Not a subscriber? Subscribe for free for 30 days w/code HAWGS30
NEW USERS | RETURNING USERS
HawgBeat's coverage of the Diamond Hogs' Road to Omaha is brought to you by CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers, which has locations in Fayetteville and Russellville.
Facing a dangerous lineup filled with veterans, Zebulon Vermillion turned in the best start by an Arkansas pitcher so far this season Saturday afternoon.
The right-hander allowed only one run in a career-high eight innings, helping the Razorbacks beat Louisiana Tech 8-1 at J.C. Love Field in Ruston, La.
With the win, Arkansas clinched the road series - as it also beat the Bulldogs in 10 innings Friday night - and improved to 12-0 to start the 2021 season.
“It was just good after last night’s game,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “It was pretty stressful. Today’s game was just a solid game, just kind of went out there and took control of the game early and finished it.”
Although Cayden Wallace and Brady Slavens combined for five hits and five RBIs at the plate, the story of the game was Vermillion’s brilliance on the mound.
Back in the rotation after spending a week in the bullpen, he had only two strikeouts, but scattered three hits and three walks and was never really in much danger.
Louisiana Tech’s lone run came in the fourth. After retiring the first nine batters of the game, Vermillion came out after a lengthy top half of the inning and gave up a leadoff walk.
That runner eventually scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by Steele Nettleville, but not before Jalen Battles made a sensational diving stop and throw to second for a force and nearly start a double play.
Over the next four innings, Vermillion allowed only four base runners, using a double play to erase one and giving up two of them with two outs.
“He just really pitched today,” Van Horn said. “His stuff was good. He could get it up to 92-93 (mph) every now and then, but he pitched a lot around 90 and used different pitches, so it was really good to see.”
What enabled Vermillion to go so deep in the game was a low pitch count. The Bulldogs had several one- or two-pitch at bats that ended with fly outs or ground outs, helping him get through eight innings on only 87 pitches.
Coming into the weekend with an impressive .313 batting average - which ranked 22nd nationally - and a day after notching 13 hits, Louisiana Tech went just 3 for 26 (.115) against Vermillion. While his stuff was good, head coach Lane Burroughs said his team’s poor approach at the plate contributed to his efficiency on the mound.
“I thought he was leaving some balls up and the umpire was not calling them strikes, so we continued to chase those pitches and pop them up,” Burroughs said. “The wind was blowing in, so there wasn’t a lot of money to be made in the outfield tonight. Unlike last night, when I thought we had a tremendous offensive approach, I didn’t think it was real good today and we need to do better.”
A 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander, Vermillion caught the attention of scouts before the pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 season.
With a shortened MLB Draft, he returned to Fayetteville for a rare fourth season for someone with his talent and emerged as a weekend starter for the Razorbacks, actually earning the No. 1 job the first two weekends.
It took a few weeks, but Vermillion finally flashed the stuff that makes him a draft prospect.
“To me, I was kind of surprised how much tilt and angle he did have over the top,” Burroughs said. “That makes it tough on a hitter to lay off that pitch that’s up around your hands. That was a little bit of a surprise to me, I wasn’t expecting that.”
In his previous two starts, Vermillion managed to throw only seven total innings and had command issues, walking six batters.
That prompted a return to the bullpen against Murray State and he responded with 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn a save in Game 2 of that series. With right-hander Caleb Bolden struggling, the coaching staff deciding to give Vermillion another chance in the rotation.
“We were going to give him another shot before we opened conference just to see if we had confidence in him starting the first weekend or what role we were going to put him in going into the Alabama series,” Van Horn said. “Just felt like we needed to give him an opportunity and obviously he took advantage of it.”
Arkansas Strikes First
For just the third time in 12 games, Arkansas scored in the first inning Saturday afternoon.
It looked like the Razorbacks would get off to a quick start when Robert Moore ripped the first pitch of the game into right field, but he was thrown out by a mile trying to stretch it into a leadoff double.
The mistake loomed large later in the inning when Matt Goodheart was hit by a pitch and Wallace followed with a single. Instead of being a one-out RBI, the freshman’s hit just put a pair of Razorbacks on base with two outs.
Van Horn admitted he was worried Arkansas might waste those early hits because of Moore’s base running blunder, but Slavens made sure that wasn’t the case by poking a double down the left field line with two strikes.
The hit drove in both runners to give the Razorbacks a 2-0 lead in the opening frame.
