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Published Apr 17, 2021
Hogs sweep doubleheader with blowout, walk-off wins vs. A&M
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Andrew Hutchinson  •  HawgBeat
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HawgBeat's coverage of the Diamond Hogs' Road to Omaha is brought to you by CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers, which has locations in Fayetteville and Russellville.

Arkansas played two drastically different games Saturday, but they both had the same result.

After jumping on Texas A&M early and cruising to a 13-0 win in Game 1, the Razorbacks won the nightcap in dramatic fashion, escaping with a 2-1 victory in 10 innings at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Not only do the wins ensure a series win over the Aggies, but they also improved Arkansas to 30-5 on the season. It’s the quickest it has reached the 30-win mark (35 games) since the 1989 season.

“When you’re winning games, a lot of times…you just find ways to win,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “We’ve done that throughout the season. We’ve played 35 games already and we’ve won a bunch of games different ways. … But one-run game, 10-run game, man, it feels good to win.”

The story of the day was a dominant showing by Arkansas’ pitching staff. Five different Razorbacks - including starters Patrick Wicklander and Peyton Pallette - combined to allow just one earned run on eight hits and five walks in 19 innings.

That lowered the Razorbacks’ team ERA from 4.25 - which ranked 11th in the SEC entering the day - to 4.02. They also combined for 26 strikeouts in the two games.

“They made A&M earn everything they got,” Van Horn said. “There were just a few walks in each game, a lot of strikeouts. When they did put the bat on the ball, we seemed to take care of it pretty good. That’s what you want from your pitchers.”

Here’s a quick recap of each game…

Game 1: Arkansas 13, Texas A&M 0

It didn’t take long for Arkansas to jump all over left-hander Dustin Saenz. The first four Razorbacks reached base, capped by a two-run double by Brady Slavens.

Had Cayden Wallace not been thrown out trying to score from first on the play, it might have been an even bigger inning. Instead, the Razorbacks had to wait until the second inning to score another three runs, with Matt Goodheart hitting a solo home run and Slavens launching a two-run bomb.

When he was finally removed from the game, Saenz had allowed six earned runs on six hits and four walks while striking out just two.

“It was really good to see because their lefty that started, he got after us pretty good a couple years ago,” Van Horn said. “We did a good job of making him throw strikes and he made some mistakes, we got him.”

Arkansas ended up tacking on another seven runs against the Aggies’ bullpen, highlighted by a two-run double by Wallace and two-run home run by Robert Moore.

On the mound, Wicklander turned in what Van Horn described as his outing all season. He was efficient in four no-hit innings to start the game before giving up a one-out double in the fifth.

That signified the beginning of the end for the left-hander, as he ended up issuing a couple of walks to load the bases. Wicklander was pulled after 4 2/3 innings, meaning he was one out shy of getting the decision, but it proved to be a good move by Arkansas.

Inheriting a bases-loaded jam, left-handed reliever Caden Monke struck out Bryce Blaum to keep the Aggies scoreless. He ended up allowing only two base runners - one hit and one walk - while striking out five in a career-high 3 1/3 innings.

True freshman Heston Tole, who had looked good in two midweek outings, got his first SEC action Saturday, throwing a scoreless ninth inning to finish off the 13-0 victory.

Game 2: Arkansas 2, Texas A&M 1 (10 innings)

After taking the first game with relative ease, Arkansas found itself in a nail-biter in Game 2.

Thanks to back-to-back singles by Moore and Goodheart, the Razorbacks had runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the 10th when Wallace grounded into what looked like a double play.

However, the freshman used his speed to hustle down the line and second baseman Ty Coleman rushed his throw to first. It was in the dirt and got by first baseman Will Frizzell, allowing Moore to score the game-winning run.

“They knew how fast he was,” Van Horn said. “Obviously he got out front a little bit on that ground ball to short, so his momentum was already taking him toward first base and he was flying. I think the second baseman knew that he had to hurry.”

It was a wild finish to a game that didn’t feature much offense. Goodheart got things started with a solo home run - his second of the day - in the first inning, but then Bryce Miller settled in and didn’t give up any more runs in his six innings of work.

As good as he was, Pallette was even better for the Razorbacks. The right-hander scattered three hits across a career-high six innings while striking out seven. He did so on an efficient 73 pitches, too.

Clinging to a 1-0 lead heading into the seventh, Van Horn decided to bring in ace bullpen arm Kevin Kopps for what he hoped would be a three-inning save.

However, the right-hander hung an 0-2 pitch to the first batter he faced and Brett Minnich launched his first home run of the game to tie it up 1-1.

“If it had been a 2-2 count, or 2 balls and 1 strike, or 3-1, you kind of just tip your cap, but it was an 0-2 count,” Van Horn said. “The ball was supposed to be down, but he left it up and he put a good swing on it and drove it out of the park.”

After giving up the long ball, though, Kopps locked in. He wasn’t as sharp as what Arkansas has come to expect, but he still went four innings and allowed only the one run while throwing a season-high 72 pitches.

Kopps got a double play to end the eighth and stranded the potential winning run on third base in the ninth before working a perfect 10th, which Van Horn said would have been his final inning had Arkansas not won in the bottom half of the frame.

“Kevin being a veteran, he handled it,” Van Horn said. “He didn’t let it rattle him too much. He got us back in the dugout tied up and kept getting through it. Kevin didn’t have his best stuff tonight…but he had just enough.”

That gave the Razorbacks a chance to win it in walk-off fashion, which they did with the aforementioned error. Despite winning the first game by a large margin, Van Horn said he expected a game like that in the nightcap.

“We knew the second game was going to be tight,” Van Horn said. “Whenever you do that and you score that many runs against a good team that can pitch, you just know it's going to be 3-2, 2-1 and that's what we got.”

Up Next

The Razorbacks will try to complete their first SEC home sweep of the season when they play Texas A&M again at 2 p.m. CT Sunday. The game will be streamed on SEC Network-Plus.

Left-hander Lael Lockhart (1-1, 4.24 ERA) is scheduled to start for Arkansas, while the Aggies will counter with right-hander Nathan Dettmer (3-1, 2.43 ERA).

BOX SCORES

POSTGAME INTERVIEW

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HIGHLIGHTS

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