Hogs complete sweep, prepare to open SEC play by hosting Auburn
No. 7 Arkansas completed a sweep of UNLV on Wednesday with a 5-2 win at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas got some good pitching on the day including starter Ben Bybee and then reliever's Gage Wood and Zack Morris. Bybee (1-0) started and got the win. He worked 5.0 innings allowing six hits, walking one and striking out three. Zack Morris pitched the final three innings and earned his first save of the season. He just allowed one hit and two runs, both unearned as a result of an error on right fielder Kendall Diggs.
But it was an emotional true freshman, Batesville's Gage Wood, who may have had the biggest inning of the day. He came on in relief of Bybee in the top of the sixth with no outs and runners on second and third. He got a groundout, walked on and struck out two to not allow any runners. Dave Van Horn heaped praise on Wood following the game.
"He's come in a couple of times when the game was over and he's done really well," Van Horn said. "He's come in a couple of times when there was a little big going on and it didn't go so well for him. Last night I thought he did a great job. Today, that was huge.
That was a big leverage inning. He comes in with a runner and second and third, nobody out and we have a threerun lead. We're thinking if he can get out of this only giving up one man that's a great job. He gets a jam shot on a breaking ball and then two strikeouts. I would be fired up too. Hopefully he gained a lot of confidence there and he can take that confidence with him going forward."
Arkansas jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Tavian Josenberger started the inning off with a single. With one out, Brady Slavens doubled to move Josenberger to third. Jace Bohrofen then walked to load the bases. Diggs got Josenberger home on a ground out.
The game remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth. John Bolton walked to start the inning and then with one out Jared Wegner lifted one over the fence for a 3-0 lead. UNLV coach Stan Stolte confirmed it was a fast ball that Wegner hit out of the park.
"Yes, they are good hitters and get their pitch and they can put the barrel to it pretty good," Stolte said.
UNLV also lost a two-game series to Oklahoma. He was asked to compare the Hogs and the future SEC-bound Sooners.
“Arkansas is really good, really good,” Stolte said. “So is Oklahoma. But if you make a mistake on Arkansas, you usually pay for it.”
A player who stepped up big in both games was Harold Coll, a junior college transfer from San Jacinto in Texas. Coll started at third base on Wednesday and had one hit and knocked in a run. On Tuesday night he started at second base and went 3 for 5 with a home run, two doubles and knocked in four runs.
"It was good to see a guy like Harold Coll continue to swing the bat well both games," Van Horn said. "He had a really big game for us yesterday and today that was a big hit in the bottom of the eighth."
UNLV had pulled to within 32 in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the eighth, Bohrofen reached on a one-out error. Diggs followed with a double to left field that plated Bohrofen. Then, as Van Horn noted, Coll delivered a big single up the middle allowing Mason Neville, who pinch ran for Diggs, to score and giving the Hogs a little breathing room heading into the ninth.
Arkansas (15-2) will now host Auburn (13-3) for a three-game series at Baum-Walker Stadium to open SEC play. The series opener is Friday night at 4 p.m. and televised on the SEC Network+. Both the Saturday and Sunday games will also be on the SEC Network+ and each starts at 2 p.m.