VLOG: Impressions from first day of 2018 spring drills
PHOTOS: 144 Pictures from First Day of Spring
HD VIDEO: 19 Minutes of Action Footage from Day 1
Observations from first day of spring drills
Notable Weight Changes on Arkansas' Updated Roster
Arkansas' youth showed up in a big way, allowing the Hogs to shut out Dayton 11-0 in front of 2,152 fans in Baum Stadium on Thursday.
The Razorbacks exclusively pitched freshmen in game two against Dayton and it certainly paid off. Hunter Milligan threw the first two innings, giving up two hits and striking out four. Bryce Bonnin entered in relief and put on a show, throwing five hitless innings and tossing 6 strikeouts on the way to the victory. The Hogs tacked on 11 hits, including home runs from Heston Kjerstad and Jared Gates.
For a second consecutive game, the Flyers never truly threatened Arkansas. Dayton failed to move a baserunner past second base until the top of the ninth inning. They hit 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight baserunners.
Here's how the Razorbacks swept Dayton on Thursday:
THE WINNING INNINGS
Arkansas managed only one baserunner through the first two innings, but Casey Martin, picking up where he left off yesterday, got the Razorbacks on the board first with an RBI single in the third. A sacrifice fly from Heston Kjerstad put the Hogs up 2-0 later that inning.
Jared Gates' solo shot to right field, his second home run of the season, increased Arkansas' lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth.
The freshman Kjerstad smoked a three-run laser (419 feet) over the bullpen in right field in the fifth inning, pushing the deficit to 6-0 Arkansas. Gates added his second RBI of the day, scoring Luke Bonfield on an RBI single to center to make it 7-0 Hogs.
After two pitching changes in the seventh inning, Eric Cole scored from second base on a wild pitch then Bonfield scored on another wild pitch immediately after, making it 9-0 Arkansas.
Carson Shaddy opened up the eighth inning with a triple to right, the sixth of his career, and was brought home by an RBI double from Casey Opitz. Freshman pitcher Kole Ramage stayed in to bat for himself and brought in the final run with an RBI single to left, leaving it at 11-0 Arkansas.
KEY QUOTES
Dave Van Horn on Heston Kjerstad's success at the plate:
"He was hitting the ball pretty good. He didn't like that submarine lefty, now, did he? He's been a tough out...If you make a mistake, he's shown what he can do with it."
Van Horn on Bryce Bonnin:
"I thought he was outstanding today...He showed me that he was under control...He acted like he had done before. Just showed a lot of poise out there and I gained a lot of confidence in him today."
Van Horn on the USC scouting report:
"We've got as much as we can. They're playing solid baseball. They do everything well...getting a lot of timely hitting. They've played a good schedule...They've seen teams like ours and it's going to be a really good series."
Casey Opitz on what it was like catching today:
"Easy. Pretty simple answer, but they all had feel for every one of their pitches, command of the zone. They dominated today...It's easy to be back there."
Bryce Bonnin on Kole Ramage's RBI single:
"That's awesome. We say it all the time, we're the athletes around here. It was good for him to show out for the pitchers...hitting ain't that hard, right?"
STAT OF THE GAME
Razorback freshmen accounted for 7 of 9 RBIs, 6 of 11 hits and every single pitching stat of the game today (13 strikeouts, 2 walks, 4 hits).
Dayton went through five more pitchers, bringing their total to 14 pitchers used in the two game series.
WINNING PITCHER
Bryce Bonnin (Arkansas): 5 IP (60 pitches), 0 H, 6 K's, 1 BB, 0 ER
PLAYER OF THE GAME
The winning pitcher, Bryce Bonnin, was the story of the day. In relief, he pitched five hitless innings and threw 6 strikeouts with only 1 walk on the day. Along with Bonnin, Hunter Milligan and Kole Ramage represented the freshman class well on Thursday. Ramage even added an RBI in his first collegiate at-bat.
Heston Kjerstad's three-run homer to left was his second of the season. The right fielder never even moved after the ball left Kjerstad's bat. He finished the game with 4 RBIs.
Jared Gates, refusing to let the upperclassmen be shut out, hit 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs, including a solo shot of his own.
UP NEXT...
Arkansas jumps straight into a three-game home series with USC this weekend. The first game is tomorrow, Friday, March 2. First pitch is set for 3:00 pm (CST) on SEC Network+.
