Stars of the Week (Week 4)

Freshman of the Week

Zach Jackson:  Yes, Jackson is now the three-time reigning FOW, but for good reason.  The righty out of Berryhill, OK was stellar in another relief outing on Saturday night against a very potent Tulane offensive attack.  Jackson worked 3.2 innings of scoreless relief, giving up 3 hits and surrendering 2 walks while also striking out two Green Wave batters.  Perhaps his most impressive feat came when Jackson pitched his way out of a jam with two runners on base and no outs when he came on in the fourth.

Pitcher of the Week

Jalen Beeks:  It’s not often we will give the POW honors to a pitcher who performs in a losing effort, but Beeks deserves every bit of the praise.  The junior left-hander from Prairie Grove was flat out dominant at times Friday evening.  Beeks went the distance in the Hogs opener, pitching the first complete game of his Arkansas career while managing to throw just 110 pitches (by comparison the opposing pitcher threw 117 pitches over seven innings).  Beeks did a excellent job of keeping batters off balance by mixing speeds and hitting corners all game.  He surrendered just four hits on the night and gave up one unearned run while striking out six and walking one.  Beeks certainly deserved a better fate than being saddled with the loss in such an impressive effort.

Hitter of the Week

Tyler Spoon:  Let’s be honest, in a weekend that saw the Razorbacks hit just .224 as a team and leave 31 total runners on base, there really was not much to choose from in the hitting department.  Spoon was the most consistent Razorback hitter of the tournament recording a .375 average while collecting 6 hits over the four game span.  His best performance of the weekend came on Friday night when Spoon went 3 for 4 at the plate and scored a run.  Here’s hoping we have a tough time choosing the HOW next week too, but for the opposite reason.

Tip of the Cap

Trey Killian:  One of the more exciting stories in an otherwise disappointing weekend was the performance of Killian on Sunday.  In only his second outing of the season the sophomore from Mountain Home looked as if he is returning to his early season form from a year ago.  The righty pitched seven gutsy innings on a day when Coach Dave Van Horn said Killian “really didn’t have his best stuff.”  He managed to scatter five hits and allowed just one earned run while striking out one and not giving up a walk.  Hog fans will be happy to see numbers like that from Killian heading into the conference season.

Hogs Bullpen:  The entire Arkansas bullpen deserves praise for the way they pitched over the weekend in California.  Six Razorback pitchers combined to throw 9 scoreless innings while surrendering just four hits and striking out six.  The only downfall may have been the walks.  Five times Hogs relievers issued a base on balls which, as we all know, can lead to lots of grey hairs for coaches.  Overall, the bullpen did an excellent job of coming in and getting the job done when called upon.