Razorbacks outlast Trojans in pitcher's duel for home midweek finale

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas beat the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans 4-0 Wednesday, despite a mundane performance from the offense, behind a five-hit shutout from six different pitchers. It's the first time Arkansas has thrown back-to-back shutouts since doing it to open the SEC slate in 2024 against Missouri.

"We played solid defense for two days." coach Dave Van Horn said. "Just didn’t give them anything. Wasn’t like a big-time offensive day for us."

A day after scoring 10 runs on 11 hits, Arkansas managed just five singles in the first six innings and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. However, the Hogs did manage two runs in the third after Charles Davalan and Wehiwa Aloy led off the inning with back-to-back base hits.

Arkansas scratched across the runs on a bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch.

That would be plenty of offense for the combination of Colin Fisher, Steele Eaves, Cole Gibler and Ben Bybee. The pitching staff only let two runners reach second base all night and the Trojans only had two at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy added an insurance run with his 16th homer of the year to lead off the seventh. He is now just one homer away from entering the top 10 in Razorback history for single season homers.

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Van Horn said on the pregame radio show that Colin Fisher would go roughly two innings in an effort to keep him available for the SEC series against Florida. On cue, Fisher's night was done after just 26 pitches in two scoreless frames. Steele Eaves and Cole Gibler combined for two innings each in relief before Ben Bybee, Christian Foutch and Will McEntire pitched an inning each.

A fourth run in the eighth robbed McEntire the chance at his second save of the season and the ninth of his career.

Arkansas now hits the road to face the Florida Gators as part of a four-game trip on the road that includes the final midweek of the year. The Gators have won five of its last six SEC games after starting conference play 1-11. First pitch of the series is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday and will be streamed on SEC+.

News and Notes:

Groundball Bonanza:
Eight of the first ten outs recorded by the Razorback pitching staff were on the ground. There were only two balls caught by the outfielders all night, both by the center fielder. The pitching staff combined to strike out 15 Trojans.

Gibler>Hagen Smith?
Former Razorback Hagen Smith holds the NCAA record for the highest K/9 in a season after his historic 2024 season where he had a K/9 of 17.25 across 85 innings. While Cole Gibler almost certainly won't reach the minimum 50 innings required to hold the record, he is striking out batters at a much higher rate than even Smith.

"It’s hard to pick up the spin on his breaking ball," Van Horn said. "Coming out of the hand, it looks like a fastball to the hitters. It’s just really tight. I’d say it probably tunnels the same. It just means it looks like it’s going to be a fastball, then it drops."

After Gibler's six strikeout performance, he now has 39 strikeouts in just 17 1/3 innings for a K/9 of 20.3. Perhaps even more impressive for a true freshman, he has only six walks.

First Leverage Situation for Eaves:
Steele Eaves made five appearances on the season for the Razorbacks before tonight. Arkansas outscored its opponents 77-13 in those five games. Van Horn brought Eaves in a 0-0 game in the third as the first one behind Fisher and he passed the test with flying colors. He was rewarded with his first career win.

"The more they go and pitch when we’re not getting blown out or blowing somebody out," Van Horn said. "They’re pitching with a little more pressure on them. It gives you confidence as a coach to put them in."

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