Hogs sweep ULM in 2-game series
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Razorbacks freshman starter Caleb Bolden threw a career long seven shutout innings, freshman left fielder Heston Kjerstad hit a measured 430-foot home run over the 25-feet tall Baum Stadium scoreboard into the back of the pond beyond the right-center field fence and the Razorbacks played errorless defense to defeat the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, 4-0, in Wednesday afternoon’s finale of a two-game nonconference series.
The 2,056 attending Wednesday afternoon witnessed a much cleaner game than the 1,689 saw in Tuesday night’s windy 40-degree chill at Baum when Arkansas survived four errors and blowing an 8-4 lead in the ninth that ULM turned into a 9-8 lead in the top of the 10th before Arkansas scored two in the bottom half on ULM’s bases-loaded throwing error.
“Baseball — it’s just kind of the way it works sometimes,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said of Wednesday’s clean game coming off Tuesday’s troubles.
Arkansas appeared to have it won for middle reliever Jake Reindl Tuesday, pitching scoreless fourth, fifth and sixth innings followed by Barrett Loeske pitching a scoreless seventh and eighth, when left fielder Heston Kjerstad committed Arkansas’ fourth error of the game accounting for ULM’s first run off reliever Kole Ramage before third baseman Peyton Lacoste’s tied it 8-8 sending the game into the 10th inning.
Ramage gave up a up a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt to start the ULM 10th until replaced on the mound by Bryant’s Evan Lee, the Razorbacks’ leadoff man as the designated hitter whose 3-run home run in the sixth rally the Razorbacks from down 4-2 to up 6-4.
Lee couldn’t flag Jordan’s line drive which fell for a single off his glove, putting runners at first and third. Johnny DeLacruz’s
near-perfect bunt, with Lee’s play desperation shovel home too late, scored the go-ahead run before Lee, ultimately the winning pitcher, struck out No. 3 hitter Turner Francis and retired Will Daniels on an infield out.
Opening the Arkansas 10th against Keegan Curtis, the last of the six pitchers that ULM coach Mark Federico employed in Tuesday’s 4-hour game in a 40-degree chill, Eric Cole beat out an infield single to short. Casey Martin grounded back to Curtis who presumed he had forced Cole at second but second baseman Pierce Khan’s neighborhood tag towards second didn’t reach the bag as umpire Chris Coskey saw it.
Kjerstad singled past short into left scoring Cole. Dominic Fletcher was hit by a pitch loading the bases. Jordan McFarland rapped one to Jordan at short whose hasty throw home could not be corralled as Martin scored the game-winner.
With help from third baseman Martin’s error, ULM took a 3-0 lead off Arkansas freshman starter Jackson Rutledge on Braedon Barrett’s 3-run home run in the second. Chad Bell hit a solo home run off Rutledge for a 4-2 lead in the third.
Arkansas, leading off with Luke Bonfield’s double, scored two in the second on Jared Gates’ RBI single and Casey Optiz’s sacrifice fly and netted an unearned run without a hit in the fifth before Lee’s 3-run shot over right in the sixth.
What seemed merely extra insurance runs for Arkansas on Jack Kenley’s sacrifice bunt in the seventh and Fletcher’s sacrifice fly in the eighth became life-sustaining when the defense, there was also a third strike passed ball charged to Opitz in addition to Kjerstad’s error, and Ramage was damaged in the ULM ninth.
Wednesday’s recovery started with Bolden, the right-hander from Texarkana, Texas, scattering seven hits without a walk while striking out through seven complete with Arkansas turning two doubleplays, one ending an inning after the Warhawks had runners at first and third.
“I think it starts that the pitcher is throwing a lot of strikes and guys are into it,” Van Horn said. “The weather (Wednesday) was good. They weren’t cold. And the wind wasn’t blowing real hard. It was tough fielding the ball last night.”
With Auburn in town for three games Friday through Sunday and five Razorbacks pitchers used Tuesday, Van Horn was elated to get seven complete from Bolden and a 2-innings shutout finish by Cody Scroggins.
“Really good job by Caleb Bolden,” Van Horn said. “We were hoping to get four, maybe five out of him and then kind of go from there. But he kind of got it rolling and gave us the sixth and seventh. He got a couple of big doubleplay balls, one I think with runners at first and third and one out and got the other one maybe first and second and one out and got himself out of a couple of jams by locating a couple of sinkers and fast balls and that gave him an opportunity to stay in the game and kept his pitch count down a little bit.”
Bolden had been hit hard his last outing, mopping up during a March 24 17-2 SEC loss at Florida.
“It felt really good, especially getting out there after Florida, rebounding like that,” Bolden said. “My fast ball and curve ball were working for me.”
Van Horn also lauded Scroggins.
“It was good to see Cody come in and pitch after not pitching for awhile. He’s recovering from Tommy John (surgery) and had a good start to the season, had some soreness and looks like he’s on his way back, and we could definitely use him.”
Kjerstad sent his home run into orbit over the scoreboard leading off Arkansas’ 2-run third inning off losing ULM starter Richard Hebert.
“Right when it left the bat, my comment was ‘That is not coming back,’” Van Horn said. “That was just so obvious on the field when it left. The sound — it just really exploded off the bat. The exit velocity was pretty high I would say.”
Kjerstad’s eighth home run was his longest as a Razorback.
“I knew I squared it up, and off the bat I could tell it was going out,” Kjerstad said. “But I surprised myself a little bit on how far it went once I saw it clear the scoreboard.”
Arkansas added another in the third. Dominic Fletcher walked, advanced to third via a wild pitch after Evan Lee’s infield hit and scored while Grant Koch grounded out to second.
Three singles, with help from a run-scoring wild pitch, added up to two runs off reliever Derek Martin in the sixth. Lee, the sophomore DH-pitcher from Bryant who on Tuesday night hit a 3-run home run while going 3-for-6 and was Tuesday’s winning pitcher in 10th-inning relief, went 2-for-4 Wednesday and singled home the second run of Wednesday’s sixth.
“On the offensive end we did just enough,” Van Horn said of Wednesday’s game and Arkansas’ eight hits after the Razorbacks had 12 hit Tuesday including Kjerstad going 3-for-6 with an RBI and just missing a home run declared foul upon review.
Much as he enjoyed his Wednesday blast, Kjerstad implied Wednesday’s defense bodes best as Arkansas prepares for Auburn.
“Defensively, that’s big for us because, as coach Van Horn has been telling us lately, defense will win games,” Kjerstad said. “It’s always nice for our pitchers here when we’re able to make big plays for them. Like for Caleb, our infielders made some great double plays to get him out of a few jams.”
Arkansas, 5-4 in the SEC West, improved to 21-9 overall with its wins over ULM while the Warhawks of the Sun Belt Conference dropped to 15-14.