Hogs pop ’Cats to finish sweep
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas baseball team saved perhaps its most dominant performance of the season for its series-clinching victory over the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday.
The No. 10 Razorbacks hammered the No. 4 Wildcats 14-2 in the first game of a doubleheader at Baum Stadium, then came back to win the second 16-9 to finish the three-game sweep in front of a crowd of 9,519.
Every University of Arkansas, Fayetteville starter had at least one hit in the opening-game blowout. The Razorbacks outhit the Wildcats 19-5 and had five home runs — one apiece by Jax Biggers, Eric Cole, Luke Bonfield, Heston Kjerstad and pinch-hitter Zack Plunkett.
Cole and Bonfield each hit solo home runs in the first inning to give Arkansas a 2-0 lead. The Razorbacks scored 11 runs against Kentucky starter Justin Lewis, who took his second loss and saw his ERA jump from 4.07 to 6.91.
“Offensively, what can you say?” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “We hit a lot of balls hard and we just kept pouring it on. We got some big hits. … We elevated a lot of pitches and obviously hit the ball out of the park the last two days pretty good.
“We knew we were going to be in a fight with Kentucky, a team that was leading the SEC offensively in almost everything. We really stepped it up this weekend.”
Arkansas (16-4, 3-0 SEC) chased Lewis in the fifth after Carson Shaddy singled, and Biggers followed with a home run into the right-field bullpen. Biggers led the Razorbacks with 4 RBI.
The offensive showcase was complemented by sophomore pitcher Isaiah Campbell’s best outing as a Razorback. Campbell (2-2) allowed 1 run on 3 hits and struck out a career-high 8 in 8 innings to earn his second victory.
It was a strong return from consecutive disappointing outings for Campbell, who had losses to Southern Cal and Kent State. Van Horn didn’t decide on Campbell as Saturday’s No. 2 weekend starter until after Friday’s 9-4 victory.
“It was more motivation on my own part,” Campbell said. “I haven’t thrown well. I didn’t have a great outing against Kent State and I wanted to come out there first weekend of SEC and prove what I can do. That’s what I did.
“I had four pitches working for me — my change-up, my curve ball and my cutter — but we went predominantly fastball and they just couldn’t hit it.”
Campbell didn’t allow a Kentucky (14-6, 0-3) hit until Kole Cottam’s solo home run to center field with one out in the fifth inning. The Wildcats tacked on another run with two outs in the ninth against Arkansas reliever Zebulon Vermillion.
Campbell’s career-long eight innings included 108 pitches. He has lost 22 pounds since the fall, which he said has helped him with his endurance and velocity. His fastball was clocked at 94 mph.
“My [velocity] was there the whole game and I never felt tired,” Campbell said. “I just felt like I was in the first inning [late in the game] and that was a really good thing to see.”
Arkansas scored seven runs in the first inning of the second game en route to a second big victory on the day.
Like in the first game, the Razorbacks had 19 hits and five home runs. Shaddy hit two opposite-field home runs and had 3 RBI. Bonfield added a team-high 4 RBI with a 3-for-4 effort that included a solo home run in the fourth inning.
“It’s probably the craziest thing I’ve been a part of here at the university, and probably throughout my whole baseball career,” Bonfield said of the doubleheader sweep. “It was something pretty special.”
Kentucky scored four runs against Arkansas starter Kole Ramage in the second inning to pull within 7-4, and pulled within 8-6 on Ben Aklinski’s two-run home run in the top of the fifth.
But the Razorbacks responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and scored five more in the seventh when Shaddy and Casey Martin each homered. Martin’s home run extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
Kacey Murphy battled through a pregame illness to pitch 5 innings relief to earn his third victory of the season. Murphy allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and struck out 5 four days after defeating Texas in a mid-week start.
Kentucky had 14 hits in the nightcap. Aklinski led the Wildcats with three hits and 4 RBI.
Freshman starter Daniel Harper allowed 5 runs on 4 hits in a 2-out start for Kentucky.
The Razorbacks outscored Kentucky 39-15 in the series. The Wildcats entered the weekend leading the SEC in runs scored, batting average and home runs.
Arkansas won its first SEC series for the second consecutive season. The Razorbacks swept Mississippi State in the SEC opener last March at Baum.