Arkansas earns 8-2 midweek win over San Jose State
FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks (29-3, 11-1 SEC) earned their 23rd straight win at Baum-Walker Stadium with an 8-2 victory over San Jose State (12-21) on a misty Wednesday afternoon.
Arkansas outhit the Spartans, 14-4, and second baseman Peyton Stovall had a 4-for-4 day at the plate with two RBIs. Ben McLaughlin, Jack Wagner and Will Edmunson all added two hits each, plus Wagner added the Hogs' only homer in the game.
It took five arms on the mound to get the job done for the Razorbacks. Freshman Colin Fisher started the game with three scoreless innings, three walks and three strikeouts. The only scoring in the game for San Jose State came via a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning.
While they won by six runs, the Razorbacks did leave 11 runners on base Wednesday. They were 9-of-21 batting with runners on and 3-for-11 with two outs.
Fisher started things off with an eight-pitch strikeout before forcing two easy groundouts to end the top half of the first. Stovall led the bottom half off with a single and Kendall Diggs drew a two-out walk to put to runners on before they were stranded by SJSU freshman starting pitcher Tyler Albanese.
Fisher had to throw 34 pitches in the top of the second after he issued a pair of walks that he managed to work around to keep the Spartans scoreless. The same couldn't be said for the Hogs, who took a 2-0 lead via back-to-back RBI swings from Stovall and McLaughlin in the bottom half.
After issuing a leadoff walk in the top of the third, Fisher retired the next three in a row. The Spartans brought right-hander Corey Sanchez on in relief in the bottom of the third, and he worked a 1-2-3 frame.
Sixth-year righty Koty Frank relieved Fisher in the top of the fourth and he retired three of the four batters he faced while giving up a one-out double. The Razorbacks strung together a pair of two-out hits from Parker Rowland and Stovall in the bottom half, but both were stranded.
Frank went three up, three down in the top of the fifth to bring the Hogs up in the bottom of the fifth, which featured the first two batters reaching base and crossing home shortly after via a Nolan Souza two-RBI double that made it 4-0 after five innings.
Junior right-hander Jake Faherty took over for the Hogs in the top of the sixth and he retired the Spartans in order while adding two strikeouts. The Razorbacks stranded two more runners in the bottom of the seventh to reach 10 runners left on base by that point.
Arkansas brought on sophomore left-hander Parker Coil in the top of the seventh and he was quickly tagged with at two-run homer off the bat of SJSU's Matt Spears — his second in as many days. Coil retired the next three in a row to limit the damage to two runs allowed.
The Razorbacks' lineup made up for the two-run shot by plating four runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh to make it an 8-2 lead. Designated hitter Jack Wagner led things off with a solo homer to center, and the Hogs added three more RBI hits from Stovall, McLaughlin and Aloy.
Neither team had anything going in the eighth inning, and the Hogs brought on sophomore Cooper Dossett in the top of the ninth to close things down. The Springdale native retired all three hitters he faced to secure the 8-2 win over the Spartans.
Up next, the Razorbacks and Spartans will face off again at 3 p.m. CT Wednesday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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