Analysis of Arkansas' Game 1 win at Kentucky

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As Arkansas was trying to hold on to its lead late in the series opener at Kentucky, several opportunities to add insurance runs Friday night loomed large.

The Razorbacks jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead with one out in the second inning and chased starter Jimmy Ramsey, but they were shut down by the Wildcats’ subpar bullpen and escaped with a 5-2 win at Kentucky Proud Park.

Four Kentucky relievers - Trip Lockhart, Braxton Cottongame, Cole Ayers and Cole Daniels - combined to throw 7 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering six hits and two walks while striking out nine.

Those have been four of the Wildcats’ top five bullpen arms this season, with ERAs ranging from 2.19 (Daniels) to 4.38 (Cottongame), but they did get some help from from a pair of base running blunders by Arkansas.

The most costly mistake came in the fifth inning, when Casey Opitz’s infield single seemingly loaded the bases with two outs and Christian Franklin - who was in the midst of three straight hits - coming to the plate.

However, Franklin never got the RBI chance because Heston Kjerstad rounded third like he was going to try to score and got caught in a pickle between third and home, eventually getting tagged out to end the inning.

A couple of innings later, it was Franklin who was guilty of making a mistake on the base paths. His second hit of the night gave Arkansas a leadoff base runner in the sixth.

Trevor Ezell tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt to move him into scoring position with Casey Martin and Matt Goodheart due up, but instead popped the ball up down the first base line. It was an easy catch for Dalton Reed, who turned it into an unassisted double play by stepping on first base because Franklin - for some inexplicable reason - was a step off the bag.

Luckily for the Razorbacks, Kentucky managed to score only two runs in the game and the blunders ultimately didn’t cost them in Game 1.