Hogs with 12th game, 4-0
Ryne Stanek and Cade Lynch combined to allow just three hits, while the Arkansas offense hit four solo home runs as the fourth-ranked Razorbacks defeated Binghamton, 4-0, on Friday afternoon at Baum Stadium.
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With the win, the Razorbacks improved to 12-2 on the season, while Binghamton dropped to 0-4.
The Razorbacks and Bearcats played the series opener in a tidy 1 hour and 58 minutes, marking the quickest game of Arkansas' 2012 season.
Stanek was outstanding on the mound en route to picking up his fourth win of the season in as many starts and his sixth consecutive win dating back to last season. The sophomore right hander tossed seven shutout innings, scattering two hits and striking out six. After allowing a one-out single in the first, Stanek retired 15 straight batters and did not allow his second hit of the game until the seventh inning.
Lynch closed the game by throwing two shutout innings, giving up just one hit and striking out three.
Binghamton starter Mike Augliera pitched well, but suffered his second loss of the season. Augliera allowed two runs on four hits and struck out four in six innings.
At the plate, Derrick Bleeker, Sam Bates and Jacob Morris each had solo homers to lead the Arkansas offense. Bleeker recorded his first career multi-homer game, hitting a pair of homers, while Bates and Morris each hit a solo homer. Bleeker became the first Razorback to hit more than one homer in a game since Kyle Robinson had a pair of round-trippers against Mississippi State on April 15, 2011. Bleeker and Morris hit back-to-back homers in the seventh, becoming the first Razorbacks to hit back-to-back homers since March 4, 2011, when Jarrod McKinney and Matt Vinson hit consecutive home runs against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Bleeker finished the game with a pair of hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Bates also added two hits with a RBI and a run scored, while Carver went 2-for-4. The pair of hits for Carver extended his hitting streak to a career-long tying 11 games and also extended his consecutive games reaching base streak to 14.
Dave Ciocchi, Mike Danaher and John Howell each had one hit to account for Binghamton's three singles on the day.
The Razorbacks struck first, scoring once in the bottom of the second. Bates led off the inning by hitting his fourth homer of the season, a solo blast just to the right of the scoreboard.
Arkansas added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning on Bleeker's first homer of the day, a one-out opposite field solo home run into the visitor's bullpen in left field.
Binghamton had its best scoring chance of the day in the top of the seventh, but timely defense by the Razorbacks kept the Bearcats off the scoreboard. Jake Thomas led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a single by Ciocchi. A groundout to first by Shaun McGraw moved each runner up a base. Jordan Smucker then hit a liner to center that was caught by Morris, who threw a bullet to home plate to throw out Thomas and end the threat.
Arkansas tacked on two more runs, both courtesy of solo homers, in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Bleeker belted his second homer of the day into the left field bullpen and Morris followed with a homer of his own, also into the Arkansas bullpen.
Lynch closed the door in the eighth and the ninth, allowing just one hit over the final two frames and striking out three.
Arkansas and Binghamton conclude the three-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1:05 p.m. Junior RHP DJ Baxendale will start the opener for Arkansas, while junior lefty Randall Fant will start the nightcap. Binghamton is scheduled to start junior right hander Jay Lynch in the opener of the twin bill and redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Jake Lambert in the second game.
Only Saturday single-game and season tickets will be honored for the doubleheader. Fans who purchased single-game tickets for Sunday's contest can exchange that ticket for another game (including Saturday's doubleheader) based on availability. Sunday season tickets are not eligible for exchange.