Knight rises to occasion
Razorbacks win battle of unbeaten aces
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team won a pitchers duel on a chilly Friday night at Baum Stadium.
The No. 8 Razorbacks got a strong start from Blaine Knight and handed Auburn starter Casey Mize his first loss of the season as they beat the No. 15 Tigers 2-1 before an announced crowd of 3,487.
Fifteen scouts from Major League Baseball teams were at the game to watch Knight and Mize.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (22-9, 6-4 SEC) has won all four of its conference series openers with Knight (6-0) starting.
“We’re kind of spoiled with knowing he’s going to give us a really good outing,”
Razorbacks senior designated hitter Luke Bonfield said. “He was really special tonight. He knew he had to be really special tonight.
“I think he likes facing guys that are top-of-the-line starters just like he is, and he outperformed [Mize] tonight like he’s been doing all season.”
Knight, a junior righthander from Bryant, went 61/3 innings and held the Tigers (23-8, 4-6) to 6 hits and 1 run with 6 strikeouts and 1 walk on a season-high 113 pitches.
“I thought he was competitive,” Auburn Coach Butch Thompson said. “It was a commitment to throwing strikes. He’s a little animated, but he competes really hard for his ballclub.
“He’s a great Friday night guy in the SEC. He has a willingness to throw in the strike zone. He looks really settled and in control.”
Razorbacks sophomore center fielder Dominic Fletcher made two highlight catches — one against the wall on a drive by Edouard Julien in the sixth inning for the third out with two runners on against Knight, and the second on a line drive by Josh Anthony off reliever Matt Cronin for the second out in the seventh inning with two runners on.
Just before Cronin’s fastball that Anthony drove to right-center field, Fletcher took a step in that direction.
“When it left the bat, I thought, ‘We’re down 3-2,’ ” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He got an incredible jump. He’s not the fastest center fielder I’ve had here, but he’s one of the most talented.
“If there’s a chance it can be caught, he’s going to catch it. What a game-saving play.”
Thompson was impressed with Fletcher’s defense as well.
“I thought he robbed four runs,” Thompson said. “I thought Fletcher’s defense really made the difference tonight.”
All of the scoring came in the fourth inning when Julien hit a home run for Auburn, then Bonfield hit a home run and Fletcher doubled and scored on catcher Grant Koch’s single for Arkansas.
Bonfield hit an 0-2 pitch from Mize for his fifth home run of the season.
“It was a fastball kind of down and in,” Bonfield said. “I was sitting fastball in there because I thought he was going to try to jam me, so I scooted off the plate and it made that inside more middle. I put a good swing on it, and it showed some good results.”
Mize (6-1), a junior righthander, went 7 innings and allowed 7 hits and 2 runs with 7 strikeouts and 1 walk.
“When you face a guy like that, you knew he was going to be tough for our team,” Bonfield said. “We just stuck with the approach and were able to get a couple of runs off him.
“There’s a reason why he may be the first pick in the draft this year. When we face guys like Blaine and Isaiah [Campbell] in the fall, it really puts us in a good position to do well against a guy like that.”
Friday night’s game
was sweet redemption for Knight, who started at Auburn in the Tigers’ 15-2 victory over the Razorbacks last season and allowed 8 hits and 8 earned runs in 21/3 innings.
“I wasn’t going to get hit like that again,” Knight said. “I know the team didn’t want to lose like that again.
“I think we came out with a little bit of an edge and chip on our shoulder, and we went out and got the job done.”
Cronin went the final 22/3 innings for his sixth save, not allowing a batter to reach base in the process.
“Obviously he has a really great fastball, and he can come in there and just be lights out like that pretty much every time,” Fletcher said. “It’s unbelievable when you know you have a guy in the pen like that, that can shut it down.”