Here are the key takeaways from @masonchoate...
arkansas.rivals.com
A pair of home runs and strong relief pitching powered Arkansas to a 3-1 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday.
Relief pitchers Zack Morris, Evan Taylor and Brady Tygart combined for 5 ⅔ scoreless innings to limit the dangerous Aggie lineup, while designated hitter Brady Slavens mashed two homers to give Arkansas the advantage it needed on the scoreboard.
Of the three times Arkansas has dropped a series opener this season, it has followed it up with a Game 2 win. The previous two came in the first two series of the year against Illinois State and Southeastern.
After graduate senior Braydon Webb grounded out on the first pitch of the game, Slavens drilled his ninth homer of the year over the wall in right-center to give Arkansas an early 1-0 lead.
Right fielder Chris Lanzilli led the top of the second inning off with a double to the wall in left. He was able to cross home plate on a wild pitch from Aggie starter Micah Dallas to give the Hogs their second run of the game.
Slavens became the first Hog to record double-digit home runs when he led off the third inning with a solo shot to right-center.
After freshman starting pitcher Hagen Smith issued a pair of walks to start the fourth, Texas A&M eventually put a run on the board thanks to a sacrifice fly by Kole Kaler. That ended up being the final run of the game by either team.
“It was really a strange game,” Van Horn said. “The first three innings we score three runs, Slavens hits a couple of home runs, Hagen Smith can’t find the zone…The zone was strange. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Relief pitching was as rock-solid as the Hogs could have asked for. Arkansas’ bats were virtually non-existent after the third inning homer from Slavens, so to have six innings of scoreless relief pitching was key to a victory.
Here are several other key takeaways from Saturday’s win…
Road Woes Continue For Smith
Life on the mound away from Fayetteville has not been easy for Razorback freshman Hagen Smith this season. That trend continued Saturday as he allowed eight base runners in three innings.
Right from the jump, Smith looked uncomfortable at Blue Bell Park. He gave up a double off the left field wall to the lead off hitter and the bases were loaded after a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Pitching coach Matt Hobbs visited Smith prior to him escaping the bases loaded situation with a fly out.
Aside from a walk, Smith’s second inning was a breeze. The third inning presented another tough task for the freshman. He issued a lead-off walk and found himself in trouble when A&M hit a two-out double to put two runners in scoring position. A groundout ended the inning, but the Aggies were beginning to smell blood.
After issuing his fourth and fifth walks to lead off the bottom of the fourth, Smith was pulled from the game. The velocity was not there on his fastball and he was working slower than usual for most of his outing.
“Hagen Smith, he (couldn't) find the zone,” Van Horn said. “I think there were some pitches that were definitely strikes that were called balls.”
In the four games Smith has pitched away from Baum-Walker Stadium, he has an ERA of 8.32 and he has issued 12 walks compared to 10 strikeouts. Saturday’s win was the first Arkansas has earned in a road game that Smith started.
“He walked five in three innings and hit a batter, and we still won the game,” Van Horn said.
Business is Booming for Bullpen
The Arkansas bullpen stepped up in a big way Saturday. The story of the season has been the starting pitching, and the questionable bullpen pitching. Some of those questions have been answered.
Van Horn turned to Morris in the fourth when Smith began to fall apart. In just his second SEC appearance in as many weeks, Morris looked sharp. He threw three innings of one-hit ball and kept the Texas A&M batters quiet.
“I thought Zack Morris came in and did a tremendous job,” Van Horn said. “Gave us three innings. Gave us an opportunity to hold onto a two run lead until we could get it to Taylor and Tygart at the end.”
Big right-hander Zebulon Vermillion entered in the seventh, but did not last long. After throwing nearly a full game in the bullpen, Vermillion allowed three straight batters to reach on solid contact. Van Horn then decided to turn to Taylor for the second day in a row.
Taylor continued to prove his worth as a go-to guy out of the pen with his 1 ⅔ innings. He allowed just one hit, no walks and struck out two batters.
“He told us today he felt great,” Van Horn said. “We thought, let’s just put him out there today if we need him, and we did.”
As per usual, Tygart entered the game in the ninth inning to shut things down. He recorded two quick outs and after allowing a single to A&M’s Jack Moss, he recorded a fly out to snag his sixth save of the season.
“I feel like Brady would probably be able to go against tomorrow if we needed him,” Van Horn said of Tygart.
Big Hit Brady
It was not very long ago that not many people would not bat an eye if Slavens was not in the Razorback lineup. Now, he has the hottest bat of any Arkansas player and he powered the Hogs to their victory Saturday.
Slavens has looked comfortable in the two-hole for the Hogs, and he smashed two homers in his first two plate appearances Saturday. Both of the long balls were hit to right-center, one of which sailed at least 400 feet.
“(Dallas) was mixing his pitches really well,” Slavens said. “Luckily I saw a couple up in the zone and put a good swing on it.”
Coming into this series, Slavens had been hitting with a .467 average and .480 on-base percentage in the month of April. He failed to reach base Friday, but made up for it with the early homers Saturday.
Slavens did not have another hit aside from the long balls, but he managed to draw two walks. His poise and decision-making at the plate has come a long way from the player we saw early this season.
“I think I’m seeing (the ball) pretty well,” Slavens said. “I’m being a lot more patient at the plate, which I like. Sometimes when things are going your way, you’ve just got to settle down and keep going.”
Other Tidbits
~ Braydon Webb hit in the leadoff spot for Arkansas on Saturday. It was the first time that Cayden Wallace did not hit leadoff since March 5.
~ After failing to reach base while batting in the eight-hole Friday, Zack Gregory reached base on a walk in his first at bat Saturday.
~ Dylan Leach pinch hit for Zack Gregory for the second day in a row. It was just the second appearance in SEC play for Leach this season. He struck out in his plate appearance.
~ After a controversial final at bat that saw a strike called on a ball that hit Cayden Wallace, he struck out for the fourth time on the day. It was the first four-strikeout game of Wallace’s Razorback career, and just the fourth time he has recorded at least three strikeouts in a game.
Up Next
The Hogs and Aggies will get together Sunday for a rubber match. Sophomore righty Jaxon Wiggins (4.66 ERA, 48.1 IP) will get the start for Arkansas. The starter for Texas A&M has yet to be announced.
The game will be streamed on the SEC Network-Plus.
BOX SCORE
HawgBeat - Key takeaways, box score from Arkansas' Game 2 win at Texas A&M
HawgBeat brings you all the key takeaways from Arkansas' Game 2 win at Texas A&M on Saturday.
arkansas.rivals.com
A pair of home runs and strong relief pitching powered Arkansas to a 3-1 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday.
Relief pitchers Zack Morris, Evan Taylor and Brady Tygart combined for 5 ⅔ scoreless innings to limit the dangerous Aggie lineup, while designated hitter Brady Slavens mashed two homers to give Arkansas the advantage it needed on the scoreboard.
Of the three times Arkansas has dropped a series opener this season, it has followed it up with a Game 2 win. The previous two came in the first two series of the year against Illinois State and Southeastern.
After graduate senior Braydon Webb grounded out on the first pitch of the game, Slavens drilled his ninth homer of the year over the wall in right-center to give Arkansas an early 1-0 lead.
Right fielder Chris Lanzilli led the top of the second inning off with a double to the wall in left. He was able to cross home plate on a wild pitch from Aggie starter Micah Dallas to give the Hogs their second run of the game.
Slavens became the first Hog to record double-digit home runs when he led off the third inning with a solo shot to right-center.
After freshman starting pitcher Hagen Smith issued a pair of walks to start the fourth, Texas A&M eventually put a run on the board thanks to a sacrifice fly by Kole Kaler. That ended up being the final run of the game by either team.
“It was really a strange game,” Van Horn said. “The first three innings we score three runs, Slavens hits a couple of home runs, Hagen Smith can’t find the zone…The zone was strange. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Relief pitching was as rock-solid as the Hogs could have asked for. Arkansas’ bats were virtually non-existent after the third inning homer from Slavens, so to have six innings of scoreless relief pitching was key to a victory.
Here are several other key takeaways from Saturday’s win…
Road Woes Continue For Smith
Life on the mound away from Fayetteville has not been easy for Razorback freshman Hagen Smith this season. That trend continued Saturday as he allowed eight base runners in three innings.
Right from the jump, Smith looked uncomfortable at Blue Bell Park. He gave up a double off the left field wall to the lead off hitter and the bases were loaded after a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Pitching coach Matt Hobbs visited Smith prior to him escaping the bases loaded situation with a fly out.
Aside from a walk, Smith’s second inning was a breeze. The third inning presented another tough task for the freshman. He issued a lead-off walk and found himself in trouble when A&M hit a two-out double to put two runners in scoring position. A groundout ended the inning, but the Aggies were beginning to smell blood.
After issuing his fourth and fifth walks to lead off the bottom of the fourth, Smith was pulled from the game. The velocity was not there on his fastball and he was working slower than usual for most of his outing.
“Hagen Smith, he (couldn't) find the zone,” Van Horn said. “I think there were some pitches that were definitely strikes that were called balls.”
In the four games Smith has pitched away from Baum-Walker Stadium, he has an ERA of 8.32 and he has issued 12 walks compared to 10 strikeouts. Saturday’s win was the first Arkansas has earned in a road game that Smith started.
“He walked five in three innings and hit a batter, and we still won the game,” Van Horn said.
Business is Booming for Bullpen
The Arkansas bullpen stepped up in a big way Saturday. The story of the season has been the starting pitching, and the questionable bullpen pitching. Some of those questions have been answered.
Van Horn turned to Morris in the fourth when Smith began to fall apart. In just his second SEC appearance in as many weeks, Morris looked sharp. He threw three innings of one-hit ball and kept the Texas A&M batters quiet.
“I thought Zack Morris came in and did a tremendous job,” Van Horn said. “Gave us three innings. Gave us an opportunity to hold onto a two run lead until we could get it to Taylor and Tygart at the end.”
Big right-hander Zebulon Vermillion entered in the seventh, but did not last long. After throwing nearly a full game in the bullpen, Vermillion allowed three straight batters to reach on solid contact. Van Horn then decided to turn to Taylor for the second day in a row.
Taylor continued to prove his worth as a go-to guy out of the pen with his 1 ⅔ innings. He allowed just one hit, no walks and struck out two batters.
“He told us today he felt great,” Van Horn said. “We thought, let’s just put him out there today if we need him, and we did.”
As per usual, Tygart entered the game in the ninth inning to shut things down. He recorded two quick outs and after allowing a single to A&M’s Jack Moss, he recorded a fly out to snag his sixth save of the season.
“I feel like Brady would probably be able to go against tomorrow if we needed him,” Van Horn said of Tygart.
Big Hit Brady
It was not very long ago that not many people would not bat an eye if Slavens was not in the Razorback lineup. Now, he has the hottest bat of any Arkansas player and he powered the Hogs to their victory Saturday.
Slavens has looked comfortable in the two-hole for the Hogs, and he smashed two homers in his first two plate appearances Saturday. Both of the long balls were hit to right-center, one of which sailed at least 400 feet.
“(Dallas) was mixing his pitches really well,” Slavens said. “Luckily I saw a couple up in the zone and put a good swing on it.”
Coming into this series, Slavens had been hitting with a .467 average and .480 on-base percentage in the month of April. He failed to reach base Friday, but made up for it with the early homers Saturday.
Slavens did not have another hit aside from the long balls, but he managed to draw two walks. His poise and decision-making at the plate has come a long way from the player we saw early this season.
“I think I’m seeing (the ball) pretty well,” Slavens said. “I’m being a lot more patient at the plate, which I like. Sometimes when things are going your way, you’ve just got to settle down and keep going.”
Other Tidbits
~ Braydon Webb hit in the leadoff spot for Arkansas on Saturday. It was the first time that Cayden Wallace did not hit leadoff since March 5.
~ After failing to reach base while batting in the eight-hole Friday, Zack Gregory reached base on a walk in his first at bat Saturday.
~ Dylan Leach pinch hit for Zack Gregory for the second day in a row. It was just the second appearance in SEC play for Leach this season. He struck out in his plate appearance.
~ After a controversial final at bat that saw a strike called on a ball that hit Cayden Wallace, he struck out for the fourth time on the day. It was the first four-strikeout game of Wallace’s Razorback career, and just the fourth time he has recorded at least three strikeouts in a game.
Up Next
The Hogs and Aggies will get together Sunday for a rubber match. Sophomore righty Jaxon Wiggins (4.66 ERA, 48.1 IP) will get the start for Arkansas. The starter for Texas A&M has yet to be announced.
The game will be streamed on the SEC Network-Plus.
BOX SCORE
