Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Omaha bound
Razorbacks rout Gamecocks, punch ticket to College World Series.
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks ripped open South Carolina’s thin pitching staff and bashed its way to the College World Series with a 14-4 victory in the finale of the best-of-three NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional on Monday night.
Carson Shaddy hit a threerun home run to cap the Hogs’ five- run first inning, and pitcher Isaiah Campbell had a bounce-back performance to fuel the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville before a rowdy crowd of 11,217 at Baum Stadium.
The Razorbacks held a brief dog pile on the infield after Matt Cronin got the final
out on a fly ball to right fielder Eric Cole, then carried “OmaHog” signs around the park after shaking hands with the Gamecocks.
The Razorbacks (44-19) completed the season with a 34-4 record at Baum Stadium en route to qualifying for their ninth College World Series and fifth under Coach Dave Van Horn.
Van Horn improved to 7-2 in super regionals. The Razorbacks will take on Texas in their CWS opener Sunday at 1 p.m. Arkansas will have played all of the other three teams in its side of the bracket in Omaha, Neb.
Arkansas is 5-2 against South Carolina this season and 8-7 in the postseason against the Gamecocks.
South Carolina (37-26) did not have the pitching depth to deal with the hot Arkansas hitters, who also posted a fiverun fifth inning to turn an 8-2 lead into a full-fledged rout.
Arkansas unleashed a 11hit attack, four for extra bases,
and Campbell rebounded from a start at last week’s NCAA regional in which he faced three batters and did not record an out.
Shaddy’s home run, his fourth against the Gamecocks and 13th of the year, was Arkansas’ 93rd, breaking a tie for the single-season record formerly held by the 2010 team.
Cole, who went 3 for 3 with 5 runs scored, added a solo shot in the seventh.
Clean-up man Luke Bonfield went 3 for 4 and drove in a run in each of his first four at-bats.
Campbell worked into the fifth inning and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. Barrett Loseke (3-2) kept South Carolina off the board for two innings before allowing a solo home run to Jacob Olson, his first of two, in the seventh.
Jake Reindl, Kole Ramage and Matt Cronin finished up on the mound for the Hogs.
The Razorbacks jumped all over freshman Carmen Mlodzinski (3-6) in the first inning with a series of hardhit balls and one very costly South Carolina mistake.
Cole drew a leadoff walk on a 3-2 pitch, then Casey Martin poked a single into left field to move Cole to second. Heston Kjerstad hit a ground ball to third base that had double-play potential, but Jonah Bride took a glance at second and saw Martin was closing in on the bag, then threw wide of first base to allow Cole to score.
Bonfield’s opposite-field single drove in Martin. After Dominic Fletcher struck out, Shaddy launched a three-run home run to left-center field for a 5-0 lead.
Graham Lawson relieved in the second inning and Arkansas tacked on two more runs. Cole led off with a single up the middle, Kjerstad drew a one- out walk, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Bonfield cracked his second RBI single to right, then Fletcher made it 7-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Campbell kept the Gamecocks hitless until Danny Blair’s two-out single in the third inning, and South Carolina scratched for two runs in the fourth. Bride hit a one-out single, then Kjerstad could not
snare a sinking liner from Justin Row in the left-center gap as the ball went off his glove for a double.
Both runners scored when a wild pitch skirted away from catcher Grant Koch, who did not pursue the ball because he thought it hit batter LT Tolbert. After an extended argument and a huddle by the umpires, the ruling stood and Tolbert followed with a double to left field that Kjerstad could not see in the sun. He was stranded when Campbell struck out Hunter Taylor and Olson.
Arkansas put the game away in a fifth inning with the help of wild Gamecocks’ pitchers. Jared Gates was hit by a pitch, then Koch and Jax Biggers drew walks. Cole’s walk forced in a run, then Martin smacked a double over the center fielder Bride’s head for a two-run double. Kjerstad had a sacrifice fly, and Bonfield added his third RBI single to give the Razorbacks a 13-2 lead.
Olson’s solo home runs in the seventh and eighth accounted for South Carolina’s final two runs.