Mike Anderson's first season back home on the Hill produced some of the most exciting basketball seen in a Fayetteville in a while and a respectable home record, but also a dismal road record, a late season flame-out, and - most glaringly - yet another post season with no NCAA or NIT bid.

As an exceptionally young team, who frequently relied on substantial contributions from the heralded incoming freshman class, things only got harder when Marshawn Powell was lost for the season in late November.

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Between grad school (not for the faint of heart, btw), Bobby Petrino's unfortunate exit from Fayetteville, something about 3 high-profile players going Full Retard (NSFW language), and the somber news that our fearless leaders are officially hanging up their blogging shoes (blogging shoes? Is that a real thing? It is now), Razorback baseball has kind of taken a back seat. When we last left off, the Diamond Hogs were sitting at a tidy 22-3 (5-1 SEC), with a top 5 ranking in every major poll. If the title of the post hasn't given it away already... things went south, fast.

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Since the last Diamond Hog Update over 3 weeks ago, the Razorbacks have continued rolling along on the diamond. After finishing 2-1 at the Houston College Classic, the Hogs have won 13 of their last 15 games, including a sweep of Alabama during the SEC opener.

I actually had this post finished on Friday, but a browser glitch seemed to erase all my work after I tried to publish it. Luckily, today, I managed to find where the draft had been saved, so I not only can publish it, but I can also update you on the outcome of the Mississippi State series.

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Ten games into the regular season, the Diamond Hogs are performing as expected, with a 9-1 record heading into the Houston College Classic this weekend. In route, the Razorbacks have swept Villanova, Northwestern State, and BYU, while taking 2 of 3 from Valparaiso (home of this guy).

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The 2012 Arkansas Razorbacks Baseball season kicks off on Friday. After last year's disappointing showing in the NCAA Tournament, the Diamond Hogs are returning a large core to make another run at Omaha. This includes an ace pitching squad of DJ Baxendale, Ryne Stanek, Randall Fant, and Nolan Sanburn, among others, as well as infielders Dominic Ficociello, Tim Carver, Bo Bigham, and highly touted freshman Joe Serrano. The Hogs have been picked to repeat as SEC West champions by the coaches (though hopefully they'll be able to improve on last season's 15-15 league record), and are ranked anywhere from 4th (Baseball America) to 8th (USA Today Coaches' Poll) in the country.

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If you're confused about the title, I was all prepared to eat some crow for my previous prediction that we would not host a regional. Well, the regional sites were announced today... and Baum did not get a bid. Now, this isn't me gloating. Truthfully, as the SEC Tourney wore on, I became more and more convinced that my previous prediction was incorrect and we were a "lock" to host. So, like many of you, I'm scratching my head at this decision.

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Well, the regular season is over. It wasn't always pretty or exciting, but when the dust finally settled, the Hogs stood alone atop the SEC West standings. Why wasn't it pretty? The Razorbacks won the division with a 15-15 conference record. Why wasn't it exciting? For every big win, there was a headscratching (or breaking) loss to overshadow it. But, none of that matters now that the Hogs have secured the #2 seed in the SEC Tournament.

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It's been another two weeks since my last update (grad schools unfortunately takes time away from more important things, like baseball), but things are looking considerably brighter.  After dropping their first 3 SEC series, the Hogs are now on a 6 game win streak, including a rare SEC series sweep, over none other than LSU.



If you'll refer back to the last Diamond Hog Update, I mentioned something about a midweek game against Oklahoma.  Well, that game never happened.  It was officially cancelled due to "weather", but I don't remember the weather being that bad in Fayetteville that day. 

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Hey, Diamond Hog fans!  It's been roughly two weeks since my last update, and, unfortunately, I don't have a lot of good news to report.  The Hogs lost key relief pitcher Geoffrey Davenport for the season with an elbow injury.  He'll have to have Tommy John surgery, so he may be out longer than that, or even done with baseball completely.  The Hogs have also lost both of the SEC series - a road trip to Auburn, and a homestand against the #2 Vanderbilt Commodores.  This is a young team, and most definitely a rebuilding year, but it appears that the weak non-conference schedule did the team no favors.  The Razorbacks also got to particpate in a rare home-and-home/minor-league-park-tour series with the Memphis Tigers.  The Hogs played their "home game" at Dickey-Stephens Park in NLR, while Memphis hosted the Hogs at Autozone Park.

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The Diamond Hogs made the most of their trip out west, taking 3 of 4 from San Diego State and coming just shy of a sweep by the thinnest of margins.  Poor relief pitching, which plagued the Hogs last season, reared its ugly head again and made several games closer than they should have been.

Highlights
Game 1:  With the help of 2 errors on the play, James McCann hits an inside-the-park HR in the 7th... on a sacrifice bunt.  Pitcher Geoffrey Davenport atones for his poor showing against McNeese State by striking out 7 in 5.1 innings of relief after Ryne Stanek got knocked out early.  Arkansas notches a 12-4 win.

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This past week saw the Hogs suffer their first loss of the season, as well as the first signs that our young pitching staff still has ample room for improvement.  However, the offense is beginning to click.  Is that a result of weak competition (only one of the Hogs' opponents - McNeese St. -  currently has a winning record).

McNeese State:  Hogs fall behind 3-5 in the 3rd, and 3-8 in the 7th, before finally falling 6-8 for the first loss of the season in Game 1.  The usually solid Geoffrey Davenport gets knocked up for 7 hits and 5 ERs in 2.2 innings. 

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Those of you who have followed Razorback baseball over the past few years no doubt know that the Hogs have a reputation for falling behind and then squeaking out a win in the late innings, sometimes against non-marquee opponents (Colin Kuhn's 2-out, 2-strike grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to win the series against Kentucky on Easter Sunday last season comes to mind).  The Hogs may have swept the Utah Utes, but they had to come from behind twice to do it.  While Utah may (or may not) end up being quality wins by season's end, they certainly don't look the part right now, as they're currently 0-6 on the season.

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Much has happened in the world of college baseball since the Razorbacks lost a heartbreaker to Arizona St. in the Tempe Super Regional of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.  First, there's little chance that the Razorbacks will get a chance for revenge this season, as the Sun Devils have received a post-season ban for 2011 stemming from numerous NCAA major infractions from 2005-2009.  In other PAC10 news, this time with a Razorback connection, UC-Berkeley (who the Hogs played last season) has disbanded their baseball program due to budget concerns.  Jimmy Bosco, a former outfielder for Cal, transferred to Arkansas soon after the 2010 season concluded, but before Cal announced the discontinuation of their baseball program.  Bosco initially would have had to sit out a year under NCAA transfer rules, but is now appealing that based on the NCAA ruling that Cal players may now transfer without penalty.  Nevermind.  NCAA denies Bosco's appeal... Thanks, NCAA!  The biggest story of 2010 was FIU's Garrett Wittels chasing Robin Ventura's 58-game Division I hitting streak.  Wittels ran into some trouble this past December, when he was arrested in the Bahamas and charged with raping two 17-year-old girls who apparently described themselves as students at the University of Arkansas.  The case is ongoing.  Wittels also was not suspended from any team activities at FIU, although his hitting streak came to an end at 56 games on Friday night, when he went 0-4 against Southern Louisiana. 

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After dominating the Fayetteville Regional, the Hogs found themselves taking a detour to the American southwest on the road to Omaha.  Unfortunately, that road led to #1 national seed Arizona St.  And, for 24 innings, the Razorbacks gave the Sundevils all they could handle, but ultimately did not prevail.  Arkansas and ASU are well aquainted and have provided some very interesting games in recent history, and the Tempe Super Regional was no exception.

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