Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
No runs, no chance
Arkansas pitchers shut out Gonzaga
FAYETTEVILLE — Make it 22 / consecutive scoreless innings for Arkansas’ pitchers.
The No. 4 Razorbacks beat Gonzaga 1-0 on Tuesday night before an announced crowd of 4,436 at Baum Stadium after beating Binghamton 4-0 on Saturday
It was Arkansas’ first 1-0 victory in 17 years, since winning 1-0 at Memphis on May 15, 1995, and the Razorbacks (15-2) posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since the 2007 SEC Tournament when they beat Alabama and South Carolina by 6-0 scores.
Arkansas sophomore first baseman Dominic Ficociello led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a home run to put the Razorbacks ahead 1-0. Ficociello hit a 2-1 pitch from Gonzaga starter Billy Moon ( 1-1) over the rightfield fence into the Bulldogs’ bullpen.
“We came up with a plan the inning before as we came into the dugout,” Ficociello said. “We were telling each other, ‘ Let the fastball get deep, and if he happens to throw you a changeup, your barrel will catch up to it.’
“I was more sitting on a changeup, but I got my stride foot down in time and my barrel caught up to the fastball enough to keep it fair and I got it on the sweet part of the bat.”
Arkansas pitchers Chris Oliver, Cade Lynch, Colby Suggs, Ty Wright and Barrett
Astin combined to shut out the Bulldogs (10-4), who had six hits and left eight runners on base.
Astin picked up his fourth save of the season with 1 2 ⁄
3 scoreless innings, though not without a scare in the eighth when Arkansas center fielder Jacob Morris ran down a drive by cleanup hitter Royce Bolinger with one out and a runner on first.
“That was a bad pitch,” Astin said. “It backed up on me, and it was right over the zone and he hit it pretty good. But Morris is probably the best athlete on the team. That’s why he’s in center field. I trust Morris with anything.”
Astin retired Gonzaga in order in the ninth. He hasn’t allowed a run in 14 2 ⁄ innings
3 this season and has given up only two hits.
“Barrett left a couple up right in the heart of their order [in the eighth] and they didn’t get quite enough of it,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “Then he was lights out in the ninth.”
Gonzaga loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth, but Lynch retired Andy Hunter on a flyout to center to end the scoring threat.
Suggs ( 1- 0) pitched around a leadoff double by Travis Forbes in the seventh, getting the next three batters on a strikeout and two groundouts.
Oliver, a freshman, made his first start and hit leadoff batter Eric Lane with the first pitch but then got a flyout, a groundout and a strikeout and went 3 2 ⁄ innings
3 before Lynch came into the game.
“Chris settled in and got through that first inning,” Van Horn said. “He had good velocity on his fastball. The breaking ball, he struggled with it tonight, so he went to the changeup in the second and third innings and got some ground balls.
“Then our bullpen did a tremendous job after that. They came in and did everything we wanted them to do.”
Van Horn said the Razorbacks’ pitchers are “highcharacter guys” loaded with pride.
“There’s a lot of competition amongst them,” Van Horn said. “I’d call it semifriendly competition. They like each other, and they compete against each other, not just the other team.”
Astin said the pitchers met on an off-day following a 10-9 loss to Valparaiso that dropped the Razorbacks to 8-1. Since that meeting, Arkansas has four shutouts in a nine-game span.
“We realized we’re not good enough yet,” Astin said of the meeting. “Obviously, we’re still not good enough, but we try to get better every day.”
Ficociello said it’s fun to play behind Arkansas’ pitchers.
“We have a confidence in our pitchers when we’re out in the field that they’re going to get the job done, Barrett especially,” Ficociello said. “He comes in and throws lots of strikes. He kind of embarrasses guys sometimes.”
Van Horn said he was impressed by Moon as well as the Bulldogs’ lineup.
“They’ve got a couple good runners at the top, and