HOGS’ earlier work props up bullpen.
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks’ bullpen was well rested going into Sunday night’s game against Dallas Baptist.
Good thing for the Razorbacks.
Jake Reindl and Matt Cronin provided quality relief to help the Razorbacks beat the Patriots 4-3 at Baum Stadium and win the NCAA Fayetteville Regional after starter Isaiah Campbell failed to record an out.
It was the first game of the weekend for Reindl and Cronin because the Razorbacks didn’t need any of their top relievers after starters Blaine Knight and Kacey Murphy each went eight innings in 10-2 victories over Oral Roberts and Southern Mississippi on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Reindl (3-1) matched his career-long outing by pitching seven innings after replacing Campbell. He held Dallas Baptist to 5 hits and 1 run without a walk and 4 strikeouts. Cronin pitched the final two innings to earn his 12th save.
“I think that allowed them to do what they did with Campbell,” Dallas Baptist Coach Dan Heefner said of having a rested bullpen. “It also allowed Reindl to go seven innings, and then Cronin looked really fresh. It looked like he had really good stuff.
“That’s the tournament. If you can get great starts, you put yourself in a really good position, and that’s what they did in the first two games.”
Arkansas led 4-2 going into the ninth inning, but the Patriots got the tying runs on base when Devlin Granberg hit a leadoff double and Jameson Hannah was called safe at first even though a replay — which isn’t used in NCAA regional play — showed he was out.
“At first when I saw [first base umpire David Brown] call him safe, I was in shock,” Cronin said. “I almost lost it for a second, and then I remembered, ‘You’ve got to stay cool. You’ve still got to get three more outs’ ”
Granberg scored on a sacrifice fly, but Cronin struck out Garrett Wolforth and got Tim Millard on a flyout to send the Razorbacks to a super regional.
“That was a really tough call there in the ninth that didn’t go our way,” University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Dave Van Horn said. “Matt kept it together out there and kept his cool and just went and got the job done. I’m really proud of him for showing a lot of maturity there and stepping it up for us.”
After Campbell walked Granberg and Hannah — both on 3-2 pitches — and gave up a single to Jimmy Glowenke, Van Horn had seen enough. He pulled Campbell and put in Reindl.
“I hated to make that move, I’ll be honest with you,” Van Horn said. “I didn’t feel good because I didn’t want to hurt Isaiah Campbell, who’s a big part of our team. But I felt like in the big picture that’s what we had to do.
“Myself personally, I just feel great that Jake came in and kind of had my back, that I took out a pitcher after three hitters and he got us back in the dugout. Because if he gives up a double and a couple of singles, then it wasn’t a very good move. So I appreciate Jake coming through there.”
Reindl got out of the jam by allowing just one run and stranded nine runners for the game. He also pitched seven innings this season when he held Auburn to 1 hit and 1 run in the Razorbacks’ 5-4 victory on April 8.
“He maintained his stuff throughout,” Heefner said of Reindl. “It didn’t look like he had a drop off. He did a really nice job.”