Takeaways, box score from Game 4 of Arkansas' Fall World Series

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FAYETTEVILLE -- The Cardinal team slugged its way to a 10-2 victory Thursday afternoon, beating the White team to even the Fall World Series at two games apiece.

Junior right-hander Peyton Pallette returned to the mound, throwing to live hitters for the first time since sustaining an elbow injury May 21 against Florida. Opposite him, sophomore righty Heston Tole dazzled for four innings after a less smooth outing last week in Game 1.

As White ventured deeper into the bullpen, the game and its series lead began to slip away. Senior designated hitter Brady Slavens led the way for Cardinal, mashing a pair of home runs.

Sophomore center fielder Jace Bohrofen, graduate senior catcher Michael Turner and freshman right fielder Kendall Diggs contributed with two RBIs each, and every Cardinal hitter recorded at least one hit.

Sophomore third baseman Ethan Bates delivered a two-run single in the seventh inning for White, but it was no match for the late-inning Cardinal onslaught.

Thursday’s Game 4 went nine innings, whereas the previous three ended after seven. The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but a rainout forced its postponement and the cancelation of Friday’s Game 5.

With the Fall World Series in the books, here are some final takeaways...

Pallette Returns With Scoreless Inning

Pallette earned the starting nod from manager Bobby Wernes for Game 4, and he did what he needed to do: get through one inning.

He faced five batters, two of whom reached base — one via walk and one who was hit by a pitch. Pallette did, however, manage to work out of the jam effectively, inducing a pair of fly balls to center field to escape with a zero on the board.

His fastball lived in the mid-90s, consistent with his velocity during the 2021 season, and his offspeed pitches ranged anywhere between 80 and 89 miles per hour. More than four months removed from the injury, Pallette said he feels 100%.

“I felt, actually, really good,” Pallette said. “It felt good to get back out there and throw in the last scrimmage.”

Tole Cruises In Last Fall Appearance

Pallette’s counterpart, Tole, worked much more efficiently Thursday than he did in his first start of the Fall World Series. The right-hander faced the minimum 12 hitters in four scoreless frames, doing so on 57 pitches.

His first batter, the hot-hitting Peyton Stovall, singled to right field to lead off the game, but the Cardinal defense erased him on a fielder’s choice. Turner caught senior center fielder Braydon Webb trying to steal second, and Tole got junior second baseman Robert Moore to line out to center field.

He mowed down the next four hitters, including a pair of strikeouts, in order, before issuing a one-out walk in the third. Freshman shortstop Jude Putz hit a rope to second base, but freshman second baseman Reece McWilliams caught it and turned an easy double play.

Tole notched another perfect inning in the fourth, ending his afternoon with a hit, a walk, two strikeouts and — most importantly — a goose egg in the run column.

“The pitching staff as a whole has been great,” Pallette said. “I mean, we’re going to have a lot of depth, we’re going to have a lot of young guys that step up in big moments next year.”

Slavens Rakes

Slavens entered Thursday’s action 4 for 10 with three singles, a double and three fly ball outs to his name through three games. Having quietly assembled a nice stat line, Slavens made his presence known in Game 4, blasting two home runs and reaching base in five of his six plate appearances.

Slavens, coming off a late-season injury himself, said he has felt much more comfortable during the fall than he did during the 2021 postseason.

“I feel a lot better,” Slavens said. “It kind of felt like I was playing on one leg last year coming back, and I feel stronger this year and (my) ankle’s all healed up and everything.”

He did not record an official at-bat until the fifth inning, wearing a pitch in the first and watching ball four in the third. On his third trip to the plate, he swatted a laser beam of an opposite-field home run, leaving the bat at 101 miles per hour and at a launch angle of just 21 degrees.

“I was really, really patient today,” Slavens said. “Really patient early on. (I had a) couple walks, got hit, and then (opposing pitchers) threw a couple pitches in there that I didn’t miss today.”

After walking again in the seventh, Slavens belted another bomb with a 101 mph exit velocity. That one traveled 390 feet and landed atop the new ledge overlooking the right field bullpen.

“I think that was a big thing for me this fall,” Slavens said “Coming in to work on making the pitchers pitch to you and come to the zone, and I just felt really comfortable today, and sometimes you just have one of those days.

Slavens got one more crack in the ninth, launching a fastball to dead center field at 102 mph off the bat, but it died on the warning track, ruining his perfect day.

‘That Guy Can F***ing Play’

Jace Bohrofen caught the eye of Chris Kemp, the San Diego Padres’ director of amateur scouting.

“Any time you see a guy from Oklahoma transferring, you take notice, and he had a nice day at the plate,” Kemp said.

Kemp also mentioned Bohrofen’s stats from the 2021 Cape Cod League, in which he hit .279, including eight doubles, three triples, five homers and 19 RBI in 34 games for the Falmouth Commodores.

Bohrofen was only 1 for 5 Thursday, but he drove in a pair of runs and recorded some loud outs. He flied out to right field to get the game underway, hit a hard grounder into shallow right field that went down as a groundout to second base, lined out to left and struck out looking in his non-productive at-bats.

On the flip side, he opened the scoring with a line-drive sacrifice fly to center field, and ripped an RBI double to center at 106 mph off the bat.

“He’s always been good ever since he came here,” Slavens said. “He barrels up a lot of balls, plays good defense…he’s going to be a really special player here that I think the fan base is going to be really happy to see.”