Razorbacks make strong statement in Saturday stomping of Kentucky
Hogs cruise past Kentucky in conference opener, 9-4
VIDEO: Postgame | Arkansas 9, Kentucky 4
A combined 9,519 fans in Baum Stadium witnessed Arkansas (16-4, 3-0) announce itself as a national contender as the Razorbacks dominated No. 4 Kentucky (14-6, 0-3) in two straight games on Saturday, winning 14-2 and 16-9 en route to a sweep of the Wildcats and a 3-0 conference record.
In the first game of the day, the Razorbacks' hot hitting continued as the Hogs pummeled Kentucky, racking up 14 runs on 19 hits and 5 home runs by five different players. Starter Isaiah Campbell set new career marks in innings pitched and strikeouts by fanning eight batters and only giving up 1 run in eight innings on the bump. Wildcat starter Justin Lewis was finally pulled from the game in the fifth inning after surrendering 11 runs on 13 hits.
Game three saw more of the same as Arkansas put up 16 runs on 19 hits, including 5 more home runs. Carson Shaddy went 3 for 4 with 2 home runs, Jax Biggers hit 4 for 5 with his second homer of the day and Luke Bonfield was a triple short of the cycle. On three days rest, Kacey Murphy relieved Kole Ramage and got the victory after striking out five in a little over five innings of work.
Here's how the Razorbacks opened conference play 3-0:
THE WINNING INNINGS
GAME TWO:
After a solid top of the inning for Campbell, Arkansas' lineup picked up where it left off last night. Eric Cole, who hit a home run in the first inning of the first game, did it again today with a solo shot to dead center. Two hitters later, Luke Bonfield cranked a solo bomb over the right center wall to put Arkansas ahead 2-0 after one.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Razorbacks in the bottom of the second, and Heston Kjerstad scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 3-0.
In the third inning, Arkansas pummeled Kentucky's starter to the tune of 4 runs on 6 hits. Fletcher's RBI single to right field made it 4-0 then the freshman Kjerstad hit a three-run sky rocket into the Hog Pen in left to extend the lead to 7-0 in favor of the Hogs.
Kentucky got its first hit of the game on a solo home run from Kole Cottam, his second of the series, that made it 7-1 Hogs in the top of the fifth.
Arkansas answered with a big fifth inning, scoring 5 runs on 5 hits. Kentucky's right fielder couldn't make a diving catch, giving Shaddy an RBI single. Jax Biggers launched his first home run of the year, a three-run shot to right field, pushing Arkansas' lead to 11-1. The Razorbacks added a final run in the inning on an RBI single from Fletcher, leaving it at 12-1 Hogs.
Three Wildcats miscommunicated on a bloop single to left center from Biggers, allowing Shaddy to score and make it 13-1 Arkansas. The Razorbacks loaded the bases but failed to do any more damage when Bonfield grounded out to end the inning.
The Wildcats added a run in the top of the ninth, but Zebulon Vermillion closed things out, sealing the 14-2 win.
GAME THREE:
Arkansas didn't waste any time pouncing on the Cats again, plating 7 runs on 7 hits with five of them coming with two outs. Luke Bonfield's RBI double to right got the party started. Kjerstad followed that up with an RBI single. Grant Koch hit a two-RBI single to left center to make it 5-0. Carson Shaddy smashed a two-run bomb to right field for a 7-0 lead in the first inning.
Not to be outdone, Kentucky responded with 4 runs of their own in the top of the second behind two RBI doubles, an RBI single and an RBI sacrifice fly. Starter Kole Ramage was pulled after giving up 3 runs and was replaced by Kacey Murphy who surrendered an RBI double but ended the inning with the score at 7-4 Arkansas.
Luke Bonfield hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to give the Hogs an 8-4 lead.
Ben Aklinski later knocked out a two-run shot to bring the Wildcats back within two, 8-6. Aklinski stomped on home plate and jawed a bit at Grant Koch, but Koch just gave him a nod back.
Biggers hit his second homer of the day and season in the fifth inning, blasting a two-run laser to right field. Bonfield capped off the inning with an RBI single, increasing Arkansas' lead to 11-6.
As if they needed it, the Razorbacks scored 5 more runs in the seventh inning and took a 16-6 lead behind two home runs, an RBI double and an RBI sac fly. The two long bombs put Arkansas at 13 homers for the series.
Kentucky got 2 runs back in the eighth on two RBI singles, the second one happening because Dominic Fletcher whiffed on a routine single to center.
Arkansas loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth but couldn't quite convert as Dominic Fletcher flied out to deep right center field.
Evan Lee gave up two singles in the top of the ninth but struck out Luke Heyer to finish the game and cement the 16-9 victory.
KEY QUOTES
Dave Van Horn on Isaiah Campbell's performance in game two:
"We challenged him all week...and he took it...He came out and gave us a great outing. Gave us a chance to save our bullpen for the second game. Just proud of him...He gave us everything we needed."
Van Horn on Murphy in relief in game three:
"A lot of you don't know this, but Murphy was really sick today. I didn't think he was going to pitch...He did just enough...I appreciate his competitive and his toughness."
Van Horn on his team's hitting this weekend:
"Offensively, what can you say? We hit a lot of balls hard. We just kept pouring it on...We hit the ball out of the park the last few days pretty good...Kentucky was leading the league in pretty much everything. I think we stepped it up a little bit this weekend."
Van Horn on Eric Cole going 4 for 4 with 2 home runs and 2 singles in the first inning this series:
"He's pretty locked in. He was pretty good all of his at bats...that's a pretty good stat, that's a good one...You know, he didn't play all Fall, he didn't play all Summer. I think he was worried about his job. He couldn't wait to get back out here...Great watching him swing it."
Luke Bonfield on Isaiah Campbell's performance:
"Dominance. I mean, that's the Isaiah Campbell we know. That kind of set the pace for the whole day...As an offense, we kept being relentless and attacking."
Carson Shaddy on dominating Kentucky in both games:
"I think you just credit that to the team toughness. Everybody smelled blood today...We wanted to make a statement. We wanted to show the fans that we are really good and can swing the bat."
Luke Bonfield on if Hunter Wilson's hand is hurting from all the home run celebrations:
"I think he really likes doing it, and he likes touching all our butts. So I think he's happy doing it."
STAT OF THE GAME
GAME TWO:
For the second straight game, Arkansas doubled the amount of runs Kentucky's starter had given up coming into the series. Lewis entered the contest with 11 earned runs surrendered on the year and gave up exactly that many in a little over four innings of work.
Every single Razorback starter recorded a hit for the second game in a row, as well, hitting .442 with 5 home runs on the day.
Coming into the contest, the most runs the Wildcats had given up in a game was 8, but Arkansas eclipsed that for the second consecutive game, scoring 9 last night and 14 in game two today.
GAME THREE:
With the 16 runs in game three, Arkansas tallied 39 runs in the Kentucky series which is the most in a conference opening series in school history and the most in any SEC series since 1997.
The Razorbacks knocked out 5 home runs in the third game, totaling 13 for the entire series. Eight different Hogs hit the ball out of the park. Arkansas now has 39 homers on the year.
For the third game in a row, all of Arkansas' starters got a hit as the Hogs went 19 for 40 on the night.
WINNING PITCHER
GAME TWO:
Isaiah Campbell (Arkansas): 8.0 IP (108 pitches), 3 H, 8 K's, 4 BB, 1 ER
GAME THREE:
Kacey Murphy (Arkansas): 5 1/3 IP (99 pitches), 7 H, 5 K's, 0 BB, 2 ER
UP NEXT...
Arkansas hits the road to North Carolina to battle Charlotte in a two-game midweek series starting Tuesday, March 20. Game one on Tuesday is set for 6:05 pm (CST), and the second game will be 3:00 pm (CST) on Wednesday, March 21. There's no television for the first game, but game two can be seen on Cox Sports Television.