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Arkansas responded to last weekend with a redeeming performance, silencing No. 4 Texas Tech, 5-1, in front of 6,871 fans in Baum Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Razorbacks racked up 10 hits, but the real story was the arm of reliever Barrett Loseke. Loseke recorded the final 14 outs of the game, retiring 13 straight batters and striking out 10 in a little over four innings on the mound. Arkansas (29-13, 10-8) shut down the vaunted Red Raider offense, holding them to only 4 hits all game long.
Texas Tech (32-10, 10-5) could only muster 1 run on 4 hits from three different players. Freshman starter Ryan Sublette was hammered in his two and one-third on the mound, surrendering 5 runs on 7 hits. The Red Raiders were struck out a season-high 17 times and committed a whopping 4 errors en route to the defeat.
Here's how the Hogs took game one over Texas Tech:
THE WINNING INNNINGS
Texas Tech jumped on Jackson Rutledge from the very beginning, turning the first pitch of the game into a leadoff single by Gabe Holt. Josh Jung singled to left center, and Holt advanced to third base when Heston Kjerstad nonchalantly approached the ball. A four-pitch walk loaded the bases with two outs, but Rutledge struck out Cameron Warren, ending the top of the first and avoiding any damage.
The Razorbacks responded quickly, loading the bases themselves with no outs. Eric Cole led the inning off with a single. Kjerstad then reached on a fielder's choice, and Cole was safe at second on a throwing error. Luke Bonfield then walked to fill the bases. Dominic Fletcher landed a bloop single to right, scoring Cole from third. Jared Gates was hit by the pitch, bringing in another run. Finally, Jordan McFarland grounded into a double play but scored Bonfield in the process, making it 3-0 Arkansas.
Rutledge rolled through a perfect second then the Hogs started a two-out rally in the bottom half of the inning. Cole was hit by a pitch, followed by a Kjerstad single up the middle. Bonfield then singled off the shortstop's glove into left center, scoring Cole. Fletcher hit an RBI infield single to score Kjerstad and push the Hog lead to 5-0.
Brian Klein got a run back for the Red Raiders in the top of the third with an RBI single to right field, making it 5-1 Arkansas. Evan Lee took the mound with two outs in the inning and recorded a strikeout to end it.
Both teams took turns stranding runners for a few innings, including four straight innings leaving a runner on third by Arkansas. Barrett Loseke entered in relief with one out in the top of the fifth and induced an inning-ending double play. He then struck out the side in the sixth and retired the Red Raiders in order in the seventh and eighth, including 7 strikeouts.
Loseke stayed in the game in the top of the ninth and struck out the side, bring his total to 10 for the game, closing the door on Texas Tech, 5-1.
KEY QUOTES
Dave Van Horn on Tuesday night's performance:
"Obviously, just a tremendous job by our bullpen...It was great to see, something that we obviously needed. A good performance to save some arms in the pen for this weekend...Good for our team to get a win against a really good team."
Van Horn on Barrett Loseke's 10-strikeout night:
"He's a little deceptive, just the way he is, his motion. He was just spotting it up...Some pretty good changeups to a couple of those lefties...Just a three-pitch mix that had them off-balance a little bit."
Van Horn on the status of Casey Martin and Carson Shaddy:
"Casey...he could've gone today. I just figured we'd give him a little more time...There were a couple of spots we could've gotten him in...but we had a four-run lead...As far as Shaddy, he won't play tomorrow."
Grant Koch on what he saw from Loseke tonight:
"I told him after the game, that's probably the best I've ever seen him pitch...What set it apart was...his ability to make adjustments quickly on the fly...It was really good to see because I think he figured some stuff out tonight."
Evan Lee on tonight's win and how he felt:
"They're going to be ready tomorrow, so we need to be ready to repeat...I really had good fastball command on both sides...It was a really big bounce-back game for me...Coach Johnson really got on me last time out, I didn't have my best stuff."
STAT OF THE GAME
The aforementioned Loseke was stellar on the mound in relief. He entered in the top of the fifth and immediately induced an inning-ending double play. Loseke logged a career-high 10 strikeouts in his perfect four and two-thirds innings. Evan Lee was impressive as well, striking out four in one and two-thirds of hitless work.
Texas Tech's Josh Jung and Grant Little both entered tonight's contest hitting a team-leading .404. The two sluggers combined to go 1 for 8 with 3 strikeouts and 0 RBIs.
The Red Raiders committed an inexplicable 4 errors in tonight's contest - two throwing and two fielding. They also hit a measly 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Although the Razorbacks won, they struggled mightily as well in scoring scenarios. The Hogs hit 4 for 17 in RISP situations and stranded 13 runners.
WINNING PITCHER
WIN: Evan Lee (Arkansas): 1 2/3 IP (35 pitches), 0 H, 4 K's, 2 BB, 0 ER
SAVE: Barrett Loseke (Arkansas): 4 2/3 IP (52 pitches), 0 H, 10 K's, 0 BB, 0 ER
UP NEXT...
Arkansas and Texas Tech conclude their two-game series tomorrow, Wednesday, April 25 at 6:00 pm (CDT). The game will be televised on SEC Network.