FAYETTEVILLE — Two very different results from bases-loaded, no-out situations in the fifth inning set the tone for a blowout Tuesday night in a historic matchup between Arkansas and UALR.
After Troy Alexander hit a go-ahead grand slam for the Trojans, the Razorbacks’ trio of All-Americans went down in order and Arkansas spiraled to a 17-7 loss in its first regular-season game against an in-state school in program history.
“It’s one that your program talks about maybe for years to come,” UALR head coach Chris Curry said about the win. “I’m happy for our players. I’m happy for how hard they played.”
Making the fifth inning even worse, Alexander - who came into the game hitting just .212 - took one of Arkansas’ top relievers, Kole Ramage, deep. On the flip side, Casey Martin, Heston Kjerstad and Dominic Fletcher couldn’t answer against Ethan Daily, who came into the game with an 11.77 ERA.
Martin struck out on three pitches, Kjerstad flew out to shallow left field - not deep enough to score the runner from third - and Fletcher grounded out to second.
“Bottom line, we’ve got to score at least one, maybe two right there because we have three of our top hitters coming up,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “At a minimum we should have tied that game or maybe taken a lead. That was a little disappointing.”
That opened the floodgates for the Trojans, who ended up scoring 13 unanswered runs before a Jack Kenley home run in the eighth. They used four Arkansas errors and pounded out 16 hits to score a season-high 17 runs.
Seven different relievers pitched for the Razorbacks, with all but one giving up at least one run. Two of them - Elijah Trest and Jacob Burton - failed to record an out.
“Right now we don’t have the pitching depth,” Van Horn said. “That’s the bottom line. It kind of showed on Sunday (against Ole Miss) and you saw it again today.”
Meanwhile, Daily continued to shut down the Razorbacks for the rest of the game and earned a five-inning save. He struck out seven and scattered three hits and a walk, with his lone run allowed coming on Kenley’s home run.
In addition to his abysmal ERA, Dailey had allowed 14 hits and 14 walks while striking out only 10 in 13 innings spread across 10 appearances prior to Tuesday. Van Horn gave him credit for keeping his team off balance.
“Basically, he was just throwing a little slider and mixing it up a little bit,” Van Horn said. “We had our opportunities and we missed some pitches, fouled them off. It seemed like when he got ahead in the count, he found ways to finish our guys off.”
Arkansas doesn’t have long to regroup, as its series at No. 17 Auburn begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. That game will be televised on ESPNU.
Other Tidbits
~The paid attendance for Tuesday’s game was 7,956, with a “tickets scanned” number of 3,193.
~Patrick Wicklander got the start for Arkansas and went 3 1/3 innings, with 43 of his 71 pitches being strikes. He gave up three runs - all unearned because of a couple of errors - on three hits and two walks while striking out two.
~The errors that allowed those three runs to score were just two of four total by the Razorbacks. It was the most they’ve committed since making five against South Carolina in last year’s SEC Tournament. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win,” Van Horn said. “We made mistake after mistake in the field.”
~Before being replaced by Casey Opitz in the ninth inning, catcher Zack Plunkett had no official at bats in four plate appearances. He walked twice, hit a sacrifice fly for an RBI and was hit by a pitch.
~With the Trojans using the shift against Kjerstad, he laid down a perfect bunt for a single in the fourth inning.
~McKinley Moore, the junior who started for UALR, lasted only two innings and walked five, but flashed why he’s getting attention from pro scouts in the first inning. The 6-foot-6 right-hander hit 98 mph on the scoreboard radar gun on back-to-back pitches, striking out Fletcher and getting ahead 0-1 against Matt Goodheart.
~UALR first baseman James Gann - who leads the Trojans in home runs (seven) and RBIs (20) - played only one inning. He rolled his ankle while warming up before the bottom of the second inning, leading the Trojans to replace him with Nick Perez. He ended up going 2 for 5 with a two-run double.
BOX SCORE
SUBSCRIBE to HawgBeat and get access to exclusive prospect interviews, the best recruiting network in the industry, inside scoops on recruiting and team news, videos, podcasts and much more.
Join the discussion on THE TROUGH, the Arkansas Rivals premium message board for thousands of Hog fans.
