Cal Classic Recap

Razorbacks pitching great, not good enough

                The Hogs fell out of the rankings this week after giving an effort that produced a 1-3 record at Evans Diamond in Berkeley, California.  All three losses were by one run and the Razorbacks’ record is now 8-5 with 4 one run losses.  They lost to San Francicsco 2-1 on Friday, blanked Tulane 4-0 on Saturday, and lost their second double header in a row on Sunday, this one to Cal 4-3 and 2-1.  The Diamond Hogs’ pitching staff again displayed brilliant performances but were not backed by the offense and defense it needed to put away games.  Frustration continues in the pitching and coaching staffs as the Hogs will need to solve their hitting woes before heading to the east coast this weekend to play Florida in Gainesville. 

                Offensively the Hogs failed to come up with the big hits again, leaving 31 men on base.  Their .224 average did not help as they relied upon 7 walks and 3 hit batters just to get their on base percentage to .274.  Tyler Spoon led the way for the Hogs with a .375 average.  He pounded out 6 hits 1 double and scored 2 runs.  Brian Anderson had 5 hits and a double on his way to a .313 average and scored 2 runs as well.  Krisjon Wilkerson and Brett McAfee each had 4 hits including a double and 3 RBI between them.  Joe Serrano provided the most run production driving in 3 runs with the benefit of only 1 hit on the weekend. 

                The Razorback pitching staff lowered its ERA this weekend to 1.88 and proved once again that it is up to the challenge of repeating last year’s success.  Holding opponents to 6 earned runs in 34 innings for a 1.59 team ERA over the weekend, the Hogs worked in and out of jams to keep the team in each game until the end.  They held batters to a .180 average but with 5 errors behind them they didn’t get the support they needed to put the games away for the second week in a row. 

                Jalen Beeks threw a brilliant gem of a game on Friday in a losing effort.  He pitched 9 innings and allowed only 1 earned run on 4 hits, 6 strikeouts and 1 walk.  Beeks faced the minimum in 8 innings and pitched 7 perfect.  His pitch total ran up to 110 (75 for strikes) and he will no doubt be the front line starter for the conference season.  In 26.2 innings this season Beeks has not allowed only 2 earned runs for a 0.68 ERA.  Colin Poche pitched 3 shutout innings trying to prove himself ready for a starting bid but ran into trouble after committing back to back balks and giving way to the bullpen to get out of it.  He gave up 1 hit and 4 walks while striking out 1. 

                Chris Oliver struggled over his 6 innings on Sunday giving up 4 earned runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4.  He did not have his best stuff and it was apparent, but without Poche stepping up to take the starting spot he will try and bounce back this weekend at Florida.  Trey Killian provided a big spark on the back end of the rotation with 7 strong innings to bounce back from a less than ideal debut a week ago.  He surrendered 1 earned run on 5 hits and 2 walks with 4 strikeouts.  Coach Dave Van Horn mentioned Killian was battling without his best stuff and was still able to get batters out with regularity.  Having him solidify another spot in the rotation would be a huge shot in the arm for this Razorback squad. 

                The bullpen may have been the MVP for the weekend as they pitched a shutout over 9 innings with 4 hits and 5 walks while striking out 6.  Zach Jackson threw 3.2 of those innings in one appearance striking out 2 while Jacob Stone made two appearances and struck out 3 over 2.1 innings of work.  Jackson now has 12.1 innings without an earned run to start the season.  Dominic Taccolini pitched one perfect inning while Jackson Lowery recorded a walk and a strikeout over 2 innings. 

                This is a deep pitching staff and they will continue to be challenged by the rigors of an SEC schedule.  So far they have stood up to the challenges they have been faced with and those experiences are going to carry over into league play.  The offense is proving to be suspect in the early going and the Diamond Hog nation is hoping they can get the timely hits going forward.  With league play starting up it could not be a moment too soon to get the bats heated up along with the warmer weather.