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Andrew Darr Comes Off The Bench & Comes Up Big For Arkansas

(With the end of the year fast approaching, we’re counting down some of the top moments from the 2009 college baseball season.  We’ll have one a day through New Year’s Eve.)

Andrew Darr started 29 games in 2009 for the Arkansas baseball team.  Most of those starts for the senior outfielder came before the month of April, but the most important start of Darr’s career came on June 6, 2009-the day the

Andrew Darr

Razorbacks beat Florida State to go to the College World Series.

Darr had just one at-bat in the Razorback’s three NCAA Regional wins a week earlier in Norman, OK, and he didn’t see the field in his team’s 7-2 win over FSU to start Super Regional play a day earlier in Tallahassee.  In fact, the senior from Gilbert, Az hadn’t started a game in almost a month prior to the deciding Super Regional game.

Darr had caught Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn’s eye in batting practice though over the last week.  So with his team needing just a win to get to the College World Series for the first time in five years, Van Horn played a hunch and started Darr in left field against the host Seminoles.  To say the hunch paid off would be an insult to the word hunch.

Darr went 4-for-5 with a home runs two doubles and 3 RBIs, including a walk-off 2-run double to send the Razorbacks to Omaha.  His solo home run in the 7th inning started a five-run frame to give the Razorbacks a 6-5 lead.  The game seesawed in the late innings, and FSU took an 8-7 lead in the top of the 9th (Arkansas was the designated home team for game two, even though the game was at FSU.)

Darr came to the plate with runners at first and second and one out in the 9th and stroked the first pitch he saw to the gap in left-centerfield to bring Bo Bigham and Zack Cox home to end the game and send the Hogs to Omaha.  The Razorbacks became just the ninth team in NCAA history to advance to the College World Series without playing either the Regional or Super Regional round in their home ballpark.

Darr started three of his team’s four games at the College World Series.  The only game he didn’t start in Omaha was an elimination game against Virginia, but he made the most of his time on the field in that game as well.  He entered that game as a defensive replacement in the 9th inning of that game and ended-up with an RBI double in the 12th inning to give Arkansas a 4-3 extra inning win.

While Darr’s final stats of his final college season, .252 avg., 4 HR and 18 RBIs, are far from eye-popping it would be hard to argue that there was a more important .252 batter in the country in 2009.

Darr

Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires talked to Darr right after he and the Razorbacks returned to Fayetteville from Super Regional win.  Click the “play” button above to listen to that podcast interview.

Other Top Moments Of 2009

7.  Virginia Beats Stephen Strasburg In Irvine Regional Opener

8.  Washington State And Gonzaga End Long NCAA Tournament Droughts

9.  Cal Poly Gets Its First NCAA Tournament Bid

10.  Kansas’ Field of Dreams: Kansas, Kansas State & Wichita State All Get NCAA Bids

11.  Stephen Strasburg Strikes out 17 in a no hitter

12.  Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers No-hits Michigan

13.  Kansas Sweeps #1 Texas

14.  Bryce Brentz Has An April To Remember

15.  Clemson’s Kyle Parker Does Double Duty

16.  #1 Arkansas Beats #1 Arizona State

17.  Rhode Island Beats Miami And Oklahoma State

18.  Kansas State’s A.J. Morris beats Arizona State’s Mike Leake

19.  North Carolina’s Mike Fox Wins His 1,000th Game

20.  Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge

21.  Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Longballs

22.  Freshman Levi Michael Starts In North Carolina’s Season Opener

23.  LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

24.  Oregon Brings Back Baseball

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WICHITA, Kan. – The 2010 Wichita State baseball schedule features games with traditional national powers and conference champions along with 30 home games, head coach Gene Stephenson announced Oct. 22.

Shocker Head Coach Gene Stephenson

“Once again we have a great schedule for the fans and players alike,” Stephenson said.  “It will be very challenging for this team.  I think we have an especially challenging road schedule. It will require us to grow up in a hurry to be successful.  I think we’ll have a much better team overall, but we need to prove it on the field in the spring.  With the improvements at our facility, it should be an exciting season.”
Complete 2010 Wichita State Schedule (PDF)
The Shockers begin the 2010 season on Feb. 23 in Lawrence, Kan., against 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Kansas.  The Jayhawks return the trip to Wichita on April 27.  WSU then travels to Mobile, Ala., for the Coca-Cola Classic, Feb. 26-28.  In the tournament, WSU will face North Florida, Eastern Michigan and host South Alabama.

WSU then opens the home portion of its schedule with seven-straight games, two against North Dakota on March 2-3, three against Florida Gulf Coast, March 5-7 and two against Central Arkansas, March 9-10.  FGCU is coming off of two-straight Atlantic Sun regular-season titles.

WSU again hits the road for five-straight games against national powers including a three-game series at Long Beach State, March 12-14.  The Shockers wrap up the road trip with a two-game series in Tucson, Ariz., against Arizona, March 16-17.

The Shockers return home for a three-game series with 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Washington State, March 19-21.  The two teams met in the Norman Regional with the Cougars earning a 3-2 victory.

On March 23-24, the Shockers play a two-game set at Oral Roberts, another 2009 NCAA Tournament participant.  ORU returns the trip to Wichita on May 4 and May 18.

Missouri Valley Conference play gets underway for the Shocks on March 26-28 in Wichita against Bradley and then WSU travels to Manhattan, Kan., on March 30 to face 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Kansas State.  The Wildcats finished the season ranked 19th by Baseball America and 22nd by Collegiate Baseball, USA Today/ESPN and the NCBWA.  KSU visits Eck Stadium on April 20.

The final 2009 NCAA Tournament participant on WSU’s schedule is Oklahoma State.  The Shockers travel to Stillwater, Okla., on April 6, while the Cowboys visit Wichita on April 28.  OSU finished the 2009 season ranked 27th by Collegiate Baseball.

2009 Western Athletic Conference champion San Jose State visits Eck Stadium April 23-25, while independent powerhouse Dallas Baptist visits Wichita May 20-22.

The Shockers will play at Creighton on May 7-9 and will get to play at Rosenblatt Stadium on May 7-8.  It is the final season of Rosenblatt Stadium.

Other teams that will visit Eck Stadium in 2010 include Southern Illinois (April 9-11) and Missouri State (May 14-16).

Wichita State will also play host to the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the 24th time, May 26-29.

(Press Release)