Arkansas lights up Longhorns in 13-4 victory
VIDEO: Postgame | Arkansas 13, Texas 4
More on Malik Chavis' commitment to Arkansas
Arkansas swept its former Southwest Conference foe in Baum Stadium on Wednesday, beating the Longhorns for the second straight day, this time 7-5.
The Razorbacks got off to a bit of a shaky start, giving up 2 runs without any hits in the first inning and only getting one inning out of starter Hunter Milligan. They settled down, though, recording 10 hits and Casey Martin's sixth home run of the year.
Texas starter, Nico O'Donnell, only surrendered 1 run on 3 hits in the first three innings, but was pulled after Arkansas figured him out in the fourth en route to a four-run inning. The Longhorns dropped to 9-9 on the season.
Here's how the Hogs swept Texas on Wednesday:
THE WINNING INNINGS
Hunter Milligan walked Texas' first two batters, setting up an RBI groundout by Zach Zubia. Milligan then threw a wild pitch, scoring another Longhorn run and making it 2-0 Texas without any hits.
Casey Martin continued his scorching start by hitting his sixth home run of the year, bringing Arkansas back within 2-1 in the second.
Martin came through again in the fourth, scoring Jordan McFarland on an RBI single. A bloop single to left from Evan Lee scored Dominic Fletcher and McFarland and put Arkansas ahead 4-2. The Razorbacks loaded the bases and scored another run when Eric Cole reached on a fielder's choice and Lee scored on a throwing error, pushing the deficit to 5-2.
Barrett Loseke gave up a single then a walk before allowing a run to score on an RBI double from Kody Clemens. After loading the bases, Van Horn pulled Loseke for Kole Ramage who forced a game-changing double play to get out of the inning without any more damage, leaving it at 5-3 Arkansas.
Recent success carried over for McFarland as he hit a two-out RBI double to center field, extending the Razorback lead to 6-3 in the seventh inning.
First baseman Ryan Reynolds brought in a run for the Longhorns in the eighth with an RBI single to center. Duke Ellis added another RBI single, closing it to 6-5 Arkansas. Cronin loaded the bases but avoided any further runs by striking out Texas' pinch hitter.
Cronin went on to retire the side in the top of the ninth, clinching the sweep and a 7-5 victory for the Diamond Hogs.
KEY QUOTES
Dave Van Horn on today's performance:
"Thought it was good to come out with a win. Didn't start out very good. We walked the first two, two of the fastest players in college baseball...We were hoping to get two innings out of Milligan, but he just didn't play well...Proud of our guys for hanging in there."
Van Horn on Casey Martin:
"We knew that he was going to be electric, it was just is he going to be this year, next year...He can beat you a lot of ways. You know, this last couple of weeks he's grabbed that third base position and said, that's mine...He can hit leadoff, he can hit three-hole, five-hole."
Van Horn on previewing Kentucky:
"Kentucky, just what we've seen on video and talking with other coaches...their lineup is really good. Top to bottom they can score. They do a lot of different things...they also have 30 home runs-plus as a team...Their Friday starter is 6'11...They're tough to beat."
Van Horn on sweeping Texas:
"We don't really play anyone that's burnt orange. I think some of our fans when they saw we played Texas, they got excited...A split would've been ok, but getting two wins was huge for us."
Hunter Wilson on the Texas rivalry:
"I really love it. You can't beat it. Texas is Texas, we're Arkansas...Had a good crowd. We were the better team and played hard."
Casey Martin on his hot streak:
"I mean, I just go out there and try to hit the ball. Just get good pitches, tee them up...I know there are other guys on the team that do that...I think that's the kind of team we are."
STAT OF THE GAME
Arkansas recorded two double plays on Wednesday. The Hogs have completed eight double plays in the last three games.
The Razorbacks held Texas to 1 for 9 hitting with two outs on the board. Conversely, Arkansas hit 5-10 in the same scenario. The Hogs brought in 4 of their 7 runs with 2 outs.
Both teams walked seven batters on the day and each club had a player that drew three walks by themselves - Jax Biggers for Arkansas and David Hamilton for Texas.
WINNING PITCHER
WIN: Caleb Bolden (Arkansas): 3.0 IP (39 pitches), 1 H, 3 K's, 2 BB, 0 ER
SAVE: Matt Cronin (Arkansas): 1 2/3 IP (20 pitches), 1 H, 2 K's, 0 BB, 0 ER
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Freshman Casey Martin continues to be a terror at the plate. He hit 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs and a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. Martin is hitting .431 for the year.
Jordan McFarland has been a recent spark for the Diamond Hogs, batting 2 for 3 with an RBI double in the seventh inning today. He's hitting .433 so far and has been a welcome addition to the lineup.
After a rocky start for Hunter Milligan, multiple Razorback relievers made winning plays. Kole Ramage executed a bases-loaded double play in the fifth inning that turned out to be the biggest momentum swing in the game. Matt Cronin also got out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout in the eighth inning. Caleb Bolden, Ramage and Cronin combined for 8 strikeouts and didn't give up a single run on 4 hits.
UP NEXT...
Top-5 Kentucky visits Fayetteville this weekend to open conference play. Arkansas will play Kentucky in a three-game weekend series at Baum Stadium. The first game is scheduled for Friday, March 16 at 6:30 pm (CST) on SEC Network+.
