Franklin hits grand slam, Hogs jump all over 'Horns in Game 1
AUSTIN, Texas — Arkansas jumped all over Texas early and coasted to an easy win in the first game of the midweek series against its former SWC rival Tuesday night.
Christian Franklin’s grand slam was the highlight of a six-run second inning that carried the No. 10 Razorbacks to an 11-4 win over the No. 9 Longhorns at Disch-Falk Field.
For the longest time, it looked like Franklin just hit a deep fly ball that should drive in another run to give Arkansas a 2-0 lead, but left fielder Eric Kennedy kept backing up and the ball barely cleared the fence to make it 5-0.
“Off the bat, I was just thinking it’s a sacrifice fly and happy that I got some good barrel to it to get us another run,” Franklin said. “Then the left fielder just kept drifting back further and further, then it eventually went over the wall.”
A base running mistake nearly cost him the grand slam, though. Jacob Nesbit, who walked to load the bases, actually retreated to first base to attempt to tag up on what he thought was going to be a fly out. Franklin, meanwhile, kept running and came close to passing him on the base path, which would result in an out.
It was close enough that the umpires took another look at it on replay, but ultimately let the play stand. An umpire told Franklin later in the game that although his right foot went past Nesbit, his whole body had to pass him for it to be an out.
“I had a lot of anxiety,” Franklin said about the wait during the review. “Getting the relief of him coming out of the dugout and giving the home run sign was big for me.”
The Razorbacks had already scored on an infield single by Matt Goodheart and they weren’t done, either. Heston Kjerstad put the finishing touches on the inning with a 435-foot blast to center field that had a 109 mph exit velocity.
Head coach Dave Van Horn shook his head when asked about the home run and said he “crushed” the 1-0 pitch. It was just the third homer of the season.
“He’s been a little frustrated on the power numbers,” Van Horn said. “He’s been getting his hits, batting average has climbed a little bit, but at the same time, he hasn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark like he can. That was a big swing for us.”
Arkansas added another four runs in the third inning, with two on Nesbit’s first extra-base hit of the season - a double - and two more on a bloop single by Casey Martin. Trevor Ezell scored on a wild pitch in the third inning that put the Razorbacks up 11-0.
Coming off a series in which the offense produced only nine runs and hit .190, Van Horn was pleased with the outburst.
“I just thought our hitters did a tremendous job of battling,” Van Horn said. “We had a lot of 3-2 counts, took some walks, fouled off pitches and squared some balls up pretty good.”
The Razorbacks will try to complete the midweek sweep at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The game will be televised on the Longhorn Network and neither team has announced its starting pitcher.
However, Van Horn said that pretty much everyone on the staff would be available, except for maybe closer Matt Cronin unless a save situation arose. Several of the young pitchers might get an inning apiece in a bullpen-type game.
Wicklander’s Start
It would have been hard for Patrick Wicklander to replicate his last two starts - one hit and eight strikeouts in five shutout innings of both - but he was sharp early on.
He retired the first five batters he faced before a two-out single by Ryan Reynolds in the second inning. That snapped a stretch of 13 innings in which he hadn’t given up a hit that reached the outfield.
"Their starting pitcher was 90-94 and commanding the bottom of the zone," Texas head coach David Pearce said. "He’s one of the best Tuesday night guys we’ve ever faced for sure."
Texas got to Wicklander the second time through the order, though. Tate Shaw ripped a two-run double down the first base line that Ezell barely missed with two outs in the fourth. Then Caston Peter, a defensive replacement at catcher in the top half of the inning, crushed a 394-foot home run to cut Arkansas’ lead to seven.
“Wicklander was really good for the first couple of innings and then he just lost his command a little bit in the third and the fourth,” Van Horn said. “We would have liked to have gotten another inning or two from him, but he was getting behind in the counts and wasn’t able to land some pitches.”
Lance Ford, the Longhorns’ nine-hole hitter, was going to be the last batter he faced regardless and Van Horn said he was pleased to see him induce the inning-ending ground out.
Wicklander earned a no decision for allowing four earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out three in four innings. He threw 77 pitches and 44 of them were strikes.
Ramage in Relief
That left the door open for Kole Ramage, who has developed the reputation for coming out of the bullpen and earning wins - known as a “vulture” in baseball.
He did his part to earn it Tuesday night, retiring all nine batters he faced in three innings, killing any momentum Texas had after its four-run inning. Van Horn said he was throwing his fastball in the low-90s and mixed in his change-up, cutter and slider.
“They were getting a little aggressive because they were coming off that inning where Wick kind of got a couple hits off of him,” Ramage said. “So I just had to come in, tried to start them off with a little bit off speed just to kind of get them on their toes and just keep attacking to get them out.”
Dominic Fletcher made a sliding catch in center field and Martin made a spectacular play at shortstop to help him out, but the result was his team-leading fifth win, as he improved to 5-0 on the season.
“It just always happens where I come in, for some reason the starter hasn’t gone the minimum to get the win count,” Ramage said with a smile. “It’s kind of a running joke in the locker room right now saying that I kind of vulture everyone’s wins away from them.”
Other Tidbits
~There were several fans in red Arkansas gear sprinkled throughout a large crowd Tuesday night, with an announced attendance of 6,208.
~In addition to his nice sliding catch, Fletcher had one of his better days at the plate by going 2 for 4 with two doubles and a walk.
~With the aforementioned two-run double in the third inning, Nesbit extended his hitting streak to 10 games and on-base streak to 17 games. In fact, he has reached base in 19 of 20 games this season and the only time he failed to do so was the Eastern Illinois game in which he laid down two sacrifice bunts.
~Arkansas has now won five straight games in its series with Texas after not winning more than two in a row before the current streak. According to the Longhorns’ media guide, which dates back to the early 1900s, the teams have now played 111 times - with Texas leading the all-time series 74-37.
~The top of the first inning flew by, as Neely retired Arkansas in order on only five pitches. Martin flew out to center on the first pitch of the game and then Kjerstad and Ezell each took a strike before making outs.
~Although the Razorbacks aren’t limited to a 27-man roster for non-conference games, that is what they brought on this trip because they are heading straight to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for this weekend’s series. Other than starters Wicklander and Connor Noland, the other freshman pitchers who made the roster are right-handers Elijah Trest and Jacob Burton and left-handers Evan Taylor and Liam Henry.
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