Week 2 Recap

Razorbacks sweep second series, improve to 6-0

                The No. 24 Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team won all three games against the Eastern Illinois Panthers this weekend in front of a total actual attendance of 10,551.  It took a team effort in all three wins as the starting pitching held strong in the first two games, the bullpen turned in gutsy efforts Sunday, and the offense showed that it can come back to win in the late innings.  Arkansas won the first game 6-2 and overcame early struggles to win the last two games 8-3.  Overall, this Diamond Hogs team grew this weekend against a team that showed a lot of grit offensively and in the starting rotation.

                Friday afternoon junior Jalen Beeks (2-0, 0.00, 11.2 innings) turned in another stellar performance (5.2, 3H, 2BB, 5K) to prove his worthiness of consideration to stay in the rotation when Trey Killian returns next weekend.  Landon Simpson came on in relief to throw 2.1 shutout innings while Lance Phillips closed out the last inning giving up 2 runs, only 1 being earned.  The staff kept the Panthers from making the most of their 6 hits, leaving 7 runners stranded.

                Offensively the Razorbacks were outhit 4 to 6 and committed 2 errors to EIU’s 1 but were still able to push enough runs across the plate to win the game.  Freshman Andrew Benintendi, who hit all weekend, recorded his first hit on a RBI double off the wall and recorded another double in the game going 2-4 with a run scored as well.  The only other two Hogs to record a hit were freshman Clark Eagan and sophomore Tyler Spoon who also drove in 1 run on a double.  Juniors Brian Anderson and Eric Fisher also drove in runs without the use of a hit. 

                Saturday starter junior Chris Oliver (1-0, 0.82, 11 innings) gave a quality start for the second week in a row going 6 innings with 4 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.  Sophomore Colin Poche (0-0, 3.86, 2.2 IP, 4K) pitched 1.1 innings, giving up 1 earned run on 2 walks and striking out 3.  Junior Jackson Lowery ran into even more trouble surrendering 2 earned runs on 3 hits and 1 strikeout while only recording 1 out.  Junior Michael Gunn came through to close out the last 1.1 innings perfectly, striking out 1 batter. 

                Arkansas was able to put together a complete game Saturday, pounding out 10 hits and not committing an error.  The Hogs found another offensive weapon Saturday in sophomore Michael Bernal (3-3, 3B, RBI, 3 R).  Bernal made a case to become the everyday third baseman as he also flashed the leather on two outstanding plays in clutch situations.  Anderson and junior Joe Serrano were both 2-4 with a run scored and 3 and 2 RBI respectively.  Anderson knocked in all 3 of his runs on an 8^th inning home run to put the game out of reach late after EIU had scored 3 in the top of the inning.  Benintendi added an RBI on 1 hit while Eagan and senior Jake Wise each had a hit.

                Sunday was another exciting finish and the Diamond Hogs had to use 6 pitchers to finish off the pesky Panthers.  Freshman Alex Phillips, in his second start of the young season, struggled again with his command and walked 3 batters with 1 hit and 1 strikeout in 2 innings.  Dave Van Horn decided the struggles in a no run ball game were worthy of going to the bullpen early.  Freshman Zach Jackson impressed in long relief throwing 3 shutout innings with 3 hits, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.  Jackson worked in and out of trouble, keeping batters off balanced with his velocity and off speed combination. 

                Freshman Dominic Taccolini came on for one impressive inning before hitting two batters for the second consecutive outing.  Sophomore Landon Simpson then came in to put out the fire but only got 1 batter out and allowed an unearned run with 1 walk.  Junior Jacob Stone recorded an impressive and much needed 1.2 innings giving up only 1 hit and 1 walk.  Then Gunn again came on late to close out the game.  He got into some trouble giving up 2 hits and a walk while walking 1 batter, but was able to escape unscathed in the run category.

                It was another heroic ending as the Hogs scored 6 runs in the final two innings and bashed another 10 hits with 1 error.  Benintendi (2-4, 3R, 2B, 2 RBI) continued his spectacular weekend hitting exhibition while Anderson (2-3, 1R, 2B, 1RBI), Spoon (2-4, 1R, 2B, 3RBI) and Fisher (2-4) all contributed as well.  Spoon was the one who came through in a big way late in the game this time.  With runners on second and third with 2 outs the Panthers opted to walk Anderson, remembering what he did to them a day earlier.  Spoon took offense and took the ball to the left center gap to clear the bases with a double.  It was hopefully a foretaste of the trouble these two hitters will cause for pitchers this season.  Bernal scored 2 runs as well on 1 hit while junior Brett McAfee drove in 2 runs on 1 hit.

                The Razorbacks took care of business both offensively and defensively when they needed to this weekend and they were awarded with the series sweep.  The pitching staff gave up only 5 earned runs in 27 innings (1.67) and hit only 3 batters.  Head coach Dave Van Horn is slowly finding out who is going to be reliable on the bump this season.  He has been fortunate to have his team find themselves in tough situations early to see who can come in or stay in to get the outs.  Gunn, Jackson and Stone have shown grit out of the bullpen while Beeks and Oliver have more than proven themselves as elite starters.  One thing Van Horn is not going to have much patience for is allowing batters free passes to the bases on walks or HBP.  Throwing strikes is a must if you are planning on pitching in this league. 

                The offense showed great patience this week taking 11 walks and 7 HBP.  They also produced 24 hits (.258), 10 of which went for extra bases.  The most impressive offensive stat this week was how many runs were scored in the 5^th inning or later (17 out of 22).  This statistic shows that the Hogs were able run the pitch count up on skilled starters and get into a less than impressive bullpen to wreak havoc.  Scoring late in games and not giving up are things that are going to drive this team to win close games later in the season. 

                

                The Diamond Hogs will take the week off before facing off in a three game series Friday through Sunday against South Alabama and one game on Monday against Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne.