FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 3 Arkansas baseball team (16-1, 0-0 SEC) picked up its 12th straight win Tuesday evening with a 9-2 victory over the Central Arkansas Bears (5-9, 0-0 ASUN) in a midweek in-state matchup.
The big inning for Arkansas was a five-spot in the bottom of the fourth, which featured an RBI knock from third baseman Brent Iredale — who also homered in the game — and a three-run home run from first baseman Cam Kozeal. The duo of Iredale and Kozeal combined for seven runs batted in.
Seven of the Razorbacks' total runs batted in came with two outs and they were 3-for-5 at the plate with runners in scoring position. UCA out-hit the Hogs by one (7-6), but the Bears were just 3-for-12 batting with runners in scoring position and they left 10 runners on base in the contest.
Arkansas starting pitcher Colin Fisher struck out three batters and walked none while allowing just one hit across three scoreless innings. The Hogs tossed four relievers after Fisher, including freshman lefty Cole Gibler, who struck out four and allowed one earned run across two innings.
The only action in the first inning for either team on offense was a one-out double by UCA third baseman Nathan Negre that Fisher managed to work around fairly easily. Arkansas got the scoring going the next inning with a 403-foot two-run home run from third baseman Brent Iredale, his seventh this year, that made it a 2-0 lead after two innings of play.
Fisher worked his second straight three up, three down frame in the top of the third inning. After Iredale took the team lead in homers during the second inning, designated hitter Kuhio Aloy tied him with a 408-foot two-run home run to the Hog Pen in left field to double the Hogs' lead, 4-0.
Junior right-hander Ben Bybee relieved Fisher to start the top of the fourth inning. He allowed three singles in his first four batters faced, and the third was an RBI knock that cut the Hogs' lead to 4-1, but Bybee induced a double-play right after to limit the damage.
The Razorbacks recorded two outs in their first three at bats of the bottom of the fourth inning, but back-to-back hit by pitches put runners on for an Iredale two-run single, which was followed by a 353-foot three-run home run from Kozeal to left field that made it a 9-1 lead after four innings.
After both teams went scoreless in the fifth inning, the Hogs turned to veteran righty Dylan Carter for the top of the sixth inning. The Bentonville (Ark.) native worked around two singles to leadoff the inning and a two-out walk to leave the bases loaded.
Freshman left-hander Cole Gibler picked up two strikeouts and a walk to start the top of the seventh inning for the Hogs, but the Bears did manage to tag Gibler for an RBI single to make it 9-2. Rogers Heritage High School product Coleman MacRae impressively struck out the side for UCA in the bottom half of the seventh.
Neither team could take advantage of putting a runner on with one out in the eighth inning. The Razorbacks turned to right-hander Will McEntire for the top of the ninth, and he erased a one out hit by pitch with back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
Up next, Arkansas will hit the road to open Southeastern Conference play Friday against Ole Miss at Swayze Field in Oxford, Mississippi. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Box Score
