Razorbacks complete sweep of Trojans
FAYETTEVILLE Between them, University of Arkansas first baseman Brady Slavens and second baseman Robert Moore went 5 for 9 with two home runs and seven RBIS Wednesday pacing the Razorbacks’ 10-3 victory over the University of Arkansas-little Rock Trojans at Baum-walker Stadium.
Coupled with Tuesday’s 7-2 victory over UALR, the Razorbacks swept the two-game nonconference series.
Slavens Wednesday went 2 for 5 with five RBIS ignited by a 3-run home run during a 4-run first inning capped by Charlie Welch’s towering solo shot.
Slavens’ home run set the tone the Hogs achieved in both games against the Trojans after starting from behind even while winning 2 of 3 SEC games last weekend against Auburn.
“I was just battling with two strikes,” Slavens said of his home run. “A fastball
a little elevated and I put a good swing on it and luckily the wind is good today, a change today because the last couple of weeks it’s been blowing straight in.
But I got a good swing on it and it went over.”
While gone with the wind, the Slavens’ shot likely will
have cleared under most conditions, Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn opined.
“Obviously the wind helped it get out of the park, but he squared it up really good,” Van Horn said. “That was a big swing for us, got us three quick runs.”
Trojans losing starter Cole Evans struck out three in that first inning but also yielded two walks before Slavens’ home run and was
also tagged for Welch’s home run.
Moore, who drew one of two walks preceding Slavens first-inning home run, went 3 for 4 with two RBIS including a solo home run in the fourth.
Backup Arkansas catcher Dylan Leach tripled one home and then scored on a wild pitch.
Arkansas starter Caleb Bolden threw four scoreless
innings striking out four against two walks and four hits.
“Bolden got us off to a pretty good start,” Van Horn said. “A little shaky the first couple of hitters, then after that he got in the groove, threw a lot of strikes. The bullpen, I think three out of four of them threw the ball really well.”
Coach Chris Curry’s Trojans scored two in the
fifth against reliever Evan Gray and one in the seventh on Nathan Lyons’ home run against Elijah Trest after Trest’s scoreless sixth.
Marshall Starks and Heston Tole finished each with a scoreless inning.
The Razorbacks, ranked second nationally by D-1 Baseball and the USA Today Coaches polls and No. 1 by Baseball America, take a 24-4 overall record into a
three-game SEC West series Friday through Sunday at Ole Miss.
Arkansas and the hosting Rebels share SEC best in the West at 7-2.
UALR, preferring to call itself Little Rock, takes 12-13 overall and 3-3 Sun Belt Conference records into hosting South Alabama in a 3-game Sun Belt series Friday through Sunday at Little Rock