Arkansas hits back, halts skid
COLLEGE BASEBALL NO. 10 ARKANSAS 15, SOUTH ALABAMA 2
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks unleashed a week’s worth of frustration in one day on Saturday.
The No. 10 University of Arkansas racked up a season-high 18 hits, including home runs by reserves Cole Austin and Curtis Washington Jr., and hammered South Alabama 15-2 before a crowd of 8,188 at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Razorbacks (8-5) broke a five-game losing streak that stood as the program’s longest since dropping their final 13 games of 2016.
“We hit the ball hard all day,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “I’m really proud of our offense. Kind of relentless. … I felt like every inning we hit, we were a threat.”
South Alabama (8-8) managed four hits the day after pounding out 11 in a 13-6 romp over the Razorbacks.
Six Arkansas players had multi-hit games, led by a 3-for-4 performance from catcher Casey Opitz. Heston Kjerstad went 2 for 3 to extend his hitting streak to all 13 games and drove in a
team-high three runs. Christian Franklin, Matt Goodheart, Jacob Nesbit and Austin, who came off the bench in the fourth inning, all had two hits.
The real stabilizing force was starter Caleb Bolden (10). The sophomore, 15 months removed from Tommy John surgery, allowed a first-inning run but settled down and allowed 2 earned runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6 on 90 pitches through 6 innings.
“I felt good,” Bolden said. “That’s the most pitches I’ve thrown since coming back from surgery.”
Austin liked the way the right-hander Bolden handled the game’s tempo.
“Especially in the field, you want a pitcher that goes out there and attacks the zone and just kind of keeps the pace of play better,” he said. “So when he goes out there and attacks the zone like he did, the whole team kind of feeds off it.”
The last two Arkansas starters — Blake Adams and Patrick Wicklander — were roughed up by Illinois State and South Alabama.
“He threw a lot of strikes and worked ahead in the count a lot,” Van Horn said of Bolden. “He got them to swing and they like to swing, and he got some quick outs.
“I’d say more than anything he just kind of pounded the strike zone mostly with fast balls.”
The Jaguars jumped out in the first inning yet again after Santi Montiel and Ethan Wilson opened the game with back-to-back singles. Wilson stole second and moved up on Reid Powers’ RBI ground out to short. But he was stranded there as Bolden induced a come-backer and another grounder to escape with just a 1-0 deficit.
“The first inning was a little rocky,” Bolden said. “But it didn’t really phase me much. Once it gets to that point it’s more of damage control. I thought I did a good job of that.
“I had all my pitches working today, which is always a plus thing for me. … Letting my defense work is huge for me.”
The Razorbacks answered for a tying run in the first that was just a prelude to their onslaught. Franklin, batting leadoff for the first time, singled against right-hander Miles Smith (0-2) and Kjerstad moved him up with a single.
Goodheart drove in Franklin with a shot through the middle. Smith avoided further damage by getting a fly ball double play as Kjerstad was thrown out trying to advance to third.
Arkansas hit 10 of 23 (.435) with runners in scoring position, a contrast to its 2 of 11 (.182) in Friday’s game.
Austin had not started in
“For us to come out and get a big victory like we did today, it gives us a huge advantage going into tomorrow.” Arkansas first baseman Cole Austin
the Hogs’ last two losses, but he came off the bench and went 2 for 2 with a two-run home run in the sixth off lefthander Caleb Yarborough and scored 3 runs.
“Just get in and do what you can to benefit the team, which I did, so it was a good feeling to be able to do that,” said Austin, who added that hitting coach Nate Thompson has helped him make some adjustments in the batting cage.
Austin’s home run to left field brought in Nesbit, who singled twice and was hit by a pitch.
Washington hit a two-run shot in the eighth inning in his only at-bat, following an Austin single.
Austin and Bolden spoke of snapping the losing streak.
“Everybody kind of felt like we were pressing a little bit,” Austin said. “For us to come out and get a big victory like we did today, it gives us a huge advantage going into tomorrow.”
Said Bolden: “The stuff we’ve been doing the past couple of games is not Arkansas baseball. What we did today is definitely Arkansas baseball. So if we can keep that up we’ll definitely be in good shape.”