Hogs run-rule Western Illinois, Denton gets win in 1st start

FAYETTEVILLE — The player formerly known as Angus got the Razorbacks off on the right foot Wednesday and they cruised from there.

Redshirt sophomore Marshall Denton, a right-handed side-armer, threw three scoreless innings in his first career start, which Arkansas won 11-1 in eight innings to complete the two-game midweek sweep.

“I thought that Marshall Denton did a great job getting us off to a good start on a windy day,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “He didn’t give them anything, no walks, just kept throwing strikes and we fielded the ball and got back in the dugout.”

The Fighting Leathernecks managed a couple of hits off him, but one was erased by a double play and the other came with two outs. Denton also struck out three batters, doubling his season total coming into the game.

When Van Horn broke the news to him Tuesday about his impending start, the Beebe, Ark., native was excited to make his first start since high school and didn’t disappoint. He needed only 36 pitches to get through three innings and threw 26 strikes.

“It felt good to get out there and do it,” Denton said. “I feel like I did pretty good. I threw a lot of strikes and that’s what I needed to do today.”

Denton said he mostly threw fastballs and sliders, inducing five ground balls - including the one double play - and getting his other outs via strikeouts.

However, there was one question looming over all others: Why the switch from going by Angus, his middle name, to Marshall, his first name?

With a smile, he said he changed it during his time playing with the Conejo Oaks of the California Collegiate Summer League.

“I just thought about it for a while and was like, ‘I’ve been going by Angus for a long time and I never really asked myself if that’s what I wanted to go by,’” Denton said. “I guess I’m just going to go by Marshall now.”

In his first start as “Marshall,” Denton improved Arkansas to 14-2 going into its SEC-opening series against Missouri that begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday. It will be streamed on SEC Network-plus, meaning it can be watched on ESPN3.com or the WatchESPN app.

Offense Gets Going

The Razorbacks scratched across one run in the second, third and fourth innings before finally putting together a big inning against Western Illinois in the fifth.

After a squeeze bunt by Curtis Washington Jr. made it 4-0, Casey Martin drove in another run on an infield single and Trevor Ezell hit an RBI double. A wild pitch capped the scoring.

In the seventh inning, Dominic Fletcher lined a double over the center fielder’s head to drive in two runs and then Arkansas got the winning runs on pinch-hit RBI singles by Trey Harris and Matt Goodheart.

“It was good to…just to get those two guys in the game, get them at bats and bring them off the bench cold to see how the respond because it hasn’t gone great with our pinch hitting,” Van Horn said. “Those two guys both singled, so hopefully the can sleep on that and gain a little bit of confidence with it.”

Freshman Arms

As expected, Van Horn used three freshmen relievers Wednesday.

Left-hander Evan Taylor was the first out of the pen and threw two scoreless innings. He issued Arkansas’ lone walk of the game, but struck out four.

After him, right-hander Elijah Trest made his second appearance of the season and hit the first batter he faced, gave up a couple of singles - including an RBI single to Bailey Montgomery - and then got a double play to end the inning.

Arkansas brought in left-hander Liam Henry to face the Leathernecks’ left-handed leadoff man and he struck him out to end the eighth.

“Trest hits a batter with the very first pitch he throws, so that was a little disappointing…but then he got the double play ball, which is good to see,” Van Horn said. “Obviously he wasn’t as sharp as he was his first outing, but I think it’s good to get those guys out there and just get them some work.”

Other Tidbits

~Rain fell in Fayetteville up until about an hour before the originally scheduled 3 p.m. first pitch, leading to a 15-minute delayed start. The sun actually came out for the game, but there still weren’t too many fans at the midweek afternoon game. The paid attendance was 6,869, but the “tickets scanned” number was just 905.

~After going 5 for 8 (.625) in nine appearances off the bench, freshman Curtis Washington Jr. made the first start of his career Wednesday. The West Memphis, Ark., native got off to a rough start with two strikeouts, but then laid down a squeeze bunt for his first RBI and drew a walk in his next two plate appearances. His day ended with another strikeout on which he swung at a pitch out of the zone.

~Western Illinois’ first hit of the game was a leadoff single up the middle by Alex Dorethy - Tuesday’s starting pitcher and Wednesday’s designated hitter - in the second inning. It was the Fighting Leathernecks’ first hit into the outfield since the sixth inning of their game Sunday, a span of 13 2/3 innings. The only hit during that stretch was an infield single on Tuesday.

~The third pitcher out of Western Illinois’ bullpen was junior Jackson Gray. The left-handed side-armer had a tattoo on his right forearm that said, “Live life like an 0-2 count.” Of the eight batters he faced, Gray got ahead 0-2 against only one of them.

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