Wood's strong outing not enough to overcome Arkansas' hitting woes
An Arkansas baseball team founded on elite starting pitching and timely hitting discovered what happens when neither show up to the ballpark in the No. 2 Razorbacks' (40-8, 17-6 SEC) 11-3 loss to No. 8 Kentucky (34-10, 17-6 SEC) on Saturday.
One day after scoring an SEC season-high 10 runs in a series-opening win over the Wildcats, the Arkansas offense returned to its floor with a measly 8-for-35 (.229) day at the plate.
A two-run blast by Hudson White in the top of the second pointed to another potential offensive outburst, but nine strikeouts and nine runners left on base shut that notion down completely.
"For the most part (Kentucky) filled up the zone," second baseman Peyton Stovall said after the game. "The starting pitcher did a good job of getting ahead but we got ourselves in good positions to drive in runs and stuff and we weren't able to do it.
"I think if we just go out there tomorrow, play hard and do that again and keep putting ourselves in good positions to score runs, hopefully we'll be able to go out there and do it tomorrow."
The biggest storyline wasn't the usual lack of offense for the Diamond Hogs, however, but the uncharacterstic performance from Arkansas starter Brady Tygart.
From the get go, it was apparent that the right-hander didn't have his best stuff. After three straight weekends of completing at least five frames, the junior only made it through three against the Wildcats thanks to six hits, five earned runs and three walks.
"Probably when you talk about Brady today, the issue would have been he just didn’t throw his fastball for a strike," head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "Didn’t throw it where he wanted it and it made it very difficult to pitch, because they just started sitting on off-speed pitches. That’s how that went."
Van Horn turned to righty reliever Gage Wood in the top of the fourth, where he allowed two inherited runners and two of his own score for a 7-2 deficit. Wood recovered and tossed three straight scoreless frames — including a three-strikeout dominant bottom of the fifth.
Wood was ultimately pulled in the bottom of the eighth after recording an out and a hit-by-pitch, the latter of which came around to score after right-hander Koty Frank allowed a double to right field.
After making his first-ever start in a midweek victory over Missouri State on Tuesday — a game that he struck out four and allowed just one hit — Wood continued his late-season emergence to the tune of six strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs in 4.1 innings of work against Kentucky.
"I mean that was just a huge plus," Van Horn said. "I talked about that after the game. I mean, Gage didn’t just eat up innings, he’s getting ready to take somebody’s job. I loved what I saw. I thought he did a great job pitching Tuesday night. I mean really if you look at it he had one pitch going today.
"The breaking ball wasn’t there for him and he got them out with that fastball. It had good carry on it. They were having trouble hitting it and I thought he threw great. At the same time, he did save our bullpen for tomorrow and we’ve got them lined up. If things don’t go right early we’ll go straight to it."
The strong bullpen appearance is a promising sign for Wood, who closed a Freshman All-SEC season a year ago with a stretch of poor performances. The Batesville native's fortune seems to have taken a turn for the better, and he could play a key role in Arkansas' push for an SEC crown and more.
"He’s already a long reliever and he could close too," Van Horn said. "So he’s going to get his opportunity to start a game. He started on Tuesday and he started for a reason. And today we let him go about 75-80 pitches for a reason. So yeah, we’ll see how this turns out."
Up next, No. 2 Arkansas will face off against No. 8 Kentucky in a rubber match on Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky. First pitch is set for noon p.m. CT and it will stream on SEC Network+.