HawgBeat - Diamond Hogs run-rule SEMO, extend winning streak to 14 games
A 10-run sixth inning provided the cushion Arkansas needed to run-rule the Redhawks on Tuesday afternoon.
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FAYETTEVILLE — A gloomy Tuesday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium was looking incredibly favorable for under bettors, but a wild sixth inning flipped the game script completely.
The No. 5 Diamond Hogs took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, when they batted around without recording an out. By the time the inning reached its end, Arkansas led Southeast Missouri State by 11 runs and needed just three outs to defeat the Redhawks by a 12-2 final score for its 14th straight victory.
"It’s been a great homestand for us," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "We’ve learned a lot about our team. I think the guys are enjoying hanging out with each other and playing hard. They’re pulling for each other and I just felt like it was a chance to get some other guys in there. Yeah, I don’t want to lose the game, but at the same time, I have to get some of these guys some experience. I’m just glad it worked out for us."
A reserve-filled Arkansas lineup produced the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Left fielder Jared Wegner — the only regular starter — laced a double 110 mph to left field, advanced to third on third baseman Caleb Cali’s single and scored on a fielder’s choice.
SEMO starter Eddie White only worked the first inning, throwing 23 pitches and escaping with two men stranded. He gave way to fellow righty Esteban Hernandez, who put up an admirable effort opposite Razorback starter Ben Bybee.
"Bybee threw the ball pretty well,"" Van Horn said. "Didn’t have the velocity he had last week, but had a good breaking ball. Didn’t command it really after the first, second inning. Three walks. Take away the walks, he had a good outing."
The pair kept opposing batters hitless until the fourth, with the exception of a high chopper off the bat of catcher Hudson Polk that deflected off Hernandez’s glove.
Batters were finally able to loosen up in the middle innings, as the Hogs and Redhawks exchanged one-out solo shots in the fourth. SEMO left fielder Josh Cameron leveled the score at 1-1, recording the first and only hit of the day against Bybee, and first baseman Reese Robinett put Arkansas back on top with an opposite-field blast in the home half.
"Not a great day to be a hitter," Van Horn said. "Wind blowing in hard from right field, the ball is going to travel a little bit down the left field line. Robinett showed us that if you hit the ball left-handed, you can get that ball to kind of slice out and that’s what he did."
Bybee turned the ball over to lefty Zack Morris, who pitched into and out of a jam with two outs in the fifth. Two quick strikeouts preceded a bunt single, a hit batsman and a walk, but a long flyout allowed him to escape unscathed.
Morris rebounded with a perfect top of the sixth, extending his streak of innings without an earned run allowed to five.
It was in the bottom of that frame that the Razorbacks finally broke the game open, parading nine straight batters around the bases to achieve the margin necessary for a run-rule victory.
Cali reached on a throwing error to get the party started, and Coll, designated hitter Jayson Jones and Robinett moved the line with hits against two different Redhawk pitchers. The bottom of the Razorback order drew three walks against the third arm, and the fourth conceded RBI knocks to right fielder Hunter Grimes and Wegner.
"That was just real fun seeing everybody compete and just fight," Robinett said. "No matter if it was a walk or a big hit, it just kind of passed down to the next guy in the lineup."
Coll’s two-run double, his second two-bagger of the inning, achieved the 10-run difference necessary for the run rule to take effect in the next frame, but it was the next run that was the most important.
Jones reached on yet another throwing error by the third baseman, which allowed Coll to score the 12th run. The Redhawks were able to cut it to 12-2 with one in the seventh, but Morris was able to lock down the save and send everyone home early.
"I do believe he’s getting better and he’s making a move," Van Horn said of Morris. "That was really good to see. The guy push bunted on him with two outs, it was a great bunt, then he hits a guy in the foot with a slider and you’re kind of going, ‘Wow.’ Next thing you know, man, the game’s… We only have a one-run lead, he was in jeopardy a little bit there as far as keeping that lead. He found a way to get that last hitter out even though that ball was hit hard."
Arkansas will hit the road for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a three-game set with No. 1 LSU, beginning at 7 p.m. Friday. All three games will be on national television, with the opener on ESPN2.
"With them being the No. 1 team in the nation, it’s going to be even crazier than it was in ‘21, so I’m eager to go down there," Morris said. "I’m sure it’s going to be noisy, but why else would you come play in the SEC?"
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