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Arkansas silenced Alabama’s bats for the second straight day to win a critical rubber match Sunday afternoon.
The trio of Lael Lockhart, Kevin Kopps and Jaxon Wiggins combined to allowed just one run on four hits and three walks to lead the Razorbacks to a 3-1 win over the Crimson Tide in a pitcher’s duel at Baum-Walker Stadium.
It was the second straight game Arkansas gave up only one run after losing to Alabama 16-1 on Friday night. The Razorbacks have now won 11 of their last 12 SEC home series.
“I’m just truly proud of the team because after what happened Friday, a little bit of an embarrassment, we all felt it,” Van Horn said. “Yesterday (we) pitched great, got a lot of clutch hits. Then really did the same thing today. It really says a lot about the character of our players - a lot of guys that know how to win and want to win.”
All three of Arkansas’ runs Sunday came with two outs.
Brady Slavens broke the scoreless tie with his team-leading sixth home run of the season, launching a two-out solo bomb in the fourth inning.
The Razorbacks got some much needed insurance in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and hitting from the left side, Casey Opitz beat the shift by poking a single the other way that just got under diving shortstop Jim Jarvis.
“I missed the fastball on the 1-1 count, so I just battled up and I was going to be aware of the curveball that he’s been throwing, but still stay on that heater,” Opitz said. “He threw me a backdoor curveball and I was able to get the barrel to it.”
Those two runs proved to be huge, as they gave Arkansas some wiggle room in the ninth.
Continuing to play the role of closer, freshman flame-thrower Jaxon Wiggins was called on in the ninth and finally gave up the first hit of his collegiate career.
After taking a pair of strikes to fall behind 0-2, Sam Praytor fouled off five straight pitches and worked the count full before hitting a leadoff home run to break up the shutout.
“The guy had a really good AB that hit the homer off him,” Opitz said. “He’s a veteran dude, he’s been around (and) just saw a lot of fastballs, saw a lot of pitches, got into a 3-2 count and knew a fastball was coming if you don’t want to walk the leadoff and did that with it.”
After Owen Diodati popped out, Caden Rose put together another nice at bat against Wiggins, fouling off three pitches before ultimately drawing a walk to bring the tying run to the plate with one out.
The big 6-foot-6 right-hander seemed to settle down following a mound visit by Opitz, shortstop Jalen Battles and second baseman Robert Moore, as he struck out Jim Jarvis and pinch hitter Will Patota to finish off the game and earn his third save of the season.
“I was really glad to see Wiggins fight through that,” Van Horn said. “It was good that we won the game, but at the same time, he had to deal with a little adversity and he handled it pretty well.”
Lockhart Solid Again
He didn’t get credit for the win because he pitched only 4 2/3 innings, but Lockhart was one again very good for the Razorbacks in a Game 3.
Although the Crimson Tide managed to get some runners on base against him, the left-hander didn’t allow any runs while notching a career-high nine strikeouts.
“He was locating his fastball away to the lefties, then he was throwing a really good breaking ball…to right-handers,” Van Horn said. “Just a lot of good spin there and locating that fastball in and away, stayed out of the middle of the plate and was ahead in the count.”
In what has become a staple of his outings, Lockhart was in trouble a couple of times only to work around it and strand runners on base.
A former Friday night starter at Houston before becoming a graduate transfer and ending up in Fayetteville, he had just one perfect inning Sunday.
