Hogs win series opener in shutout fashion again

FAYETTEVILLE — When the rain finally cleared, Arkansas did just enough at the plate to complement another fantastic pitching performance Friday night.

The Razorbacks scratched across a run in the second inning and added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth to beat Georgia 3-0 in front of their largest crowd of the season at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The official attendance was 7,645, as COVID-19 restrictions were loosened and capacity was increased, and those who waited out the 1.5-hour rain delay before the game were treated to a classic SEC series-opener.

It wasn’t until Robert Moore’s blooper fell in center field with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning that Arkansas had any type of breathing room.

Even that didn’t come easy, though. The star sophomore actually fell behind 0-2 and had to fight off a couple of foul balls before finally hitting Collin Caldwell’s 2-2 pitch. Luckily for the Razorbacks, it found grass and drove in two to make it 3-0.

“I just trusted the approach and was able to foul off some good pitches,” Moore said. “I didn't hit it hard, but I was able to stay through one and stay up the middle with a breaking ball and good things happened."

Head coach Dave Van Horn described it as an “outstanding” at bat, especially considering it featured a length mound visit between Caldwell and catcher Fernando Gonzalez.

“It was just a clutch at bat and a big part of the game,” Van Horn said. “We knew it was going to be a fight in the ninth. To score two more runs was huge for us.”

Moore was also part of the Razorbacks’ first run of the game. He smoked a one-out double into left field in the second inning and then scored when Casey Opitz followed with a hard-hit double down the left field line.

The back-to-back doubles proved to be the last hits Georgia starter Liam Sullivan allowed in his six innings of work.

“We were trying to get a pitch we could handle and luckily it was low,” Moore said. “When he was throwing fastballs up, they were taking off on guys. With the angle and late life the guy had, it was just hard to hit, so we got a ball lower in the zone and were able to get the barrel out and find a hole."

Wicklander Awesome Again

With its ace on the mound, that was plenty of scoring for Arkansas. Although he wasn’t quite as efficient as his last couple of starts, Patrick Wicklander still turned in 5 2/3 scoreless innings Friday.

The left-hander worked around five hits - including four leadoff singles - and had a career-high nine strikeouts, surpassing his previous high of eight against Auburn earlier this season.

His 96th pitch of the night was hit by Connor Tate for a two-out double in the sixth, which led Van Horn to make a pitching change. Tate moved to third on a wild pitch, but Caden Monke stranded him by striking out Corey Collins to preserve Wicklander’s scoreless outing.

“I thought Patrick Wicklander came out and did a really good job,” Van Horn said. “I think he would probably say he didn’t have the command that he’s had but he was still really good, hard to hit.”