Dave Van Horn credits depth of Arkansas' roster

The Arkansas Razorbacks have officially had their path made clear to the 2023 College World Series. After a tough and grueling regular season in the SEC, the Razorbacks are one of eight teams in the conference to earn a host bid this year. Following the announcement, Arkansas skipper Dave Van Horn gave credit where credit is due, praising his entire team and highlighting the depth the Razorbacks have on their roster this season.

“Yeah, I just think it really speaks to the team, the players in that locker room, and the importance of being good, representing, and not letting their teammates down,” said Van Horn. “Even if we won games, if we would have lost some games in there, with all the injuries, maybe it was expected a little bit. But I think some guys proved that they’re really good players, and they deserve to be on the field more than they were in some situations. I don’t know. I just feel like it’s just a really good team setting, next man-up mentality. And they’ve made us all proud by the way they played this year.”

This season the Razorbacks had six players with a batting average above .300 and two just outside that average, batting .293 and .290, respectively. Of those six players above a .300, two of them Peyton Holt and Ben McCullough, we’re not a part of the Razorbacks’ primary lineup. And that level of contribution from off their bench will be critical in the tournament.

Van Horn also took some time to share his thoughts on the mental state of his team ahead of NCAA Tournament.

“I’ve only been around him for 45 minutes, an hour, so far. And I think mentally, we’re in a good place,” said Van Horn. “We went three and three against some really, really good teams on the road. And we did what we needed to do to get where we are today. I hope they take a little time to maybe sit back and realize what a good season that we’ve had. And that we put ourselves in a position to play here as long as we win. But I think the mood’s good. I mean, some of our goals at the beginning of the year were obviously to get to this point and have an opportunity to continue to play in a regional. And here we are.”

With the Razorbacks being one of the regional host teams, they may not have to play a game on the road until the start of the College World Series. All of Van Horn’s team’s hard work in the regular season paid off in a big way, with one of the roads to the College World Series having to go through Fayetteville, AR.