Andy Sawyers beat his old coach when Southeast Missouri State eliminated fifth-ranked national team Arkansas from the NCAA tournament.
By
ERIC OLSON KeynoteUSA Sports Writer
June 2, 2024, 8:06 pm ET
• 4 minute reading
Andy Sawyers beat his old coach as Southeast Missouri State eliminated fifth-ranked national team Arkansas from the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
The Redhawks’ 6-3 victory in an elimination game made the Razorbacks the highest-ranked eliminated team. No. 13 Arizona was fired Saturday.
Southeast Missouri State joined Evansville and Grand Canyon as regional fourth seeds reaching Sunday night’s final.
The Redhawks played Kansas State in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Evansville played at East Carolina in Greenville, North Carolina; and Grand Canyon played West Virginia in Tucson, Arizona.
SEMO participated in three of the last four NCAA tournaments, but reached a regional final for the first time. To get there, Sawyers beat out one of his mentors at Arkansas, coach Dave Van Horn.
Sawyers was a backup catcher on Van Horn’s first team at Nebraska in 1998 and was his volunteer assistant in 2000. He said he thanked Van Horn after the game for modeling how to be a good coach.
“I was a little excited,” Sawyers said. “I had some tears in my eyes behind my sunglasses because I got to beat my coach today, and that doesn’t happen very often, so it was a cool moment.”
The Razorbacks’ stay in the tournament was their shortest in 14 appearances since 2008, when they finished 0-2. Expectations for that team, led by future Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel, were modest as he finished under .500 in the SEC and was sent to Stanford as a regional third seed.
This year’s team won the SEC West, had the first pitcher projected to be selected in the amateur draft in Hagen Smith and one of the best defenses in the country. The Razorbacks also had one of the best home-field advantages in the country, having entered the regional 33-2 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
But the charm was not good at the end of the season. They entered the regionals after three straight losses and, with Sunday’s loss, finished 4-9 since May 3. Van Horn said a season filled with close games, inconsistent offense and fatigue took its toll on his team.
“I think it hit us mentally,” he said. “We took a good swing on Friday and yesterday we did very well. Today we seemed exhausted. “I didn’t know what to do or say.”
SPIN IT WELL
Louisiana-Lafayette’s Jose Torres delivered one of the biggest bat flips of the year when he hit a home run into left-center field in the eighth inning of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 10-2 win over Texas.
As Torres finished his swing, he dropped the bat in the same motion and sent it flying along the third base line. He spat, took a couple of steps as he admired what he had done, and took off at a trot.
BIG BATS
Tom Poole homered for the third time in two games and Grand Canyon rallied to reach its first regional final with a 12-10 win over Dallas Baptist. … Jac Caglianone’s second home run in two games, a three-run shot in the second inning, gave Florida the lead for good in a 17-11 victory over Nebraska. … Ozzie Pratt, Slade Wilks and Matthew Russo each drove in three runs as Southern Miss stayed alive with a 15-3 victory over Indiana. It was the Golden Eagles’ ninth straight win in a regional elimination game since 2022. …Dakota Jordan went 5-for-5 with a three-run homer and four RBIs in a 13-5 win over St. John’s. … Jack Zyska homered in a three-run seventh inning to lead UCF past Stetson 5-2. … Caden Bodine’s seventh-inning home run sent Coastal Carolina past High Point 6-5. …Mike Sears’ grand slam in the eighth highlighted Indiana State’s 13-2 victory over Illinois.
WONDERS OF THE MOUND
Casey Smith and Donovan Burke combined for a five-hit shutout in James Madison’s 2-0 win over South Carolina. … Mike Gutierrez improved to 10-0 for UC Santa Barbara, allowing two runs in six innings in a 4-2 win over San Diego. … LSU’s Griffin Herring, who struck out a perfect ninth against Wofford on Friday, replaced a struggling Nate Ackenhausen and allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings as the Tigers advanced to their regional final with a win 13-. 6 victory over the Terriers. … Cam Jones allowed one run and seven hits in Georgia Tech’s 3-1 win over UNC Wilmington.
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