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Arkansas baseball must turn weakness into strength to survive Lawrence Regional

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Arkansas baseball has failed to start 2-0 in a regional nine times in the past 24 years.

On all nine occasions, the Hogs' season came to an end later in the weekend.

They'll have to prove that history isn't an indicator of the future and turn a weakness into a strength to keep their 2026 campaign alive.

The Razorbacks (40-21) lost to Kansas 5-3 in the winners bracket of the Lawrence Regional on Saturday, May 30, sending them into an elimination game against Northeastern on Sunday. Arkansas only recorded three hits, with a two-run homer from Reese Robinett proving to be loudest swing from its offense. A dazzling 14-strikeout start from Hunter Dietz got spoiled.

"I thought he pitched great," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "I mean, he gave us every opportunity to win that game. We just didn't score any runs."

Dietz (7-4) took the loss with four earned runs in 6⅓ innings. Daniel Osoria drew a leadoff walk against Dietz in the bottom of the seventh and came around to score the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk from reliever James DeCremer.

Dietz's lone big mistake of the night was a hanging cutter Tyson LeBlanc turned on for a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.

"The only bad cutter I threw all day," Dietz said.

Now, Arkansas must come out of the losers bracket, and the Hogs have already burned through their top arms in Dietz and Gabe Gaeckle.

All season long, pitching depth has been a question mark for the Razorbacks. They have no other choice but to find reliable options over the next 48 hours, otherwise a late-season surge will turn into an early postseason exit.

Avoiding the losers bracket is always a top priority, but the Hogs showed in series-finale losses to Georgia and Oklahoma during the regular season that their pitching staff lacks quality options on the back end. The Bulldogs scored 26 runs on April 18. Oklahoma pounced for 15 on May 10.

Even more recently, Arkansas gave up 11 runs in seven innings during a loss to Georgia at the SEC Tournament championship. That was the Razorbacks' fourth game of the weekend. They'll need to play five this weekend to advance to the super regionals.

"We can say all we want to, and (the players) have to rally themselves. I told them that," Van Horn said. "We come out, let's find a way to play well, you know, and get maybe you'll get an opportunity to play Kansas again."

After the loss to the Jayhawks, Van Horn said he didn't know who will be Arkansas' starting pitcher against Northeastern. The most likely options are Colin Fisher (4-7, 5.24 ERA) and Tate McGuire (1-1, 5.20 ERA), who have combined for 17 starts this year. Fisher has struggled since the start of conference play, but he was brilliant against mid-major opposition this season.

No matter who gets the ball on a day Arkansas hopes to play two games, Van Horn has set simple instructions for his arms.

"We need to throw them all over the plate," he said.

Arkansas' season is hanging in the balance. Another offensive dud could also end the year at any point, but the Hogs simply won't be able to reach the next round without newfound success from the back end of its pitching staff.

Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@usatodayco.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas baseball's pitching depth faces stiff test in Lawrence Regional

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