The Importance of Scoring First For Arkansas' Offense

Razorbacks' struggles of late correlate with playing from behind

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Dave Van Horn looks out from the dugout prior to the game against the Florida State Seminoles in the 2019 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. / Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As selection Monday edges closer, Arkansas enters the NCAA regional having lost seven of their last ten including two of its final three series in the regular season before going 0-2 in the SEC Tournament.

The importance of scoring first has been well-documented at the MLB level for quite some time. Score first and you'll (most likely) win. However, this is especially true for the 2024 Razorbacks whose opponents have scored first in its last seven games and eight of the last 10 during the skid. The Hogs are 28-5 when they score first and 15-1 when they score in the first inning. Conversely, when the opponent scores first they are 15-9. Coach Dave Van Horn outlined the difficulties of playing from behind after a 9-6 loss to Kentucky that dumped the Hogs out of the conference tournament, a game in which the Wildcats scored two first-inning runs.

"We gave them two runs," Van Horn said, "They're tough to catch because when they get ahead of you, they can do some things.

The Razorbacks' offense isn't going to become a world beater suddenly. The Razorbacks rank 10th, lower on every single offensive team statistic listed on the SEC stats page except for the fewest strikeouts, sac bunts and sac flies. This offense is what it is. It hasn't been asked to play from behind often, but hasn't had much success when asked to do so. They hold just two wins when trailing after the sixth inning.

Arkansas' lineup doesn't provide much power, ranking 10th in homers (77), or steal many bases (ninth, 42), making it difficult to both manufacture runs and score runs quickly. However, just like the rest of the season, most of the burden falls to the pitching staff. Arkansas leads the SEC in saves with 23, six more than the next closest (Vanderbilt and LSU, 17). The moral of the story is, give this pitching staff a lead, chances are they'll hold it. Score first and you'll win (most likely).

The Razorbacks await its regional opponents as the selection show kicks off 11 a.m. Monday and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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