Arkansas defensive back talked with the media after they once again won the belt over the offense in practice Wednesday.
Razorbacks’ rally falls short in 2-1 midweek home loss to Tulsa
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas dropped its third-s traight game on Wednesday, falling to Tulsa, 2-1, getting the winning run on base in the seventh, but leaving a pair of runners stranded.
Arkansas (19-6, 1-2) jumped out to a one-run lead in the first inning, with the night’s lone RBI coming from starting catcher, freshman Taylor Greene.
The offensive fire in the first inning looked to be the start of an exciting evening, but the Razorbacks just couldn’t maintain their momentum in the following innings.
Tulsa (14-8, 0-0) responded with a run of its own in the top of the second to tie the game, a solo home run far over the left-field wall. The home run was the fourth given up by sophomore Mary Haff this season.
The Golden Hurricane took the lead in the fifth inning off back-to-back base hits from Alexis Perry and Rylie Spell, with Spell’s double bringing in Perry for the winning run.
Now trailing, 2-1, Arkansas would look to Autumn Storms for help in the circle. Storms entered and pitched two innings, giving up no additional runs and only one hit, dishing out 15 strikes in 19 pitches.
Diaz went 2-for-4 at the plate for Arkansas and was the lone Hog to cross the plate, off Greene’s bat in the first. It was Diaz’ 45th multi-hit game in the cardinal and white.
The Razorbacks’ will be back in action on Friday as they pick back up in SEC play, hosting South Carolina beginning on Friday at 6:00 pm (CT). Two of the three games during the conference series will be broadcast on SEC Network +: Friday (March 15) and Sunday (March 17).
Strong pitching leads Hogs to run-rule win over Western Illinois
FAYETTEVILLE — Pitching led the way once again for 10th-ranked Arkansas on Wednesday as five Hog hurlers combined for only four hits allowed and 10 strikeouts in an 11-1 eight-inning victory over Western Illinois at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Prior to the game, both head coaches from Arkansas and Western Illinois agreed to put a run-rule in place if either team had a 10-run lead after seven innings were played.
The Razorbacks reached that limit in the bottom of the eighth as pinch hitter Matt Goodheart singled home the winning run in his only plate appearance of the day.
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Marshall Denton made his first start of his career and worked three scoreless innings, giving up only two hits, no walks, and tallying three strikeouts.
Freshmen Evan Taylor and Elijah Trest followed, then Zebulon Vermillion and Liam Henry finished the final two innings.
Denton has only given up one earned run in his 10 innings this season and struck out 15. Wednesday’s three-inning outing was his second-longest of his career and the strikeout total was the second-most as well.
The combo of Denton followed by Taylor was practically untouchable. Taylor, making his fifth appearance of the year, threw two hitless innings, allowing only one walk and he struck out a season-high four. Taylor has yet to give up a run in his 5.1 innings this year and has only walk three.
Offensively, Casey Martin, Trevor Ezell, Dominic Fletcher and Jacob Nesbit all turned in multi-hit games. Fletcher drove in a team-best three RBIs, one off a sacrifice fly in the fourth and the other two off a hard-hit double to straightaway centerfield, making it 9-1 Razorbacks.
It was Fletcher’s second multi-hit performance in four games and first three-RBI game of the season. He’s also reached base in seven-straight games dating back to the series finale against Stony Brook on March 2.
Arkansas (14-2) was well on its way to logging its third-consecutive shutout before the Leathernecks scored its lone run in the sixth inning. It snapped a streak of 23-consecutive scoreless innings thrown by the Razorback pitching staff going back to its 11-0 shutout of Louisiana Tech last Sunday.
Not only have the runs been at a premium, but the strikeout-to-walk ratio continues to climb as the team heads into conference play against Missouri this weekend.
After 16 games, Arkansas pitchers have racked up 183 strikeouts to 45 walks, good for a 4.07 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Wednesday’s game against Western Illinois marked the ninth time in the last 10 games that Hog pitchers have struck out 10 or more and ninth time they’ve walked two or less.
Razorback quotables
“I thought that Marshall Denton did a great job getting us off to a good start on a windy day. He didn’t give them anything, no walks, just kept throwing strikes and we fielded the ball and got back in the dugout. Pretty much everyone we put out there did their job. I think we walked them one time on the day and gave up four or five hits, but we were never really in any danger of giving up a big inning, so that was good.” — Coach Dave Van Horn on Marshall Denton’s start and the rest of the pitching staff
I feel like everybody’s healthy. That’s always a big concern. We’ve played 16 games and the competition is varied. I thought for the most part, you take away maybe four or five innings throughout the first 16 games, we’ve played pretty solid defense and made some really good plays in the field. We’ve thrown a lot of strikes. We don’t walk a lot of people. I think anytime you’re coaching a team in baseball and you feel like the team is going to make the other team beat you, because we haven’t been beating ourselves too much. That’s how you knock off some wins..” — Van Horn on the way the team is playing heading into conference play
“It’s going to be awesome. I’m expecting a big crowd on Friday night opening weekend of SEC play. Both teams are going to be amped up to play since we’re finally going into conference play. The hard part of the season starts now, so I’m ready to go. Just ready to touch the rubber on 6:30 Friday night.” — Isaiah Campbell on getting the ball on Friday night against Missouri
Up Next
Arkansas opens SEC play this weekend against Missouri with a three-game set starting on Friday at Baum-Walker Stadium.
First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network+.
???? Wednesday Halftime Pod — featuring Bill King of Nashville Sports Radio
Phil Elson & Tye Richardson hit on financial athletic support for Arkansas, interview Bill King of Nashville Sports Radio, plus What If’s in Arkansas sports history!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday
John & Tommy discuss SEC Tournament venues, Arkansas’ football ceiling, plus get Tyler Wilson’s take on recruiting to Fayetteville!
Van Horn on Hogs’ solid play in 11-0 shutout over Western Illinois
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn recapped the win over Leathernecks to open midweek series and said Wednesday’s game still planned for 3 p.m., but “we’ll wake up in the morning and look at the weather” and see what happens.
Hogs get second straight shutout behind Wicklander, Kjerstad’s big night
FAYETTEVILLE — For the second-straight game, 10th-ranked Arkansas pitched a shutout, giving up only one hit to Western Illinois Tuesday night and winning 8-0 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Freshman left-hander Patrick Wicklander, making his second consecutive midweek start, matched his season-high five innings pitched and eight strikeouts, while giving up just one hit. Over his last 12 innings going back to Feb. 27 against Memphis, Wicklander has struck out 21 and given up only three hits.
Kole Ramage, Jacob Kostyshock, Kevin Kopps and Matt Cronin all followed Wicklander, working one inning each and striking out six while walking only two.
Arkansas’ (13-2) pitching staff has been nearly unhittable over the last three weeks, striking out 10 or more in eight of the last nine games. Over that same stretch, the starters have struck out 63 batters and walked only 10.
On the offensive side, the Razorbacks produced at least one run in six different innings and got home runs from Casey Martin and Heston Kjerstad.
Kjerstad completed a perfect 4-for-4 game at the plate and fell a double short of the cycle, while Martin finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Kjerstad tripled in his first at-bat, his first triple of his career, and then singled in the fifth before hitting his opposite-field home run in the seventh.
He had the opportunity to complete the cycle in the eighth but singled through the right side, which was followed by a Jack Kenley sacrifice fly.
Kjerstad heating up
Sophomore outfielder Heston Kjerstad did not have the best start to his second season when he was 8-for-36 (.222) after eight games.
Since then, the Amarillo, Texas native is batting an even .500 (15-for-30) with five multi-hit games, four with three hits or more, and slugging .767 with five extra-base hits and six RBIs.
For the year, Kjerstad is now batting .348, good for third on the team.
One-hitter history
The five-pitcher combination of Wicklander, Ramage, Kostyshock, Kopps and Cronin combined to throw a one-hitter Tuesday night against Western Illinois, the first combined one-hitter by an Arkansas pitching staff since Kacey Murphy and Matt Cronin teamed up for a seven-inning one-hitter against South Carolina on April 14, 2018.
That game was shortened due to playing a doubleheader on the final day of the series. The last combined nine-inning one-hitter came in 2017 against Memphis in North Little Rock. Murphy and Josh Alberius combined in a 2-0 victory.
Razorback quotables
“I thought it was a great job by our pitching staff, obviously. Patrick Wicklander got us off to a good start, we had him on a pitch limit of about 70 to 75, so we can still have him available for Sunday if we need him. He just pounded the zone, had a few counts of 3-2, and I think he walked just one hitter, but for the most part, just threw a lot of strikes. A lot of fastballs and started mixing up a few changeups which were good to see I think in about the third.” — Coach Dave Van Horn on the win over Western Illinois and Patrick Wicklander
“Yeah because that’s what he did last year when he kind of got hot. I think he has two home runs on the year and the first one he hit was maybe the first or second game of the year and he pulled it and crushed it. We haven’t really seen him pull a ball like that before, we just saw it in practice and maybe he’s trying to do too much. Now, he’s just back to his same old self and there was a little timing issue that I think he’s got worked out. He seems to be pretty confident.” — Van Horn on the uptick in production from Heston Kjerstad
Up next
Arkansas finishes the series with the Leathernecks on Wednesday with a 3 p.m. first pitch at Baum-Walker Stadium. The game will be broadcast online on SEC Network+.
Kjerstad, Wicklander on big nights in Tuesday’s win over Leathernecks
Heston Kjerstad broke out of a slump with a 4-for-4 effort (single, triple and homer) while Patrick Wicklander had another solid performance on the mound in the Razorbacks’ 11-0 win over Western Illinois on Tuesday night.
Gafford earns first team All-SEC honors; Joe named to freshman team
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas sophomore Daniel Gafford was voted consensus first team All-SEC (coaches and The Associated Press) as well as being and named to the SEC All-Defensive Team by the league’s coaches.
Isaiah Joe was voted to the SEC All-Freshman Team, it was announced today.
Gafford is the 12th first team All-SEC selection by the coaches for Arkansas and the sixth SEC All-Defensive Team honor. Gafford and Lee Mayberry (1992) are the only two Razorbacks to earn first team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team in the same season.
Gafford joins Bobby Portis (2-15), Ronnie Brewer (2006), Scotty Thurman (11994 and ’95), Corliss Williamson (1994 and ’95), Todd Day (1992) and Lee Mayberry (1992) as consensus first team All-SEC picks.
Joe is the 18th Razorback to be named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Gafford, from El Dorado, leads the SEC in field goal percentage (.660), rebounding (8.7) and offensive rebounding (2.87) while ranking third in blocked shots (2.06), third in defensive rebounds (5.87) and fourth in scoring (17.0).
He is the only player in the SEC to rank among the top five in each of these categories. He additionally leads the SEC in field goals made and ranks third in double-doubles.
The two-time SEC Player of the Week ranks sixth nationally in field goal percentage and leads the SEC in the category by 91 percentage points.
Gafford is one of two players in the NCAA to average at least 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots while shooting at least 60 percent.
Gafford scored a career-high 32 points versus LSU this season and ended the regular season by grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds and scoring 29 points, his second-best career output.
On the defensive end, Gafford is a dominant force in the paint. He has turned away 64 shots and leads the Razorbacks with 149 deflections — 50 more than the next closest on the team.
Joe, from Fort Smith Northside, has not only had one of the best rookie campaigns in school history, but he is producing one the best in SEC and even NCAA history.
He has made 106 3-pointers to date to set the Arkansas single-season record for triples made in a season. (Scotty Thurman previously held the mark with 102 in 1995.) Joe leads the SEC in 3-pointers made per game (3.42) and 3-point percentage (.429).
He is looking to join Tennessee’s Chris Lofton (2005) as the only freshmen to lead the league in both categories. Joe additionally ranks second among all NCAA freshman in both 3-pointers made and percentage.
Joe only needs to make three more 3-pointers to rank among the NCAA top six for 3-pointers made in a season by a freshman. Joe ranks second in SEC history for 3-pointers made in a season by a freshman with the record being 113.
Joe also is a standout on the defensive end as he leads the team in steals, ranking 10th in the SEC, while leading the team in charges taken with 24. Joe is tied for the team lead with 96 defections, including seven in two of the last four.
Arkansas, the ninth seed, will face eighth-seeded Florida on Thursday (March 14) at the 2019 SEC Tournament. Tip-off is set for Noon at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
???? Tuesday Halftime Pod — featuring Nikki Chavanelle
Phil & Tye hit on the college admissions cheating scandal, interview Nikki Chavanelle, plus Get Off My Lawn!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday
John, Tommy, & Tyler Wilson discuss spring football updates, the QB battle and more!
