FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks (10-1, 0-0 SEC) earned a 4-3 walk-off win against the Charlotte 49ers (4-6, 0-0 AAC) on Sunday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Starting junior left-handed pitcher Landon "Big Cheese" Beidelschies was excellent in 6.1 innings of work. The former Ohio State transfer ace struck out seven 49ers, walked one, allowed four hits and one earned run on 92 pitches.
Offensively, Arkansas outfielder Logan Maxwell and designated hitter Kuhio Aloy led the way with three and two hits, respectively. Both batters also recorded an RBI. The only starting Hogs that didn't collect a hit were Ryder Helfrick and Rocco Peppi, though the latter did record a sacrifice fly RBI.
As a team, Arkansas finished 13-for-34 at the plate (.382 AVG), 5-for-15 with runners on and 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The Razorbacks drew three walks and struck out eight times.
Thre pitchers combined for 2.2 innings of relief for Beidelschies, with the most impressive outing coming from left-hander Parker Coil. The junior recorded four strikeouts in 1.2 innings, including an immaculate inning in the top of the eighth.
Below are game highlights and a recap of scoring innings, big moments and more from Arkansas' win...
Unlike his counterparts in the first two games, Beidelschies kept Charlotte's offense from scratching across a first-inning run. Beidelschies set the 49ers down in order on only eight pitches and picked up his first strikeout.
Debuting in the leadoff spot for the Razorbacks was Thomas, and he capitalized with a single that bounced off the third base bag. Wehiwa Aloy held the honors of first out of the day via a three-pitch strikeout looking. Thomas was caught stealing at second base for the second out and Maxwell flied out to bring the first inning to a close.
Out for his second inning of work, Beidelschies set down his first batter with a perfect 2-2 slider. He got ahead of Noah Furcht, who has hit well all weekend, 0-2, but Beidelschies surrendered his first hit of the day through the left side of the infield. All was fine, though, as the southpaw drew a flyout and his third strikeout of the day to end the frame.
Charlotte right-hander Andrew Kribbs mixed well against Brent Iredale and struck out the Australia native with a tight slider. Then came the white-hot Kuhio Aloy up to the plate, and after getting ahead 3-1 in the count, he smoked a single up the middle of the infield.
In his first start of the weekend, Rocco Peppi swung and missed at a ladder-climbing fastball. Carson Boles, who was making his first start of the season, worked a full-count walk to give the Hogs two men on with two outs.
In true Dave Van Horn small-ball fashion, freshman infielder Gabe Fraser loaded the bases on a perfect bunt single. The fans at Baum-Walker Stadium capped their heads with their famous beer hats in anticipation of the powerful Ryder Helfrick, but his smoked line drive found the right fielder's glove for out No. 3.
Beidelschies continued controlling the pace of the game to start the third, and he worked his second 1-2-3 frame in efficient fashion. Back to the top of Arkansas' order, Thomas battled but fell after swinging through a curveball. Wehiwa Aloy bounced back in his second at-bat with a first-pitch oppo-single.
Maxwell singled to third base to bring up Iredale in an RBI situation, and the cleanup man struck out looking after an eight-pitch at-bat. In unsurprising fashion, Kuhio Aloy drove in Arkansas' first run of the game on a smoked single into right-center field. Following a Peppi foul out, the Hogs led 1-0.
Charlotte finally made Beidelschies sweat a bit in the fourth. The 49ers notched their first leadoff hit of the day on a tomahawk single and then picked up another single, this time with one out. The perspiration didn't last long, as Beidelschies escaped the danger with a flyout and popup. The Razorbacks went in order in their half of the fourth.
The 49ers went down in order again in the fifth to Beidelschies, who upped his strikeout total to five. For its second frame in a row, Arkansas' offense also went down in order.
Stop me if you've heard this before, but Beidelschies worked through another 1-2-3 frame in the sixth behind his sixth strikeout and two groundouts. Iredale finally broke up the monotony with a leadoff double off a jam shot to right field.
As a result, Charlotte made a pitching change to right-hander Ed Wagner, who had to face Kuhio Aloy. Aloy didn't get a hit, but made a productive out by moving Iredale over to third. Peppi took advantage with a sac-fly to right field that scored Iredale. Boles picked up his first hit of the day on a laced double down the left-field line, but he was stranded after Fraser grounded out.
Beidelschies' scoreless outing finally came to an end in the seventh, when he allowed a leadoff bomb to left field in a full count. The lefty bounced back with his seventh strikeout, but a one-out, four-pitch walk ended his day. In to replace Beidelschies was lefty Parker Coil.
Coil was strong in place of Beidelschies, as he forced a strikeout and a flyout to limit the damage.
In his third time up to bat, Helfrick walked in a full-count to bring Arkansas' top of the order around. Before Thomas could see his first pitch, Charlotte turned to bullpen lefty AJ Camp. Thomas successfully laid down a sac-bunt to move Helfrick to second base, and Helfrick moved to third thanks to a wild pitch.
After a funky swing by Aloy that resulted in his bat ending up in front of the pitcher, Helfrick scored after another wild pitch. Aloy ended up lining out, but Maxwell backed him up with a first-pitch single into right field. Ahead of facing Iredale, the 49ers handed the ball off to righty Adam Stanton, who drew a groundout from Iredale to shut the door.
In complete and utter dominant fashion, Coil struck out all three 49ers batters he faced in the eighth on just nine pitches to secure the immaculate inning.
Kuhio Aloy made contact to leadoff the bottom-half of the frame, but it met a glove for the out. Charles Davalan pinch-hit for Boles, and he immediately answered with a single past the third base bag. Reese Robinett was also given a pinch-hit opportunity, but he struck out looking to end the inning.
Right-handed flamethrower Christian Foutch came in to close the top of the ninth, but he allowed a leadoff single to kickstart Charlotte's offense. A hit-by-pitch in a 1-2 count gave the 49ers two men on with no outs, and both runners advanced after a wild pitch.
A lazy left-field single snuck through the infield to score a run, and Arkansas called upon veteran righty Will McEntire to get the Hogs out of the jam. Charlotte didn't wait very long to score again, as a fielder's choice RBI tied the game. However, McEntire erased the next two batters to push the game into the bottom of the ninth.
Needing just one run to win the game, Arkansas substituted Nolan Souza in the game for Fraser. After struggling in recent games, Souza led off with a clutch single to center field to get the rally going.
Helfrick worked a strong at-bat and walked to put the game-winning run in scoring position, and Charlotte called upon right-hander Trey Baker out of the bullpen.
Pinch-hitting for Thomas was Cam Kozeal, who singled to second base to load the bases. Wehiwa Aloy lined out to the third baseman, which wasn't enough to score the run from third. Charlotte made another pitching change, this time to lefty Chase Carson.
On the first pitch he saw, Maxwell singled to left center to walk the game off.
