Arkansas Business

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn has the Razorbacks (22-6, 5-4 SEC) in the hunt to get to the College World Series in Omaha.

On Monday, Van Horn took a brief break from preparing for the big SEC series against Georgia this weekend at Baum Stadium to discuss, among other things, the recruiting class Van Horn and his staff signed in November. The Razorbacks announced the addition of 11 recruits during the early signing period.

“We had a great early signing period,” Van Horn said. “We signed five pitchers and they're all doing well. I hate to say that.”

Van Horn knows that pitchers will be a premium in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft in June, but he's hopeful of getting some of these five to school in the fall. Arkansas added Mountain Home right-hander Trey Killian (6-foot-4, 180 pounds). Killian is the No. 133 prospect for the draft as projected by Perfect Game. He has a fastball that hits 92 miles per hour.

“He's really pitching well,” Van Horn said. “We hope he comes to school. We feel Trey is the top right-handed pitcher in the state of Arkansas. He can come in and make a major impact as a freshman.”

A prospect that could be hard to get to campus is Matthews (N.C.) Providence right-handed pitcher Ty Buttrey (6-6, 210). Buttrey is rated the No. 35 prospect for the draft by Perfect Game.

“He has a 96 miles per hour fastball and a lot of teams like him,” Van Horn said. “Ty is a big right-handed pitcher that we hope we can get to campus, but that may be difficult with the season he's having.”

Keller (Texas) Southwest Christian right-hander Teddy Stankiewicz (6-4, 200) is rated the No. 76 prospect for the 2012 draft by Perfect Game. Stankiewicz is having a good senior year following a junior season that saw him go 8-3 with a 0.95 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 66 innings.

“He throws it 94 miles per hour and is another one that a lot of teams are very high on,” Van Horn said. “He's very polished for his age. His fastball has a lot of movement on it.”

Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus left-handed pitcher Colin Poche (6-2, 188) is rated No. 455 by Perfect Game and Van Horn is hopeful he makes it to campus. Van Horn joked about Poche not liking Arkansas getting swept by LSU last weekend.

“He's probably not too happy with us right now,” Van Horn said. “His dad went to LSU. He's a lefty and they're always in demand. He can throw strikes.”

Arkansas also signed right-hander Jarred Greene (6-2, 210) of Magnolia, Texas. Perfect Game rates him No. 350 in the draft and Van Horn feels Arkansas may get him to campus.