Arkansas' bats heat up in series-clinching win over EIU

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FAYETTEVILLE — On the heels of a heartbreaking loss by the men’s basketball team, the baseball team gave Arkansas fans something to cheer about Saturday afternoon.

The Razorbacks did all of their damage in the game’s first four innings and cruised to a 10-1 victory that clinched their series over Eastern Illinois to open the 2020 season.

They’ll try to make it a sweep when they return to Baum-Walker Stadium at 1 p.m. Sunday. The game will be streamed on SEC Network-plus, meaning it can be watched online on ESPN3.com or on the WatchESPN app.

Freshman right-hander Blake Adams will make his debut for Arkansas, while the Panthers will start senior Foster Anthutz. The Razorbacks also have plenty of arms available if their freshman struggles, as guys like Kole Ramage, Zebulon Vermillion and Elijah Trest have yet to pitch this weekend.

“This is a chance to start a little bit and we’ll let him go to his pitch count if it goes well,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “If it doesn’t, we’ve got a loaded bullpen. … We’re in good shape on the mound.”

Early Homers

Just like in the opener, the Razorbacks got on the scoreboard in the first inning. They just did it a little bit louder than the day before.

Leadoff man Braydon Webb crushed a 1-1 pitch from EIU starter Trevor Nicholson and the strong wind out helped it hit the foul pole for an opposite-field home run.

“When it left the bat, we thought it was going to go foul, but it just stayed straight, like the wind just pushed it enough to keep it straight and it hit the foul pole,” Van Horn said. “He wasn’t even running. He was kind of looking at it and jogging and then the next thing you know, the ball hit the foul pole.”

A couple of batters later, after Heston Kjerstad drew a four-pitch walk, Matt Goodheart was also aided by the wind. This one was particularly strange because it seemed destined to hook way foul.

The Panthers’ right fielder tracked the ball all the way to the corner, but it ended up landing in the bullpen several feet behind where he was for a two-run homer that put the Razorbacks up 3-0.

“It was foul and somehow the wind blew it back,” Van Horn said. “I don’t really get it because the wind was out of the south-southeast almost. Usually the ball will do that when there’s a westerly wind here, but when it took off, we saw it. We said, ‘That ball’s coming back.’ It was amazing.”

Goodheart said the 1-1 pitch was an inside fastball and he didn’t seem to mind that the long ball was wind-aided. Although he hit five last season, it took a while before the junior from Magnolia, Ark., got his first.

In what became almost a joke amongst his teammates, Goodheart finally got one out of the park on April 9 against Oral Roberts, so it probably felt good to get No. 1 out of the way on opening weekend.

“I turned on it and I thought it was going to be foul as well,” Goodheart said with a smile. “The wind pushed it back. I’m grateful.”

Nesbit Makes EIU Pay

Coming off a game in which the Razorbacks put up five runs - with four coming via the long ball - Van Horn made just one change to his lineup for Game 2.

He flipped Casey Opitz and Jacob Nesbit in the order, moving Nesbit up into the 6-hole. It was just the third time in the redshirt sophomore’s career that he’s hit that high and he made his coach look like a genius.

“He’s really done a nice job against left-handed pitching,” Van Horn said. “We’ve noticed it in our scrimmages, that he seems to hit them good, he takes good swings. You never know how it’s going to end up, but he gets good swings.”

In the opener, Nesbit went 1 for 3 with a walk and was robbed of another hit on a nice play by Eastern Illinois’ left fielder. Facing a lefty, though, he was even better.

After doubling to left-center in his first at bat, Nesbit had back-to-back RBI singles in the third and fourth innings. Both times, he drove in runs following intentional walks to Casey Martin - who was also given a free base in Friday’s game.

It was a peculiar move by Eastern Illinois coach Jason Anderson because Martin, despite being a preseason All-American, has struggled at the plate recently. He ended the 2019 season on a 7-for-45 (.156) slump and was hitless in his first four at bats - with a couple of strikeouts - so far against the Panthers.

Nesbit, meanwhile, had already had success against Anderson’s squad and finished Saturday’s game 3 for 5 with two RBIs.

“They felt really good,” Nesbit said about his hits. “Putting barrel to the ball always feels really good, especially when they walk the guy in front of you. Just trying to hit something hard and hopefully it falls where they’re not, and luckily it did.”

(Martin popped out on the first pitch he saw in his at bat after the intentional walks, but finally put together a good at bat in the eighth and hit a double down to the left field line.)

Big Fourth Inning

Although Arkansas technically hung a crooked number on Eastern Illinois in the fifth inning of Friday’s game, it had its first big inning of 2020 on Saturday, putting up six runs in the fourth.

The Razorbacks chased Nicholson with three straight hits - the last of which was an RBI single by Christian Franklin - and then kept it going against the Panthers’ bullpen.

Kjerstad and Goodheart notched RBIs with a single and ground out, respectively, against reliever Aaron Chao. After another pitching change, Nesbit hit the second of his aforementioned RBI singles following an intentional walk to Martin.

The only extra-base hit of the inning was a two-run double by Cole Austin, who also doubled in Saturday’s game. That capped the six-run frame and made it 10-0.

If they live up to expectations, the Razorback will likely have several big innings like that this season.

“We weren’t surprised by that six-spot,” Nesbit said. “That’s what we look to do every day. We think we have the offense to do it.”

Wicklander’s Outing

A couple of days before the season, Van Horn told reporters that Wicklander had struggled with keeping his pitch count down during preseason intrasquad scrimmages.

That was the case in his 2020 debut, as well. He consistently fell behind in the count and threw a lot of pitches, but managed to give the Razorbacks five scoreless innings. It followed up Connor Noland’s 6 2/3 innings in which he didn’t allow an earned run.

“Overall, I felt really good about it,” Wicklander said. “It’s great to be back out there. I just wanted to pick up right where Connor left off yesterday, basically.”

Much like his teammate, the sophomore left-hander put the first batter of the game on base. Instead of giving up a hit, though, he hit Grant Emme with a pitch. He settled with a couple of strikeouts sandwiched around a fielder’s choice to get out of the inning.

“I just kind of yanked a fastball too far in,” Wicklander said. “I wasn’t too worried about it. I just trusted my stuff, trusted Opitz behind the plate and just trusted the plan that we had.”

Wicklander needed 38 pitches to get through the first two innings, as he also gave up a couple of hits in the second, but only 39 over his final three.

Despite throwing only 47 of his 77 pitches for strikes, he gave up just three hits and two walks while striking out seven in five innings.

“His breaking ball wasn’t real sharp, he was behind in the count, velocity wasn’t great, but he fought through it,” Van Horn said. “I mean the guy, he wasn’t scared. He pitched in the regional, pitched in the super regional and Omaha.

“He just didn’t have great stuff today. He’s had better stuff in practice and hopefully it’ll be better next week, but the experience and the toughness kind of paid off today because he only gave up a few his, only walked a couple.”

Bolden’s Return

The first guy out of the bullpen Saturday was Caleb Bolden. Making his first appearance since June 2, 2018, the right-hander threw three scoreless innings of relief for the Razorbacks.

After missing all of last season because of Tommy John surgery, the Texarkana, Texas, native gave up three hits - all doubles - and hit a batter, but also struck out three in a 45-pitch outing.

Van Horn was pleased with the performance, but also just happy to see him get back out on the mound after being out so long.

“I think he topped out right around 90 (mph),” Van Horn said. “Just came in and threw strikes, throwing a changeup and spotted his fastball away a few times. He left a couple of balls up and they hit it. We just wanted him to come in there and get some work.”

Before the arm injury flared up, Bolden was effective as a midweek starter for the Razorbacks his freshman season. Van Horn even told reporters that he expected him to compete for a spot in the weekend rotation in 2019, but his performance fell off the second half of the year and it was eventually revealed he needed surgery.

Getting him back - whether as a starter or a long reliever like on Saturday - is a key for Arkansas’ staff this year.

“That’s another big arm for us,” Wicklander said. “It deepens our staff, lengthens our bullpen because he’s going to go out and throw strikes. We’re beyond glad to have him back.”

Other Tidbits

~It was a much warmer day in Fayetteville and there was a men’s basketball game that started two hours before first pitch. The result was a much larger crowd than for Friday’s opener. The official attendance - or “tickets distributed” number - was 10,814, with a “tickets scanned” number of 7,681.

~After going 0 for 4 in his first game and flying out to right field in his first at bat Saturday, Robert Moore notched the first hit of his collegiate career. The Baum-Walker Stadium crowd gave the 17-year-old - who should be a senior in high school but enrolled early - a nice ovation.

~Eastern Illinois shortstop Trey Sweeney was having a tough weekend up until ripping a leadoff double down the right field line in the eighth inning. The sophomore was 0 for 7 with four strikeouts before that hit. What made it tougher was that of the three balls he put in play, Arkansas made two sensational plays to rob him. On Friday, Webb made a diving catch on the warning track in left-center. On Saturday, Austin made a diving stop at first base and tossed to Wicklander, who barely beat him to the bag for the out.

~The Razorbacks made just one substitution in Friday’s game, using Zack Gregory as a pinch runner for Goodheart, their large lead allowed Van Horn to get into the bench a little more. Gregory and Dominic Tamez pinch hit for Austin and Opitz, respectively, in the sixth inning and stayed in the game. Gregory went to right field, allowing Kjerstad to get some work at first base, and Tamez went to catcher, while Curtis Washington Jr. replaced Braydon Webb in left field the ensuing half inning.