Aggies put an end to Hogs’ SEC shot
NO. 19 TEXAS A&M 6, NO. 4 ARKANSAS 2
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — There was plenty of frustration to go around for the University of Arkansas on Friday night.
Starting pitcher Patrick Wicklander was frustrated at his inability to get through the second inning. Arkansas’ typically powerful lineup was frustrated for failing in clutch situations.
Coach Dave Van Horn was frustrated by a 6-2 baseball loss to No. 19 Texas A&M, which ended any hopes the No. 4 Razorbacks could claim a share of the overall SEC championship. Arkansas (40-14, 20-9 SEC) trails Vanderbilt (44-10, 22-7) by two games in the championship race.
The Razorbacks conclude their regular-season schedule and the series against Texas A&M (3519, 15-13-1) at 11 a.m. today with freshman right-hander Connor Noland on the mound.
The Razorbacks will enter the final game tied with Mississippi State for the SEC West lead.
On an evening of frustration, it was difficult to ascertain whether Van Horn was more frustrated by an early 4-0 deficit or a futile sixth inning when the bases were loaded with nobody out, but no runs were scored.
“We just couldn’t get that big hit,” Van Horn said. “We couldn’t get the bat on the ball to drive in runs. You’ve got to give [A&M] credit. Their pitching staff did a tremendous job pitching out of jams.
“But, obviously, with the bases loaded and no outs we had seven, eight and nine up, and it didn’t go well.”
There were indications from the outset that the night wouldn’t go well for the Razorbacks. Wicklander gave up consecutive home runs to Texas A&M’s Braden Shewmake and Bryce Blaum to open the first inning. A tworun Shewmake double in the second built the Aggies lead to 4-0.
Sophomore Kole Ramage came on and allowed two runs over 41/3 innings, and Marshall Denton pitched two scoreless frames to keep the Razorbacks within striking distance.
“We’ve got to get some production out of the bottom half of the order. It’s not always about getting a hit.” Coach Dave Van Horn
But too often they struck out, especially in the disappointing sixth inning when a golden opportunity was squandered against Texas A&M starter John Doxakis.
Doxakis gave up a two-out single to Heston Kjerstad and a Jack Kenley home run in the fourth inning, but other than that he was in control until Arkansas mounted a serious threat in the sixth.
The Razorbacks loaded the bases with nobody out on singles by Dominic Fletcher and Kjerstad, and an error on A&M second baseman Bryce Blaum, who in his haste to start a double play booted a groundball by Kenley.
Doxakis muffled the uprising by striking out Christian Franklin and Casey Opitz on full-count pitches. Reliever Bryce Miller then struck out pinch hitter Jordan McFarland to deny any runs.
“We’ve got to get some production out of the bottom of the order,” Van Horn said. “It’s not always about getting a hit. It’s about advancing runners, making contact, get a sac fly.”
That chain of events sent the Blue Bell Park crowd of 5,438 into a celebration. However, no one was more impressed with Doxakis than Shewmake, the Aggies’ shortstop.
“The coolest part about that whole thing is, when we got bases loaded after we made an error, Dox turned to us and says, ‘I got you,’ and he turns around and strikes two guys out,” Shewmake said. “That’s just the competitive spirit that he has and that we have as a team, and he’s going to carry us a long ways.”
A potential rally was snuffed out in the eighth when Fletcher was thrown out trying to go from first to third on Kjerstad’s hit to right field. The next two batters struck out.
Opitz led off the ninth with a single, but Joseph Menefee — Texas A&M’s third pitcher — struck out the next three hitters to end a night of frustration that saw 15 Razorbacks fanned.