there was some hesitation or confusion or something.
01:43What was your take on that play?
01:45Yeah, I mean, you just gotta think the play out a little bit before the pitch.
01:50And the ball was hit to the left of the third baseman from a left-handed hitter.
01:54So it was kinda sliced on the ground.
01:55And he hesitated, cuz he thought he was gonna field it and run into an out.
02:00But the worst thing that could happen is you run into an out.
02:03If he fields it, he's gonna throw him out at first anyway.
02:06The ball was to the fielder's left, just run, if he fields it, see what happens.
02:11But he had no chance to score, really, when he stopped, and
02:15then tried to start again.
02:17So yeah, that was a little mistake there, in my opinion.
02:22Yeah, I got a couple more, but I see others with questions.
02:25So I'll turn it back over to Oliver, and if I could ask a couple more at the end.
02:29Thanks.
02:30Christina.
02:32Yeah, Dave, you put Peyton Hull back and left today.
02:34Just what was your evaluation of him?
02:36I know he had the big double play in the first.
02:38I thought he played great, the two games he played in.
02:40I mean, his first at bat, he hit a line drive to center, right center,
02:44went left to bat.
02:45We thought it was gonna drop.
02:46There were two outs, and a runner on second.
02:48And McCants ran in and made a nice catch.
02:51And he just missed another ball, and he flew out to left pretty deep, or
02:55center, left center.
02:57I liked his approach at the plate.
03:00It was really good to see, as we're trying to figure out what to do over there.
03:04And right now, I'd say it's his spot.
03:08And then Will McIntyre got hit a little bit more this weekend than usual.
03:11Just what did you see in his two outings, especially today's?
03:15Yeah, maybe just not as sharp as he has been.
03:18We didn't pitch him in the midweek, trying to rest him up.
03:20But you give Alabama's hitters credit.
03:25They just sat on that cutter away, and it wasn't in the zone.
03:28They didn't chase it.
03:29And they blooped one in on him.
03:33And some things did not go our way, obviously.
03:36They had two ground ball base hits inside the third base, first base line.
03:39And blooper down the right field line.
03:41I mean, it's just sometimes when you're swinging, you're aggressive,
03:46good things happen.
03:47Or sometimes it's your day, sometimes it's not.
03:50But I didn't think Will threw the ball bad at all.
03:52I think just one of those things were really.
03:56Daniel.
03:59Hey, Coach, Kendall Diggs, you put him back in the leadoff spot.
04:03Just anything on the thought process there after Peyton?
04:06Yeah, just trying to shake it up a little bit.
04:09Just trying to find a way to score some runs.
04:11And I thought Peyton swung the bat really good Friday and Saturday.
04:17Looked like a guy that was gonna drive in some runs.
04:19And I thought, well, I'll move him down a little bit and
04:21kind of stagger the line up and move Kendall up.
04:24And he seems to be taking a lot of pitches, some pitches that early in the count.
04:29I thought, well, kind of acting like a leadoff guy, I'll put him up in the leadoff
04:33spot, and didn't really work, did it?
04:37And then you said you didn't know much about Coach Vaughn coming into the series.
04:42I guess having played his team three times now, just what are your thoughts?
04:47They got a good team.
04:48I thought they had a good team three weeks ago.
04:51Conference play started, they got off to a tough start.
04:53But they swing the bat as good as anybody we played in conference play for sure.
04:58And they're gonna win some games.
05:03Thanks, Coach.
05:04I'll close it out.
05:07Dave, you're coming home, quick turnaround.
05:09You got Texas Tech, it's not like you're playing some rinky dink program.
05:15Just what do you think about coming home and having Texas Tech, two tough games?
05:19And how important is it to try to get back on track while you're home before you
05:22gotta go back on the road again?
05:24Yeah, I just wanna play good.
05:26I think it's great that we're playing a good team.
05:28Team with a power five team, big name, a lot of tradition.
05:33I think it's probably the best thing that could happen to us after losing two straight.
05:38We got to play good.
05:40We're gonna play good or we'll get beat again.
05:42And I think it's good for this team.
05:43They need to play good.
05:45Yeah, I don't know what Tech did today, but
05:47they lost yesterday to TCU before they won eight in a row.
05:50So it looks like they're playing pretty well.
05:52I know you're obviously focused on Alabama.
05:54So do you know much about Tech?
05:57Yeah, I know something, but I don't know what we're gonna talk about.
06:00Okay, and then it took 35 games, you guys lose back to back.
06:07Most coaches would probably take that.
06:09I know you don't like losing, but just how do you feel about the fact?
06:12I mean, you're still 30 and five and 12 and three in the league.
06:15I mean, most people would appreciate having a record like that.
06:19Yeah, man, I'm proud of the guys.
06:20They've played hard.
06:22You know that it's not gonna go your way every weekend.
06:26This game is, they can eat you up a little bit.
06:29So we just got to move on.
06:31We got to get better.
06:33I'll try to mix up the lineups a little bit this Tuesday and
06:35Wednesday and give you guys an opportunity to play.
06:38And maybe something will jump out at us that
06:42somebody's gonna show us they need to play or pitch.
06:46How did this Tech series get scheduled?
06:48I know that I guess they've come here before, but how did it get scheduled?
06:51And do you guys go back to Lubbock next year or the year after that?
06:54Or I assume you have to return the games.
06:56They were just looking to get on the road.
06:58I think this week worked for them.
07:00I don't know if they're, I don't know exactly.
07:04But they put something out that they were looking for some games this week.
07:07And we had opening when we were scheduling a year or so ago.
07:11And it just worked out.
07:14We don't have plans to go back there.
07:16Okay, I just got one more question on my favorite named player, Peyton Holt.
07:21He's an older guy, obviously he's done well for you.
07:23I think we all knew when Stovall came back, he was the second baseman obviously.
07:27But what does it say about Peyton that he kind of waited his turn?
07:30I think he started 14 or 15 games.
07:32But now, you give him a chance and he's really taking advantage of it.
07:37Well, he's a good teammate.
07:38Even when he wasn't playing, he was cheering guys on and
07:41staying in the game and ready to pinch hit or go in.
07:44And the coaches and I'm sure the players really appreciate that.
07:48They'll pull for him, but he's a good player.
07:53We were just trying to figure out how to get him in the lineup.
07:55And we had him pretty much working in the outfield exclusively the last few days.
08:01And I thought he played well yesterday and made a couple nice plays today.
08:05And obviously, he swung the bat.
08:07He was real competitive at the plate, and that's all you wanna see.
08:11Hey, one more, the hitting obviously didn't go well this weekend.
08:15Do you feel like that just some teams go through, especially in the SEC?
08:18Or how do you feel about your hitting right now?
08:21Yeah, I mean, we struggled this weekend, obviously,
08:23really from about mid game on on Friday.
08:26But we still had a chance to win yesterday, today, not so much.
08:30But had a chance to win when guys aren't really producing.
08:35It's really this weekend was more about timely hitting.
08:38We didn't get too many of them.
08:39And that's kind of what cost us.
08:42Alabama got some big two out hits that kind of did it to us,
08:46put us away a little bit.
08:47So yeah, I mean, you worry about it, but I think we're gonna be fine.
08:52We need to get back, relax, and play good baseball.
08:56Yeah, Bybee, you're gonna start him Tuesday, or?
08:58Not sure yet, one of the two, right or left, but I'll talk to Coach Hobbs.
09:03They're both available, obviously.