After trailing Santa Clara for three innings, the Arkansas bats woke up and the Broncos pitchers fell asleep as the Razorbacks secured a 13-6 win in the first game of the Fayetteville Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium.
In front of a season-best 11,078 fans, the Diamond Hogs plated five runs in the bottom of the fourth, five in the bottom of the sixth and three in the bottom of the seventh — all of which came via one swing from third baseman Caleb Cali.
Arkansas right-hander Will McEntire provided an extremely valuable five innings of three-run ball out of the bullpen. He kept the Broncos lineup from threatening too much, he trusted his defense and he pitched with confidence.
"The mission was just keep it where it was and let our offense get going," McEntire said. "Once our offense did get going and we got that lead, just eat up innings and pass it on to the next guy to finish off the game."
The Arkansas lineup benefited from 10 combined walks issued by five Santa Clara pitchers in the contest. Even with the walks, the Hogs did enough at the plate by going 6-for-18 with runners on an 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
All but two Razorbacks had a hit in the game and six of the nine starters drove in at least one run on the afternoon. Kendall Diggs and Cali each had three RBIs in the contest.
"Santa Clara is a really good team," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. "They play hard. Experienced. They didn’t get intimidated. They just kept fighting. I felt like our guys, they didn’t really flinch when they got punched. Took it and hung in there and got some big hits and obviously enough to win the game."
Arkansas starter Hunter Hollan ran into trouble right away as three straight one-out hits turned into a pair of runs for the Broncos in the top of the first. After a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Hobbs, Hollan calmed down and retired the next two batters to limit the damage to two.
The Arkansas lefty faced just one more than the minimum in the top of the second, but a five-pitch walk followed by a groundout was all Van Horn needed to see in the top of the third, as the Razorback skipper pulled Hollan after 2 1/3 innings pitched.
"I just feel like that they were on him," Van Horn said. "It just wasn’t a good matchup. So we just said ‘We’re going to need to make a move here.’ It worked out."
Van Horn turned to McEntire, who retired the two batters he faced in the third. McEntire's momentum shifted to the offensive side, as Arkansas managed to load the bases courtesy of a hit by pitch and two walks. Unfortunately for the Hogs, a Brady Slavens grounded out to first to strand all three runners and keep Santa Clara's lead at 2-0.
Santa Clara starter Cole Kitchen walked Caleb Cali to lead the bottom of the fourth inning off and Broncos head coach Rusty Filter elected to turn things over to right-hander Skylar Hales.
After striking out Jace Bohrofen, Hales gave up back-to-back singles, the second of which was an RBI single from Parker Rowland that made it a 2-1 deficit for Arkansas. Right after that, John Bolton hit an RBI sacrifice fly to center to tie things up and make it a brand new ballgame.
The next two Arkansas batters reached to load the bases and Diggs drove all three baserunners home with a three-run single to center on a play that the Santa Clara centerfielder just couldn't make. Diggs' big swing put the Hogs ahead, 5-2.
Santa Clara gained a run back on back-to-back doubles, the second bringing in a run, in the top of the fifth to trim the deficit to two.
McEntire worked around a leadoff single in the top of the sixth, and with Arkansas right-hander Brady Tygart warming up in the bullpen in the bottom of the frame, Tavian Josenberger hit a two-run homer off the Hunt Family Baseball Development Center in right field to extend Arkansas' lead to 7-3.
"Coach gave me bunt, and I didn't get the bunt down," Josenberger said. "I mean, looking back, it's a good thing now. I got a fastball middle-away and put a pretty good swing on it and put it in the bullpen."
Three batters later, the Broncos brought on right-hander Blake Hammond in relief with bases loaded and one out. After striking out Bohrofen, Hammond issued three straight RBI walks to give Arkansas a seven-run lead. Santa Clara turned things over to righty Jeffrey Heinrich, who was able to finally record the third out.
Arkansas' lead was extended with Heinrich on the mound in the bottom of the seventh. Peyton Holt and Diggs reached via a hit by pitch and walk, respectively, and then Cali brought both of them home with a three-run homer to left.
Santa Clara plated three runs in the top of the eighth and Van Horn turned to Cody Adcock in relief of McEntire. Adcock allowed a run to cross, but managed to strand a pair to get out of the frame.
Adcock ran into trouble in the top of the ninth when he issued two two-out walks and gave up an RBI single that made it 13-6. Adcock finally got nine-hole hitter Ben Steck to fly out to secure a victory for the Razorbacks in the Fayetteville Regional opener.
Up next, Arkansas will face the winner of 2-seed TCU and 3-seed Arizona at 8 p.m. CT Saturday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. Television details for the game have not been released yet.
