Diamond Hogs drop final non-conference game in NLR
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — It was by no means a complete effort Tuesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park for the Arkansas Razorbacks, whom the Lipscomb Bisons afforded 12 free bases over the course of the four-hour affair.
The visitors held their hosts without a run between the second and seventh innings, as two hits, three walks and a hit batsman went unpunished. Three-spots on either side, however, were the recipe for a 6-6 deadlock, which the two teams carried into the 11th inning.
The last of reliever Austin Ledbetter’s four scoreless frames in the 10th was a welcome sight to the Bisons, who turned two Ben McLaughlin walks into an 8-6 lead. The Razorbacks could not overcome the deficit, dropping their 12th game of the season.
"Even if we would have won the game, we didn’t play good," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. "We didn’t play good at all. Really, in any phase of the game — we didn’t pitch good, we didn’t field good, we did not drive in runs. Defensively, we kicked a couple balls, made a bad throw. I mean, overall it was probably one of our worst games of the year, honestly."
Arkansas stranded 10 runners on the evening, mustering only one hit in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The lone knock belonged to second baseman Harold Coll — a two-out, 428-foot, three-run bomb to open the scoring in the first inning.
Fresh off his five-out save to clinch a sweep against Texas A&M on Saturday, left-hander Parker Coil earned his first start since March 14. The freshman retired six of the seven hitters he faced, turning a no-hitter over to righty Will McEntire to start the third.
McEntire retired the first two hitters he faced without issue, but leadoff man Caleb Ketchup proved problematic in his second trip to the plate. The Lipscomb shortstop jumped on the first pitch, sending it a solo home run to the left-center field power alley.
In the fourth, the Bisons watched eight pitches miss the strike zone and a beanball from right-hander Christian Foutch, who Van Horn hooked without recording an out for the third straight game.
Dating back to April 22, when the Razorbacks blew a four-run lead in the ninth inning at Georgia, 12 straight batters have reached against Foutch — six via walk, four with hits and two hit batsmen.
"Now you go to Mississippi State wondering if can put him in the game," Van Horn said. "It's a tough situation."
Left-hander Zack Morris inherited three runners, two of whom scored on fielder’s choices to tie the game. Despite an errant throw from third baseman Caleb Cali and shortstop John Bolton’s bobble that might have prevented a double play, the senior hurler settled down to strike out a pair of Bisons to keep the score level at three apiece.
Arkansas quickly put two runners aboard and forced a second pitching change in its half of the fourth. Leadoff man Kendall Diggs fouled out to the catcher with the bases loaded, and center fielder Jace Bohrofen watched strike three, ending the frame without a run.
After Morris’ second shutout frame, right-hander Ben Bybee took the bump in the sixth and promptly allowed the second Lipscomb hit of the game. Two walks sandwiched a bunt single to put the Bisons ahead 4-3 with no outs, prompting Van Horn to turn to righty Gage Wood.
Although the freshman flamethrower retired all three batters he faced, the frame did not end without a run-scoring wild pitch and a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3.
The Bison run count climbed to six unanswered, and the Razorback bats fell completely silent the third time through the order. After the top two hitters failed to capitalize with the bases loaded, two different relievers faced the minimum three in the fifth and sixth innings.
Bolton grounded out to lead off the seventh, completing the nine-up-nine-down stretch for Lipscomb. Bohrofen wore a 1-2 pitch with two outs to snap the streak at 10, but Cali flied out in a 3-1 count to cement a sixth straight zero in the run column.
McLaughlin, who began the game as the designated hitter, delivered a leadoff double in the eighth for his second hit of the night, and two free passes put a world of pressure on Bison lefty Matthew Bohnert.
With two outs, pinch hitter Brady Slavens stepped in against Bohnert, who threw a pair of wild pitches that allowed all three baserunners — including pinch runner Peyton Holt, who showed up to the park on crutches with a twisted ankle Saturday — to score.
"That got me going," Ledbetter said. "Coach (Matt) Hobbs came up to me and told me that if I give up a zero in the ninth that we’re going to win this game."
Ledbetter's third shutout inning was not enough, contrary to what his pitching coach told him, and the Razorbacks and Bisons headed to the 10th. The Bryant native tacked on a fourth zero for good measure, wrapping up a 55-pitch effort in which he allowed three hits, walked two batters and struck out one.
"This was his best outing," Van Horn said.
The effort was in vain, however, as the Hogs managed just two baserunners over the final three innings.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to resume SEC action at 6 p.m. Friday at Dudy Noble Field, where they will take on the 6-15 Mississippi State Bulldogs. That contest will stream live on SEC Network Plus, accessible through the ESPN app.
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