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Arkansas piled on Bucknell from the first pitch with patient at-bats and a three-run bomb by Carson Shaddy, scoring 10 runs in the first two innings en route to a 14-2 victory in front of 3,619 fans at Baum Stadium Friday.
Bucknell's Connor Van Hoose threw 46 pitches in the first inning and was pulled in the second after walking four batters. The Bison were never able to overcome the early deficit.
The Hogs (1-0) recorded 12 hits on the day while Bucknell (0-1) failed to find any offense off of Blaine Knight, tallying only 3 hits (all after Knight left the game).
Here's how the Razorbacks won their 16th straight season opener under Dave Van Horn:
THE WINNING INNING
Freshman Heston Kjerstad started the damage in the first inning by scoring Jax Biggers with a base hit to right field. Biggers had opened the inning with a bunt single.
Bucknell's Preseason Conference Pitcher of the Year, Van Hoose, walked four of the next five batters to give Arkansas a 4-0 edge. After giving up another run on an RBI single by Luke Bonfield, Bucknell replaced Van Hoose with RHP Christian Tailor.
A wild pitch, sacrifice fly by Evan Lee and a three-run homer to right field by Shaddy blew things open, putting the Hogs up 10-0 in just two innings.
Bucknell scored 2 runs in the eighth inning, but Bryce Bonnin rallied to end the threat. The Hogs added a run in the fourth inning, two in the seventh and another in the eighth to seal the 14-2 victory.
KEY QUOTES
Dave Van Horn on dealing with colder weather:
"A little bit. You know it wasn't too bad. It was actually a lot better than we thought it was going to be...It's a little bit difficult to grip the ball when it's that cold, but I thought they handled it."
Van Horn on how he decided to to bring out of the bullpen:
"We just felt like if we were doing well, we wanted to get some of these young guys on the mound...Ramage and Bonnin. I thought they played really well."
Van Horn on Carson Shaddy batting ninth:
"I told him last week, don't really get uptight about where you are in the batting lineup. We feel like we've got nine good hitters in the lineup...We're going to wear down the pitcher."
Kjerstad on his first appearance as a Razorback:
"I had a lot of nervousness throughout that first at-bat...When I heard that cheer from the crowd, that's when it finally set in that I had done something here."
Knight on staying loose:
"That was really the toughest part about today. Having to throw and walk around. I had like three jackets on and a heat sleeve."
STAT OF THE GAME
Arkansas' starting 6-9 hitters (Lee, Koch, Gates, Shaddy) drew 10 of 15 total walks and recorded 6 RBIs on the day.
The Hogs' 14 runs were the most on opening day since 2001. Despite the huge offensive output, Arkansas stranded 16 runners throughout the game.
WINNING PITCHER
Blaine Knight (Arkansas): 5 IP (67 pitches), 0 H, 0 ER, 4 K's, 2 BB
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Redshirt senior Carson Shaddy put the exclamation point on an already monster lead with his three-run shot in the second inning. Shaddy finished 1 of 2 with a home run and 4 RBIs.
Freshman left fielder Heston Kjerstad had an impressive first game as well with 3 hits in his first three innings as a Razorback. He had an RBI single in the first and a double in the second, tallying 3 total hits, 3 runs, an HBP and that lone RBI for the game.
UP NEXT...
Arkansas faces Bucknell in the second game of the series Saturday at 11:32 a.m. The game will be televised on the SEC Network+.
