The Arkansas Razorbacks were able to climb out of a huge hole, and their Sunday come-from-behind victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The fans watching the game could point to a certain moment that helped spark the Razorbacks’ offense; it will likely be the home run from Jayson Jones that got the ball rolling on their come-from-behind 9-6 win.
After the game, Arkansas skipper Dave Van Horn discusses the importance of Jones’ home run against Mississippi State.
“Yeah, I didn’t know if he had one hit or none; I didn’t. And I just decided they’re starting a lefty; I thought Jones had a really good at-bat his last at-bat on Friday. He has power. I’m thinking, maybe he’ll get into one, maybe I’ll hit a home run, and fortunately, he did,” said Van Horn.
Jones’s home run could not come at a better moment as the Razorbacks were trailing 6-1 heading into the bottom of the 5th inning. The Arkansas left fielder was able to pull his team within three with a two-run home run in the inning. That would be Jones’ only hit of the night as he finished the game 1-3 in at-bats.
As he continued, Van Horn said that he sees big things in his young, talented left fielders’ future in the program.
“It’d be great if we get him going a little bit. We could put him in there and hit him down the order. He brings a lot of power down there. He’s an everyday player. When he becomes an everyday player, I mean, and he gets comfortable as he gets older, he’s going to hit for a lot of power.”
Van Horn on the Bullpen’s role in wins over Mississippi State
Heading into Sunday’s contest between Arkansas and Mississippi State, the series was tied at one game apiece following Mississippi State’s victory on Saturday. On Sunday, it looked as if the Bulldogs were going to get the better of the No. 5 ranked Razorbacks until Arkansas’s bullpen stepped up and played amazingly down the stretch to help them pick up their 42nd win of the season.
Their performance prompted Van Horn to take a moment and praise his bullpen’s performance for not only the work on Sunday but also for the entirety of the weekend.
“What a great job by our bullpen. I mean, really all weekend, [when] you look at it, just this weekend,” said Van Horn. “And then also, the offense doesn’t get a lot of credit, but they did it on Friday, and they did it again yesterday, just not quite enough. Then today, honestly, you’re down six-nothing [and] their dugout is about as loud as they can be over there talking a little bit of bull. And we just kept grinding it out.
“We got a two-run homer here and a two-run homer there, and we got another one, and we had the lead, and (Will) McEntire [and] (Gabe) Gaeckle finished it up for us. So [it was] probably the best team win of the year for us just because we were down, game three; just it was fun. The last few innings were really fun for us.”
The post Dave Van Horn stresses importance of Jayson Jones’ home run vs. Mississippi State appeared first on On3.
