Arkansas sweeps Missouri with 9-1 Game 3 victory
The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks (17-2, 3-0 SEC) defeated the Missouri Tigers (9-11, 0-3 SEC) for the third straight game with a 9-1 win on a sunny afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas had its best offensive outing of the weekend as it scored in five separate innings to clinch the victory.
The win nearly marked the third straight shutout for the Hogs, as they also beat the Tigers by an 8-0 score on Friday and 6-0 score on Saturday.
"Just a really good start to game three," head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "We had a chance to sweep the series. It’s hard to be anybody three times in a row. Just a really good weekend for us. We pitched extremely well obviously. They scored one run all weekend. We pitched out of a couple of jams.
"We also fielded the ball. We didn’t make an error all weekend. We stole one base, maybe, but I think that’s all we attempted. We just kind of pitched and played defense and had some timely hits. A good way to start off conference play."
Second baseman Peyton Stovall finished the day 2-of-5 at the plate with an RBI and double, while shortstop Wehiwa Aloy led the Hogs with three RBIs and two hits. Third baseman Jared Sprague-Lott added two hits and right fielder Kendall Diggs, first baseman Ben McLaughlin, catcher Hudson White and center fielder Ty Wilmsmeyer each collected a base knock.
Molina was excellent in his 5.1 innings pitched, as he racked up 10 strikeouts to just three walks with one hit allowed. He lowered his season ERA down to 2.74 because of his performance. Behind him, RHP Koty Frank, LHP Colin Fisher, RHP Gage Wood and RHP Gabe Gaeckle all turned in good performances and combined for three strikeouts, two hits and one earned run on a solo homer.
Molina started the top of the first with a swinging strikeout before running into trouble because of a walk, but he bounced back for another strikeout and a successful pickoff attempt to get away clean.
Things didn't go as smooth for Missouri RHP Carter Rustad in the latter half of the inning, though, as back-to-back hits by Peyton Stovall and Kendall Diggs handed the Hogs a 1-0 lead. Aloy followed up with a quality at-bat and reached base via a walk. McLaughlin hit a fly ball to left field that was deep enough to score Diggs from third base and Arkansas exited the first with a 2-0 lead.
Arkansas' crafty left-hander continued to confuse Tiger batters in the second, as he recorded three strikeouts all looking. Rustad bounced back after a rough first inning by setting down the first two Razorback hitters. Ty Wilmsmeyer did reach base after getting hit by a pitch, but Stovall flied out to deep center to end the frame.
In the third, Molina continued to dominate with two swinging strikeouts and a groundout. Arkansas nearly went 1-2-3 in the latter half of the inning, but a solo-homer by Ben McLaughlin prevented that and gave the Razorbacks a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers finally got a leadoff man on base thanks to a Molina hit-by-pitch in the fourth, but he was caught stealing by catcher Hudson White and the ensuing Missouri batters failed to get anything going either. Rustad forced a quick 1-2-3 to bring Molina out for the fifth inning.
Control started to become an issue for Molina in the fifth. After recording a full-count strikeout, he walked the next Missouri batter on six pitches which forced a mound meeting between him and White. Naturally, Molina fought back for a four-pitch strikeout before forcing a flyout to end the frame.
Much like the two-run first for the Hogs, Arkansas' first two batters collected hits and Stovall's right-field double scored Wilmsmeyer for a 4-0 lead. Stovall advances to third thanks to a wild pitch and Aloy picked up a productive out with a sacrifice fly to give the Razorbacks a 5-0 lead.
"I like big innings, but I also like putting some pressure on every inning," Van Horn said. "Two here, one there, three there. That’s how you kind of put it away. You just keep the momentum away from them and get it to the point where they’re thinking, ‘Man, this is too big a hill to climb.’ It’s kind of what we did today."
Molina's no-hit bid was spoiled in the sixth thanks to a single by Missouri's Jeric Curtis. After a flyout and five-pitch walk, RHP Koty Frank relieved Molina and struck out the next two Missouri batters.
LHP Ian Lohse relieved Rustad in the sixth and the Jared Sprague-Lott immediately took advantage with a single to third base. A pinch-hit strikeout by Hudson Polk later, White got hit by a pitch and Wilmsmeyer reached base due to an error. Sprague-Lott scored on the play and then Stovall lined out to short.
The madness didn't stop there, as Diggs walked and Aloy singled to score Wilmsmeyer and White. McLaughlin finally flied out to center to close the inning.
"I thought (Aloy) had a great day at the plate," Van Horn said. "You look at his day, he laid off some pitches and walked, and he was down in the count, like, 1-2 in that situation. A couple of hard hit singles. Sac fly to right after he fought off some pitches. He had two strikes on him with a runner on third and just finally got the ball to the outfield.
"He’s got a knack for driving in runs. Even when it wasn’t going well for him, I left him up there in the order, because that’s what we need him to be. That’s what I feel like he is. Trying to get him going before conference play, and today was really good day for him. He had a good weekend in my opinion."
Arkansas' weekend-long shutout over Missouri ended in the seventh, as freshman LHP Colin Fisher gave up a leadoff solo homerun after relieving Frank. Despite that, he stayed the course and got out of the inning unscathed the rest of the way.
Ross Lovich and Sprague-Lott both reached base on a walk and single, respectively, to start the seventh against relief pitcher Nick Smith. Hudson Polk grounded into a double play before White doubled to deep right center to score Lovich for a 9-1 lead.
Gage Wood relieved Fisher in the eighth and walked the leadoff man, but got the next Missouri batter to ground into a double play and collected a strikeout to end the inning in style.
It was more of the same for Arkansas in the bottom of the eighth, as three runners ended up reaching base but relief pitcher Rock Lucas limited the damage to prevent any runs from scoring.
Electric freshman right-hander Gabe Gaeckle came on to close things out in the ninth and he did just that with three straight groundouts to win the ballgame and earn the sweep over the Missouri Tigers. It was the seventh-straight SEC opening series win for the Hogs and sixth sweep.
"Yeah, you’ve got to take care of your park," Van Horn said. "You’ve got to win at home, and the real good teams win on the road. We’re going to be challenged this weekend by Auburn. I don’t know if they won today. I thought I saw they might have lost. So we’re going to be going into a tough environment and a team that’s fighting. I didn’t know we swept six times. I could see winning the series, but sweeps are hard, and good for our guys."
Up next, Arkansas will travel to take on the Auburn Tigers for a three-game series that starts on Thursday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT and it will broadcast on SEC Network.
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