Hometown hero : Tschepikow set for what could be his final games in Fayetteville
Posted on Friday, May 9, 2008
Ben Tschepikow has played games in Fayetteville nearly all his life.
That likely ends with the Razorbacks' final SEC three-game home series against South Carolina tonight through Sunday at Baum Stadium and Monday's 2 p.m. nonconference makeup of a rainout with Mississippi Valley State.
The Fayetteville High grad and University of Arkansas fourth-year junior has options to weigh.
Be a Razorback in 2009 ? Check out the pro draft ? Take his degree in kinesiology and start his life's vocation ?
"I'd love to play again but we'll see what happens," Tschepikow said. "I've got some things I want to do in my life. I'll be graduating and I want to go on to physician's assistant school."
So Tschepikow thinks "this is probably it," for his baseball once the Razorbacks' 2008 season concludes.
Those were also the sentiments coach Dave Van Horn expressed about Tschepikow's plans during Thursday's SEC coaches teleconference.
Tschepikow says he does not "consider myself"a pro baseball draft candidate.
"I'm not worried about that all," Tschepikow said of a draft option.
He might surprise himself. Some team might take a chance on a quick lefthanded-hitting second baseman hitting. 306.
They almost certainly would be eyeing the second sacker but for that major back surgery ending his 2006 season at 14 games for the hardship year that leaves him Razorback eligible in 2009.
"We look back on the development he could have had if he hadn't hurt his back and his wrist [bothering him in 2007 ]," Van Horn said. "It would have been nice to see how far along he would be if he had been healthy."
Tschepikow hit. 279 with 29 RBIs in 50 games last year while beset with wrist and shoulder woes and still mending from the nowhealed back.
This year in 43 games, Tschepikow hits 27 points higher with 27 RBIs with 12 doubles and 3 triples to last year's 9 and 1. Afield he's cut his errors from 14 to 6.
"I can honestly say I worked my tail off to get better on defense," Tschepikow said. "The team needs better defense at second base and I've really worked hard to get better and I think it showed this year."
Every facet of his game shows a healthy body finally matching an always-healthy attitude.
"This is by far his best year," Van Horn said. "And this is the first year he has been healthy."
Consistently healthy.
"I have been healthy the whole year," Tschepikow said. "It hasn't been like that since I have been here. It's been a fun year."
To a point. From 2005 to 2007, Tschepikow has played for teams that finished 39-22, 39-21 and 43-21 and always went to Regionals, including hosting in 2006 and 2007.
These Hogs, 28-20, are struggling 10-13 in the SEC with just six SEC games left. They currently stand a halfgame out of a top-eight SEC finish required to advance to the 12-team league's eightteam postseason tournament.
"The way the season has gone this year," Tschepikow said," it's been a tough road, but we got a lot of strong guys with good character on this team. We are still trying to be in the race and we are still going to try and outhustle people and outwork people."
Nobody outhustles Tschepikow. He's the man who scored all the way from first to beat Tennessee, 5-4 on a game-ending, two-out, misplayed high pop-up to short.
"I'll remember that for a long time," Tschepikow said. "But that's not really on me. We are taught every day to hustle with two outs. So I didn't really do anything exceptional. Coach told me to keep running, and I just did what we were taught to do."
All out is the way he's always played. That's always made him athletically honored in his hometown but also gave him a lot to live up to evolving from a Fayetteville Bulldog to an Arkansas Razorback.
"It's been a lot of fun," Tschepikow said. "There was a lot of pressure early on to be a good ballplayer in front of the hometown crowd. But after the first couple of years, I really didn't think of it like that. I know there were a lot of Fayetteville fans out there rooting for me and that's been good. I wouldn't trade this for the world."
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