Arkansas survives late to stave off Michigan
ARLINGTON, Texas — A rocky finish nearly spoiled another dominant pitching performance, but Arkansas baseball held on Sunday and clinched a winning weekend at the Kubota College Baseball Series.
The No. 4 Razorbacks (5-2) topped Michigan (2-5) 4-3 in the finale, with Koty Frank stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to earn the save. The Wolverines had already scored two runs in the inning, taking advantage of multiple Arkansas errors.
Here are three observations from the Arkansas win.
Arkansas baseball pitchers finish off masterful weekend
Mason Molina got the start against Michigan and was terrific, striking out 10 batters and giving up zero hits over five innings. His changeup was lethal, and after struggling with his command last weekend, Molina only walked two batters.
The Arkansas starting pitchers struck out 33 batters and didn't give up a single run across 17 innings of work this weekend. Molina could be a Friday starter for teams across America, but in Fayetteville, he'll get the ball every Sunday and provide a dominant arm in weekend finales.
Out of the bullpen, Will McEntire and Koty Frank combined to finish off the final four innings. McEntire didn't give up an earned run and yielded just two hits before Frank took over for the ninth.
Overall, opposing teams scored just 9 runs over this weekend's three games
Lineup gets shuffled, bats stay cold
It took Arkansas just three batters to match its total scoring output from Saturday's 14-inning marathon against Oklahoma State, but the Hogs still struggled at the plate against Michigan.
The Razorbacks recorded just five hits, and the four runs represented the fewest given up by the Michigan pitching staff all weekend.
Dave Van Horn made plenty of changes to the lineup, giving Peyton Holt and Hudson White a night off and calling upon lefty bats like Parker Rowland and Nolan Souza against Michigan righty Dylan Vigue.
Arkansas was patient, drawing seven walks and scoring two runs in the top of the fourth without recording a single hit, but Van Horn is still looking for the power bats to come to life. Wehiwa Aloy and Hudson White combined to go 0-for-23 on the weekend.
Strong starts continue for three batters
Kendall Diggs, Jared-Sprague Lott and Ben McLaughlin are the only three Razorbacks hitting better than .300 this season, and all three had strong games against the Wolverines.
Diggs and McLaughlin each had a double and an RBI, with Diggs also scoring a run. McLaughlin leads Arkansas with eight RBIs.
Sprague-Lott went 2-for-4 and is now hitting a team-high .440. The Richmond transfer wasn't supposed to be an everyday starter until Peyton Stovall's injury in the preseason, but he might be an indispensable piece at this point, given the other hitters' struggles.