LITTLE ROCK — Earth is still spinning on its axis after Arkansas willingly played an in-state school for the first time in several decades Friday night.
In somewhat of an appetizer for a pair of regular-season games in 2019, the Razorbacks traveled to Little Rock and beat UALR 16-3 in a 14-inning scrimmage at a packed Gary Hogan Field.
Arkansas struck early and often, building an 11-2 lead in the first nine innings and adding another five runs in the agreed upon five extra innings.
The Trojans quickly sold out their 1,400 tickets for the game, which could be the first of several matchups across all sports between Arkansas and fellow UA system schools UALR and UAPB. Hunter Yurachek, the Razorbacks’ new athletics director, made it possible by reversing the schools longstanding policy against playing in-state programs.
Friday’s scrimmage was also the result of an earlier date with Oklahoma being cancelled because of bad weather. When he realized his team wasn’t going to be able to make up the scrimmage with the Sooners, head coach Dave Van Horn got on the phone with his former assistant, Chris Curry, to set up the in-state showdown.
“I think it’s great for everybody involved,” Van Horn said. “We get to come to Little Rock and play in front of a lot of the kids on our team’s parents and some of the local kids get to watch us play or get to see UALR play and they don’t have to go very far. I just think it’s good for baseball as a whole in the state.”
Here are a few observations and takeaways from the scrimmage…
Campbell’s Start
Just as he likely will all season, Isaiah Campbell got the starting nod again Friday night. He wasn’t feeling well, which led to him not being quite as dominant as he was against Wichita State. However, he battled through it and still threw three scoreless innings.
The biggest moment of the night for Arkansas’ ace came in his final inning. He hit the first batter and then issued a walk before Eldrige Figueroa laid down a bunt.
Campbell and third baseman Jack Kenley collided on the play and everyone was safe on what was ruled a bunt single, loading the bases with no outs. The redshirt junior right-hander responded by striking out the next two batters and getting Garrett Scott to ground out to escape the jam unscathed.
“That was big for him,” Van Horn said. “He didn’t have his best stuff, but the bases-loaded jam with no outs, for him to get out of that was really good for his confidence and it was good for us to see.”
It is the second time in as many appearances that Campbell has loaded the bases and gotten out of it fine. He also did it in the first inning against the Shockers, but with two outs, and ended that threat with a strikeout. That means he’s had four bases-loaded at bats in scrimmages and struck out three of them.
In the two games, Campbell allowed just one earned run on seven hits and two walks, while striking out 11 in seven innings. He threw a total of 111 pitches, 73 of which were strikes.
Van Horn said Friday was his final appearances of the fall and that he wouldn’t pitch in next week’s Fall World Series.
Aggressive on the Base Paths
With several of Arkansas’ biggest bats from its national runner-up finish last season now playing professional baseball, Van Horn said he expected his 2019 squad to be more active and aggressive on the base paths - a point of emphasis all fall - in order to manufacture some runs.
“Last year, we just kind of gripped it and ripped it, hit a bunch of home runs,” Van Horn said. “We’ll hit 50, 60, 70 this year, but we’re not going to sit back and wait on it. We just try to take advantage of what we see.”
That was on full display Friday night. Five different Razorbacks combined to steal six bases and none were by last year’s leader Casey Martin.
In addition to the stolen bases, the Razorbacks also perfectly executed a hit-and-run in the second inning, tagged up to third on a sacrifice fly to center, went first-to-third on a single and - on one occasion by Curtis Washington - took two bases on a passed ball.
That aggressiveness directly led to five of Arkansas’ first six runs of the game.
“We were running a little wild, and we probably wouldn’t do that all the time, but this is practice to me,” Van Horn said. “We’re working on dirt ball reads, going first to third and stealing bases.”
Starters Out Sick
The Razorbacks were down a pair of starters for their second fall scrimmage, as neither Heston Kjerstad nor Jordan McFarland made the trip.
Coming off a huge freshman season, Kjerstad is projected to be the starting right fielder. He was out with the flu.
McFarland is one of the older players on the team as a junior and is trying to win the starting first baseman job, something he failed to hang on to last season. He is out with mono, becoming the second player to miss time with the infection this calendar year. Closer Matt Cronin missed a few weeks with it last season.
Kopps Returns
One of the most encouraging parts of Friday’s scrimmage was the return of Kevin Kopps. Just 12 months removed from Tommy John surgery, the right-hander pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Things got off to a shaky start with a leadoff walk and a failed pickoff attempt that allowed the runner to advance to second, but he settled in after that. After getting a fly out to center, Kopps struck out the final two batters he faced. He threw a total of 12 pitches.
Van Horn said it was just his second live appearance since his surgery, as he also pitched in an intrasquad scrimmage earlier this fall. Kopps had been mostly just throwing his fastball and changeup, but doctors recently cleared him to start spinning the ball.
“He got to go with the breaking ball and it’s really good again,” Van Horn said. “It’s as good as it was before, maybe better, so we’re excited about him.”
Coming off a solid redshirt freshman season in which he posted a 3.31 ERA in 49 innings, Kopps figured to have a role on the 2018 team before suffering the injury that required Tommy John. Now he is expected to be a potential starter or key bullpen arm in 2019.
Opitz’s Versatility
Van Horn had to get a little creative with his lineup Friday. His top two first basemen based on last week’s scrimmage are McFarland and Matt Goodheart, but with the former sick and the latter in the outfield because of Kjerstad’s absence, he went with Casey Opitz against the Trojans.
A catcher by trade, the sophomore from Colorado was tested early on a low throw by Kenley and scooped it perfectly for the third out of the first inning. Opitz also fielded a ground ball and had to throw to Campbell covering the bag for the first out of the second. Van Horn described his play at the position as “outstanding.”
Late in the scrimmage, he moved to catcher and did a “super job,” throwing out two attempted base stealers at second. Opitz ended the day at second base and caught a fly ball.
At the plate, he went 3 for 6 with a double, one walk and four runs scored.
“He’s probably one of those guys that doesn’t sit at home playing video games all the time,” Van Horn said. “He watches some baseball and he learns, so he’s kind of a throwback.”
Van Horn added that Opitz - who backed up starting catcher Grant Koch last season - is very popular amongst his teammates, which made Friday’s performance even more enjoyable.
Cronin Stays Perfect
It’s hard to imagine better fall scrimmage outings than the two Matt Cronin has put together for the Razorbacks. He needed just 17 pitches to strike out all three Trojans he faced Friday - a feat in which he required only 12 pitches to accomplish against Wichita State.
“He spun it really good last week against Wichita State,” Van Horn said. “Tonight, he only threw a couple and didn’t throw them for strikes, but he’s been spinning the ball pretty good this fall.”
Much like Campbell, Cronin won’t pitch in next week’s Fall World Series. Van Horn said he’s used his closer sparingly this fall and hasn’t extended him beyond an inning at a time, giving him a chance to rest.
Bullpen Breakdown
Here is a list of the other Razorbacks who pitched against UALR on Friday…
Jr. RHP Jacob Kostyshock: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 23 pitches (13 strikes)
~Kostyshock gave up a monster home run to Troy Alexander, the first batter he faced.
So. RHP Kole Ramage: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 32 pitches (20 strikes)
~Including the first scrimmage, Ramage has six strikeouts in three innings.
R-Jr. RHP Cody Scroggins: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 20 pitches (13 strikes)
Fr. LHP Caden Monke: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 6 pitches (6 strikes)
Fr. RHP Connor McCullough: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 20 pitches (11 strikes)
Fr. LHP Evan Taylor: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP
R-So. Collin Taylor: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
~We don’t have the pitch counts for the Taylor brothers because both innings were accidentally credited to Evan, so the stats - including pitches thrown - are combined.
R-So. Angus Denton: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 9 pitches (9 strikes)
~Including the first scrimmage, Denton has needed only 16 pitches to get through two innings. He has thrown only one ball, compared to 15 strikes.
Surprise Emergence
When Trey Harris was the first player off the bench last week against Wichita State, it could have been written off as a coincidence or fluke. However, that can’t be said now that Van Horn penciled him in as the starting designated hitter Friday.
The true freshman didn’t disappoint playing in front of his hometown, notching an RBI single in his first at bat for the first run of the night. He added another hit in the fifth inning, finishing the scrimmage 2 for 5.
A two-sport standout at Little Rock Christian, Harris turned down multiple football scholarships to play for the Razorbacks and he’s already impressed Van Horn with his work ethic.
His athleticism and bat speed have also helped him get in the starting lineup, passing a few more heralded signees along the way.
“Whether they’ve got athletic scholarships, academic, or we just got them to straight walk up, I don’t care once they get here,” Van Horn said. “Trey, if he keeps getting better - and he will - he’s going to get to play for us.”
The key to getting more playing time for Harris is improving defensively, as he still doesn’t have a great feel for the outfield yet despite having plenty of speed.
Other Tidbits
~Casey Martin had a great day at the plate, going 3 for 6 with two doubles, a walk, four RBIs and one run scored. In the two scrimmages, he went 4 for 10. Much like he did against Wichita State, Martin started at shortstop and finished at second base.
~Center fielder Dominic Fletcher’s 2 for 7 stat line is somewhat misleading because one of his hits was a bloop single over the shortstop in the 13th inning. He did not look comfortable at the plate and swung at several pitches out of the zone, striking out twice. His other hit came back in the third when he hit a sharp ground ball that the first baseman appeared to field, but it got by him for an infield single.
~Second baseman Jacob Nesbit had a really good day at the plate. He went 2 for 4 with three RBIs thanks to a sacrifice fly and a two-run single. He also scored three times and stole two bases.
~Jack Kenley ripped a double high off the right field wall that might have been a home run at Baum Stadium, but struck out three times in a 2-for-7 night at the plate. He started the game at third base, but also played some shortstop.
~After going hitless in the first scrimmage, outfielder Christian Franklin went 2 for 3 with an RBI and three runs scored. His RBI came on a sacrifice fly and one of his hits was a double. He also reached base via a walk and hit by pitch and stole a base.
~Catcher Zack Plunkett showed off his arm early Friday, throwing a perfect strike to nail Chase Coker trying to steal second for the second out of the first inning. Van Horn has praised Plunkett for have a great arm in the past.
~Arkansas pitchers combined for 44 strikeouts and only nine walks in 24 innings across the two scrimmages. That is an average of 16.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.9 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
~The Razorbacks’ annual Fall World Series begins next week, with Games 1 and 2 set for Monday and Tuesday at 1 p.m.
