Big storms halt play until today

FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks had a strong start to Tuesday’s game against Grand Canyon. Then the rain came. The series opener between the No. 15 Razorbacks and the Antelopes was postponed until 2 p.m. today because of heavy thunderstorms that began about 50 minutes after the first pitch. The game will resume with Arkansas ahead 2-0 and batting with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the second inning.

The teams will play a second game tonight approximately 40 minutes after the

completion of the first one. Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said all but three pitchers — Tuesday starter Barrett Loseke and weekend starters Blaine Knight and Trevor Stephan — will be available to throw during the doubleheader.

“We’ve got some guys we don’t even travel who haven’t pitched the past couple of weeks,” Van Horn said. “We’ve got some guys that need to work. We may extend one or two of our guys who aren’t on the (travel) roster.”

Arkansas took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when it drew four walks against Grand Canyon starter Gabe Benavides. Jared Gates and Carson Shaddy both drew bases-loaded walks with one out in the inning, but the Razorbacks missed on an opportunity for a bigger rally when Eric Cole grounded into an inning-ending double play.

“We did a good job of taking some borderline pitches in some hitter’s counts, and ended up drawing some walks,” Van Horn said.

The Razorbacks loaded the bases again in the second with no outs after a pair of infield singles from Evan Lee and Jake Arledge, and a fielding error by Grand Canyon third baseman Zach Malis.

“It’s got a ways to go,” Van Horn said of the suspended game. “We’ll see how it works out.”

UAPB 2, UALR 1

An RBI double to left field by Corey Henderson proved to be the game-winner for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in a victory over the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Tuesday at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock.

The Golden Lions (8-19) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Kacy Higgins scored on Sergio Esparza’s RBI single to center field. The Trojans (10-19) tied it in the bottom of the third when Zach Baker scored on Nik Gifford’s sacrifice fly.

Jerimiah Figueroa was 2 for 3 to lead

UAPB, which finished with 7 hits, and Jaquese Moore was 2 for 4. Dalton Thomas was 2 for 4 for UALR, which finished with 4 hits. Reliever Matt Shindlebower (1-0) earned the victory for the Golden Lions after allowing 1 hit over 11/3 innings. Jake Waters earned his first save of the season after allowing 1 walk in 1 inning. Reliever Zach Ours (0-1) took the loss for the Trojans, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits with 1 walk and 1 strikeout in 1 inning.

ARKANSAS STATE 10, SE MISSOURI STATE 1

Tobias Johnson was 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI as Arkansas State University (15-13) put Tuesday’s game against Southeast Missouri State University (14-12) at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro out of reach with a six-run sixth inning.

With ASU leading 4-1 and two outs in the sixth, Alex Howard started the rally with a double down the left field line and Johnson was intentionally walked. They both scored on Drew Tipton’s double to left field, increasing the lead to 6-1. Tipton stole third base and Hawkins drew a full-count walk. Joe Schrimpf followed with an RBI single and advanced to second on a throwing error while Hawkins advanced to third. Garrett Rucker followed with a double to right-center field, scoring both Schrimpf and Hawkins, for a 9-1 lead and Rucker scored on Justin Felix’s double down the left field line to set the final score.

ASU starter Bradey Welsh (1-0) earned the victory, allowing 1 run on 4 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts over 7 innings.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ ANDY SHUPE Lightning strikes above Baum Stadium in Fayetteville during a rain delay in the Arkansas Razorbacks’ game against Grand Canyon on Tuesday night. The game was postponed in the second inning and will be completed today, beginning at 2 p.m. as part of a...