Former Southeast Missouri State baseball player helps lead Arkansas to World Series

One of the eight teams in the College World Series, which begins Friday in Omaha, Neb., has a strong local connection.

Arkansas pitching coach Dave Jorn was a starting pitcher on Southeast Missouri State's 1976 squad that finished third in the NCAA Division II World Series and also featured current Redhawks coach Mark Hogan.

That 1976 Southeast club is one of the teams enshrined in the university's athletics hall of fame.

"I'm excited for him," Hogan said. "He's a great guy and I still keep in close contact with him. He's had a great career at Arkansas. He's put together some tremendous pitching staffs."

Jorn, who is in his 16th season as an Arkansas assistant covering two stints, will be making his fifth trip to the CWS with the Razorbacks. He directs a unit that has been one of the team's big strengths during a 44-20 season that included a Super Regional series win at favored Baylor.

The Razorbacks sport one of the nation's top ERAs at 2.90. They shut out Baylor 1-0 in 10 innings in Monday's third and deciding Super Regional game to earn the program's seventh CWS berth and first since 2009.

"Their pitching has been off the charts this season," Hogan said.

Jorn, a native of O'Fallon, Ill., played two seasons for Southeast under legendary former coach Joe Uhls after transferring from Belleville (Ill.) Area College. He came to Cape Girardeau as an infielder but converted to pitcher for his senior season and ended up being one of the squad's top starters.

Jorn said during an interview before one of Arkansas' previous CWS appearances that Hogan had a big impact on his career.

"Mark helped me a lot. Even though he was a player, even back then you could see he would make a really good coach because he would talk to me about attitude and approach," Jorn said. "I didn't have much fire going, but he helped me, and once I developed that, it was a different story. He and his family are like family to me."

Jorn was drafted by the Cardinals and wound up reaching the Class AAA level before finishing his playing career in 1981. He then got into coaching and spent the early part of his career as an assistant under Hogan at Wallace Junior College in Alabama.

Jorn was on the Arkansas staff from 1983 to 1988 -- he helped the Razorbacks reach the CWS in 1985 and 1987 -- then went on to become a minor league coach and scout for several professional organizations before beginning his second stint with the Razorbacks in 2002.

Jorn also helped lead Arkansas to the CWS in 2004 and 2009 before this year.

CWS near-miss

Southeast nearly had a second connection to this year's CWS, but Oregon fell just short. The Ducks lost at home to underdog Kent State 3-2 in Monday's third and deciding Super Regional contest.

Mark Wasikowski, an assistant under Hogan at Southeast in 1997 and 1998, is in his first year as an assistant at Oregon. He serves as the Ducks' recruiting coordinator.

Wasikowski was an assistant at Arizona when the Wildcats made the 2004 CWS. He also was the starting third baseman for Pepperdine when it won the 1992 national title.

"I was really rooting for Mark, who I've stayed in close contact with," Hogan said. "It would have been a great story because Oregon dropped their baseball program and just reinstated it a few years ago."

Wasikowski, a California native, spent two of his earliest coaching years at Southeast and helped lead the then-Indians to their first NCAA Division I regional berth in 1998.

"Mark did a great job for us," Hogan said.

Wasikowski's former team, Arizona, where he spent 10 seasons before moving to Oregon before the 2012 campaign, is in this year's CWS.

"He played a big role in recruiting the players who have taken Arizona [to the CWS]," Hogan said.