Hogs crush UAPB in midweek matchup

FAYETTEVILLE — The right field bullpen at Baum-Walker Stadium was not a fun place to be Tuesday night. While UAPB’s relievers were waiting to face the gauntlet of Arkansas’ lineup, they were dodging home runs.

Despite a strong wind blowing in from right, the Razorbacks sent three long balls - one each by Dominic Fletcher, Jack Kenley and Casey Martin - out there in a 16-4 blowout win over the Golden Lions that ended in seven innings with an agreed-upon mercy rule.

“Just proud of the way the guys bounced back and played tonight,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “We had such an emotional weekend and an emotional game on Sunday…so you just don’t know where the mind is going to be.”

It didn’t take long for Arkansas to prove its mind was in the right place, as its first five batters reached base and eventually scored in the first inning.

That would have been enough scoring because the Razorbacks’ pitching limited the Golden Lions’ to only four runs, but they tacked on another three in the second and four more in the third and fifth innings.

“They were just better than we were,” UAPB head coach Carlos James said. “That’s pretty much the way it is. Sometimes that is both the simple answer and the correct one. There is no other answer that I can really give.”

The last time Arkansas faced a team from the SWAC, it needed four runs in the eighth inning to beat Grambling 8-7 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

Much like the Tigers in that game, UAPB came entered the evening with one of the worst team ERAs in the country at 9.79. To avoid a similar result, Van Horn made sure to address the difference in pitching his team would face as they shifted gears for the midweek matchup.

“We knew the velocity wouldn’t be what we had been seeing,” Van Horn said. “We had been seeing 92 to 97 (mph) all weekend at Vanderbilt and this was going to be a lot different, so we just really talked about staying through the middle and taking it the other way.”

That approach worked to perfection, highlighted by Martin’s three-run opposite-field home run in the fifth that capped the Razorbacks’ scoring.

Although neither went the other way, Dominic Fletcher also hit a towering three-run homer in the third and Jack Kenley led off the fifth with a line drive that cut through the wind to clear the wall.

Those were three of 16 hits by the Razorbacks, leading to a season-high 16 runs. That comes on the heels of a 22-hit, 14-run performance at Vanderbilt on Sunday, giving them 30 runs on 38 hits in their last 15 innings.

“The guys didn’t want to let each other down, they kept fighting and we had 22 hits on Sunday and another 16 today,” Van Horn said. “That’s hard to do and I think the offense is clicking a little bit now and it’s going to need to with the team that’s rolling in here on Thursday.”

The team Van Horn referenced is No. 2 Mississippi State, which begins a three-game series with the Razorbacks at Baum-Walker Stadium at 8 p.m. Thursday. Game 1 will be televised on ESPNU.

Natural State Series

Although it produced a similar result, Tuesday was not a typical midweek matchup with a SWAC opponent.

It was the second game in the first ever Natural State Series, which features the Razorbacks playing in-state schools in the University of Arkansas system. UALR pulled the upset in the first one, winning 17-7 in Fayetteville two weeks ago.

Despite his team coming up on the wrong end of a blowout, James was thrilled to get to play Arkansas because it is good for the state.

“Now Arkansas is not looked at as the villain,” James said. “Everybody used to go, ‘They don’t want to play anybody in-state, they want to keep all the money for themselves, but now by playing everybody, I will root for them.’ There is now a mutual respect.”

This is the first season that the Razorbacks have been allowed to play in-state schools. Athletics director Hunter Yurachek lifted the decades-long ban during his first year on the job.

One of the main arguments against those type of games happening has been that the state can’t support more than one school, either from a fan perspective or athlete perspective. James doesn’t buy that excuse and doesn’t think the series will hurt the Razorbacks in recruiting at all.

“It is one of those things that you always want to play against your peers in state no matter what,” James said. “Just like I reiterated over the past few weeks, there is a definite pecking order in the state and we understand that, we as coaches get it.

“If I am out there recruiting and Van Horn shows up to see a kid that can play in the SEC, he is not going to choose UAPB over Arkansas. That is just not going to happen.”

Arkansas will likely play road games at UALR and UAPB in the near future as part of the Natural State Series.

Goodheart Better than Good

Ever since getting a new contacts prescription before SEC play, designated hitter Matt Goodheart has been Arkansas’ best hitter. Against UAPB, he reached base all five times he went to the plate, going 2 for 2 with two singles and three walks. He also scored three times and had one RBI.

That performance raised Goodheart’s season batting average to .404, which is by far the best on the team this year and would rank fourth on the UA’s single-season chart.

“I can’t expect anybody to hit .400,” Van Horn said. “I mean, I didn’t expect these numbers. … I thought he could hit, though.”

A lot has been made about his contacts, but another key to his turnaround - hitting .479 (34 for 71) after a 6-for-28 (.214) start - has been his approach.

“He’s fouled off a lot of pitches and works to get one he can handle a little bit,” Van Horn said. “Going the other way, up the middle, if he gets a pitch in, he’s pulled them. He’s a mature hitter doing a great job.”

That has in turn helped reduce his strikeouts and increase his walks. After drawing three Tuesday, he now has 18 walks and 19 strikeouts. Since his turnaround, though, he has 16 walks to only 10 strikeouts.

“It just seems like he’s clicking a little bit and I love the way he’s patient,” Van Horn said. “He’ll take a walk and his on-base percentage is through the roof right now. It’s because he’s been patient and that also leads to walks and getting better pitches to hit.”

Noland’s Start

It wasn’t exactly conventional, but Connor Noland finally earned his first collegiate win Tuesday night.

Starting a midweek game for the first time, the freshman right-hander threw two scoreless innings before coming out of the game. He might have gone three innings had the Razorbacks not spent so much time at the plate the previous inning.

Rules typically require a starting pitcher to throw at least five, but he was on a pitch count and the win was awarded on the scorer’s discretion.

“The inning took awhile, so we just decided not to send Connor back out,” Van Horn said. “We were thinking maybe three (innings) and then decided two is enough. He had sat for a long time and we had an 8-0 lead.”

Noland needed just eight pitches to retire UAPB in order to start the game and then gave up a couple of singles in the second inning before Zack Plunkett threw out Larry Sims on the front end of a double-steal attempt to end the threat.

Of the 23 pitches he threw, 15 of them were strikes. Noland’s final line included two strikeouts and no walks.

“He was anywhere from 88 to 91 (mph) on our equipment and had a little sink on his fastball and threw a couple of pretty good breaking balls and really didn’t nibble,” Van Horn said. “He attacked and that was good to see, pitching ahead.”

After spending the first nine weeks of the season in the weekend rotation, Noland will be in the bullpen against Mississippi State. Van Horn said he would be available for Saturday’s game.

Other Tidbits

~The paid attendance for Tuesday’s game was 7,805, while the “tickets scanned” number was 3,097.

~It didn’t take long for Heston Kjerstad and Goodheart to extend their hitting streaks to 10 games. Kjerstad doubled in his first appearances and then Goodheart - after walking in the first - hit a single in the second inning.

~After the hit by Goodheart, an odd situation unfolded when UAPB head coach Carlos James visited the mound to talk to his starting pitcher. It seemed like the Golden Lions were making a pitching change, as reliever Race Tittle jogged all the way from the bullpen to the mound, but he was eventually sent back. He didn’t enter the game until after another four batters.

~With hitting coach Nate Thompson attending his father’s funeral in Kansas, volunteer assistant Taylor Smart moved from the first to third base coaching box when Arkansas was hitting and student assistant Jared Gates - who played for the Razorbacks in 2017 and 2018 - handled the first base coaching duties.

~Pine Bluff native Torii Hunter, a five-time MLB All-Star and nine-time Gold Glove winner, was in attendance for Tuesday’s game. The former Arkansas signee has donated a lot of money used for facilities at both programs, including the Razorbacks’ indoor practice field and the Golden Lions’ baseball stadium.

~Arkansas and UAPB also played a softball game Tuesday night, with the Razorbacks winning 10-0 in a five-inning run rule.

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.