(Arkansas Communications)
Live Blog: Fayetteville Regional – Arkansas vs. Santa Clara
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –Welcome to Baum-Walker Stadium on the campus of the University of Arkansas where the Razorbacks and Santa Clara Broncos are getting set to face off in the opening game of the Fayetteville Regional.
Weather
A beautiful clear morning is giving way to a bit of cloud cover which is good news for the outfielders. There's a light wind blowing from the southeast, which means it will be blowing directly into the players' faces, but not enough to kill well hit home runs.
Get to know Santa Clara
• Santa Clara split with Washington 2-2 to open the season in a series of high scoring games. The Huskies are currently playing in the Stillwater Regional against Dallas Baptist.
• Beat Stanford 10-5 and never trailed. The Cardinal only scored in a single inning. Lost to Stanford two months later 20-17 in a game that ended with the winning run a the plate.
• The Broncos have won eight straight. Scored at least 8 runs in 20 games. Has a tendency to give up one huge inning. For instance, Stanford had a single inning of five runs in the loss and had an inning of 8 runs late in the win.
• This is a team that can go on a run from anywhere in its line-up. Santa Clara's regular starters hit .314. Junior Efrain Manzo is the team's power threat. He has 17 home runs and 19 doubles, which means he's good for an extra base hit in 72% of his games.
• The Broncos' three main starters range in ERA from 4.25-6.65.
Call-back to last Fayetteville regional
The last time Arkansas hosted a regional, the Arkansas fans adopted NJIT, a small school far from home with few fans able to make the trip. This year, the Santa Clara Broncos fit that billing. Uneasy about the large crowds, the coaching staff started playing the Hog Call on repeat during practice. That prompted NJIT to reach out and let the Broncos know they will always remember playing a regional in Fayetteville, but that trying to prepare for the Hog Call is futile. They also recommended the boys from California check out Wright's Barbecue and Sassy's.
STARTING PITCHER
Hunter Hollan, LHP
6-5, 200
Hallsville, Texas
Cole Kitchen, RHP
5-11, 200
Woodland Hills, Calif.
Arkansas Starting Line-Up
SCU Starting Line-Up
1. JonJon Berring
2. Dawson Brigman
3. Michael O'Hara
4. Efrain Manzo
5. Coleman Brigman
6. Lance
7. Williams
8. Ferroggiaro
9. Steck
1st inning (Top)
Hunter Hollan takes the mound today. He's facing a line-up that can really put the ball in play. There's not a lot of power, but there's also no place where he can find an out more likely than anywhere else in the line-up. The stands are filling up quickly and the Hog calls have already started.
Once this game is over, it will be hard not to adopt the Broncos. Their coach has a name right out of the movie "Cars" – Rusty Filter. Maybe the best name in the history of college baseball.
Keeping an eye on some of the teams Arkansas has played in the regular season, Wright State is leading the No. 1 seed Indiana State, 5-3, in the 8th. If somehow Wright State holds on, it will mean a second trip to Fayetteville if the Hogs can hold serve in their regional. Also, Lipscomb, one of only two teams in this tournament that Arkansas has played without logging a win, is down 6-5 to Clemson late in that game.
First pitch to JonJon Berring is a strike and we're underway. Berring lifts one to shallow right and Boehrofen has the first out of the game. That brings up Dawson Brigman, the WCC Tournament MVP. He immediately rips a line drive to center field off the inside part of the plate and Santa Clara has its first base runner. The Broncos are fast and they run a lot, so that's going to be something to keep an eye on.
Michael O'Hara now comes to the plate. He blisters a 2-2 fastball down the left field line. It rolls to the corner and the Broncos have runners at second and third. That brings up Efrain Manzo. He's the power of this team. Manzo rips a hard shot to the gap in left. Wegner is on it quick and makes a good throw to the plate, but the speed of Santa Clara makes it no contest and two runs score.
There's a visit to the mound as Coleman Brigman comes to the plate with a runner on first. Brigman flies out to right and the runner holds. Two outs. Hollan induces a flyout to center and the Razorbacks manage to escape without any additional damage.
Mid-Inning break
WHAT WILL SCHEDULES LOOK LIKE FOR ARKANSAS, TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA UNDER NEW SEC FOOTBALL FORMAT
1st inning (Bottom)
Arkansas faces Cole Kitchen today. He has 15 starts on the season. He's gone 7+ innings in three of them with three wins. His last victory was on March 11 against Villanova. Josenberger leads it off and he's having a hard time getting his timing down on these 90 mph fast balls. It's a full count. Josenerger hits a chopper to the short stop in the shift and there's one away.
Holt comes to bat. He's been hot, so Van Horn has moved him up today to see if he can get the Hogs going early. It always makes me uneasy to see a hot player get moved around. Holt with a grounder to second and there are now two outs.
Diggs comes up and sends a 2-1 pitch over the left field wall while barely swinging. Unfortunately, it sailed just barely foul. Diggs hits the next ball to the same area, but this one will be fair if it gets down. Berring in hauling it. He makes the snow cone catch and the Hogs go down 1, 2, 3.
SANTA CLARA 2, ARKANSAS 0
2nd inning (Top)
Malcolm Williams leads off the inning with a hard grounder to first and Slavens makes the play. That brings up Ferroggiaro, who may have been hit by the pitch. There's a meeting among the umpires and it's determined it went of the bat and not his hands. Wait, they called that a ball, saying it hit nothing, which did not appear to be the case. It ricocheted away. Van Horn is ticked. That makes it Ball 3 and Hollan walks him. The replay in the stadium shows a clear change in direction after contact and Santa Clara has a runner on after catching a huge break. The Arkansas fans are getting really edgy now.
Hollan bounces back and strikes out the catcher, Steck. That brings the top of the line-up back around. He's at 40 pitches now. However, he gets a much needed short at-bat as Hollan gets Berring swinging and for the first time there's a little energy on the Arkansas side.
Mid-Inning break
IF CHOICE WAS INVESTING IN RON HOLLAND OR DEVO DAVIS
THEN THERE WAS NO CHOICE TO BE MADE
2nd inning (Bottom)
Slavens swings at the first pitch he sees and Kitchen has sat down the first four Arkansas hitters without barely making an effort. Cali follows up and grounds out after a couple of pitches and Kitchen is dominating this Razorback line-up. Boehrofen comes up. On a side note, if there was any doubt as to whether the announcing crews were going to talk about the Arkansas injuries non-stop, then no need to worry. They only bring it up on the broadcast every third sentence.
That's Ball 4 to Boehrofen and the Razorbacks finally get a running on board just in time for Jared Wegner. He's only 2-for-28 since he returned, but on the positive side, he had another look at the thumb after the SEC Tournament and everything is great shape. Wegner is being highly selective. It's a 3-1 count, which is a deadly count to throw to Wegner. Nevermind. Grounder to short and Arkansas heads to the third still trailing, 2-0.
SANTA CLARA 2, ARKANSAS 0
3rd inning (Top)
Brigman walks and O'Hara gets a hard hit down the right field line. Slavens has to dive to the bag to make the play against this crazy fast line-up, but he gets the out. However, that's enough for Van Horn. He's going to get Hollan after 21/3 and it looks like McEntire is coming to the mound.
McEntire is facing a dangerous hitter in Manzo. He's got a fast bat with a ton of power behind it. It's an 0-2 count, but not from a lack of Manzo putting the bat on the ball multiple times. McEntire with a high fast ball that he blows right by him and Manzo can catch it as it drifts in on him.
Brigman hits the first pitch he sees to short and Bolton makes the play to flip the inning. For the first time all day, Arkansas looks like Arkansas.
Mid-Inning break
WHY SEC, ESPN LOSES IF DECISION
ISN'T TO GO WITH EIGHT CONFERENCE GAMES
3rd inning (Bottom)
Rowland comes up against Kitchen and wastes no time striking out. That brings up Bolton who has been dropped to the far bottom of the line-up. He gets hit by a pitch and Arkansas has a runner on for Josenberger, looking for a chance to spark a rally. Josenberger hits a grounder up the middle. This should be a double play. There's a bit of a slip on the play at second and Josenberger is safe at first. The first break of the day for the Razorbacks. It's now up to Holt to make it count. A 2-1 pitch goes barely under Holt's chin. If it were a couple of hours later, Kitchen would have shaved off Holt's 5 o'clock shadow. The next pitch is out of the zone and Arkansas has two runners on with two outs with Diggs coming to the plate. He barely missed home runs on back-to-back pitches in his first at-bat. You can feel the crowd just so desperate to erupt.
Diggs lays off two pitches that were as tight to the edge of the plate as there can be and he walks to load the bases. This brings Slavens to the plate and the first pitch is in the dirt. You can see the pressure of the moment starting to weight on Kitchens. He has only thrown one strike in his last 11 pitches as the count goes to 2-0. Slavens swings at the first pitch that's in the zone. If the first baseman is holding a runner on first it gets through for a single. However, with bases loaded, he is playing off and is able to move to the gap to snag the grounder, change direction and dive for first base. Manzo's glove reaches the bag before the foot of Slavens and despite loading the bases, Arkansas goes away again with nothing to show for the effort. Santa Clara is known for giving up one big inning, but that wasn't it. Kitchen moves on.
SANTA CLARA 2, ARKANSAS 0
4th inning (Top)
Lance with a hard line shot to lead off the inning and he coasts into first. The Broncos like to play a bit of small ball, so the Hogs will need to plan for the bunt. Instead, Williams skies one to center and Josenberger is under it for the easy out.
Ferroggiaro falls behind 0-2, but is able to lift a floater into shallow center for a base hit to put runners at first and second with only one out.
McEntire gets Steck to fly out to left, which is fortunate. If he hits that ball to right, the runner advances, but, instead, Wegner is able to get the ball back in without the runner advancing.
That brings up Berring who has struggled at the plate even though he's looked like he's going to do damage all day long. There's a hard hit to second, Holt makes the play on the line drive and the Hogs escape once again. What a catch.
You just have to wonder how long the Arkansas bats can stay cold. Eventually, they're going to have to help these Arkansas pitchers.
Mid-Inning break
VAN HORN SAYS WOOD'S PITCHING ISSUES STRICTLY IN FRESHMAN'S HEAD
4th inning (Bottom)
If this seems familiar, it might be because of what you read in our notes on Santa Clara. They held Stanford scoreless the entire game except one inning where they gave up five runs. That many runs might be enough to win it today, but it wasn't for Stanford. At some point these hitters have to wake up and start making solid contact.
Skyler Hales will take the mound for Santa Clara. Caleb Cali draws a walk before a pair of 96 mph fastballs and a nasty slider makes short work of Bohrofen. That brings up Wegner who gets a single just enough past second to advance the runner and get to first safe with a single.
Rowland lifts a line drive to shallow right and Cali is rounding third. He's going to score. The throw comes to first for Wegner who hit second and never slowed down and he's in safe. It's 2-1 with a runner on third. A decent fly ball ties this game.
Bolton with a ball that's going to drift deep to center. Wegner tags up and we're tied at Baum-Walker, 2-2.
Josenberger turns on a hard grounder to right and that's going to carry to the corner. Josenberger is into first with a single and the potential go-ahead run is at third with Holt coming to the plate with Diggs licking his chops right behind him. Arkansas looking to complete a two-out rally.
Holt fouls off his second strike and is now staring down a full count. The pitch is low and the bases are loaded for the most dangerous Hog in the line-up. Diggs can flip this entire game with a single swing of the bat.
Diggs skies one to center field that is trouble. It's headed for no-man's land in that triangle between center, second and short. Brigman dives head first and he's got the catch. Wait, no. It popped out as his glove hit the ground and everyone is at a full spring on the two-out swing. One run scores. Two runs score. Here comes Holt around third and he's not hesitating. It's a sprint to the finish. Safe! He's safe! Holt never slowed and Kendall Diggs drives three across the plate to put Arkansas up 5-2.
Slavens flies out to end the inning, but the Hogs put up five runners over 19 minutes of work and that feeling in the ball park has changed dramatically.
ARKANSAS 5, SANTA CLARA 2
5th inning (Top)
McEntire is back out and what a job he has done in setting the table for what just happened last inning.
He gets Brigman to ground out to short to start the inning and is now in a 10-pitch battle with O'Hara. Five fly balls before McEntire finally gets him to fly out to Josenberger.
Manzo with a hit to left that has Wegner on his horse. Manzo turns the corner and is headed to second. Here's the throw from Wegner and it's close. It looks like Manzo go in under the tag on the slide and he's officially in with a double, giving Santa Clara a runner in scoring position with two outs.
Brigman, the other brother, works a 3-0 count and swings at a pitch grooved down the middle by McEntire. Cali dives for it at third and it goes off his glove and rolls into foul territory. Manzo is rounding third and he will score to make it 5-3. I don't think McEntire expected him to swing at that one and Brigman made him pay for it.
McEntire gets Lance to hit a chopper to third who makes a strong throw to first to get Arkansas out of the inning, but not before the Broncos close the gap.
Mid-Inning break
SHOULD SEC CONTRACTION COME,
FACTS STRONGLY SAY HOGS SHOULDN'T BE ON CHOPPING BLOCK
5th inning (Bottom)
Cali flies out to center to start the inning. Arkansas is starting to see the ball a lot better. That brings up Bohrofen. He turns on one and it's headed deep to right. This one is going to go. No. It hits off the top of the wall and bounces straight back to the right fielder. Inches away from a home run, but instead Bohrofen walks away with a single.
That brings Wegner to the plate with a chance to extend the lead. That's not going to happen though. He watches three strikes cruise across the plate and there are two outs. Rowland grounds out and the momentum of the Razorbacks has ground to a halt.
ARKANSAS 5, SANTA CLARA 3
6th inning (Top)
Williams leads off the inning with a single to left. Might as well have been a double. McEntire throws over to first and Stovall misses the pick-off attempt. Williams heads to second.
Ferroggiaro with a sacrifice moves Williams to third. The Broncos are now a good swing away from cutting this to a single run. Steck pops out to second and that's not going to do it. McEntire is now in position to get out of this inning.
And he does. He gets Steck to pop up into foul territory for the final out and the Hogs are headed to the bottom of the 6th with a chance to extend the lead after a worrisome couple of at-bats.
Mid-Inning break
AS THE SEASON NEARED ITS END,THERE WAS STILL REASON TO BE THANKFUL FOR KAMANI JOHNSON
6th inning (Bottom)
Bolton takes the second pitch he sees to right field for a single. Josenberger swings at a pitch on the outer half of the plate and it's got plenty of height to move Bolton to second. That ball's still carrying. It leaves the yard. That ball caught up in the air just enough to sneak over the fence in right into the bullpen and Josenberger has a 2-run homer. There's the famous flags in the Hog pen. Arkansas finally has room to breathe.
Holt follows with a single to right to keep the momentum going. Now he's going to steal and he's called out at second. Van Horn calls for the review and this is going to come down to which replay gets precedence. From the front he looks safe. From the back it looks really close. After review it looks like they're going to call him safe because of obstruction. The fielder's foot was blocking the bag before he had the ball, which isn't legal in college.
Diggs loses his rhythm after that long delay and strikes out swinging to bring up Slavens with one out. Slavens watches the first three. He watches a strike go by, but then holds off for ball four and Cali gets a chance to swing with runners at first and second. That will draw the skipper out to the mound and we're going to have a pitching change.
Sando comes in and immediately hits Cali to load the bases. Bohrofen watches a pair of strikes to run the count to 2-2 and then strikes out swinging. That brings up Wegner and we're going to get another pitcher. Hammond will come in to pitch the the struggling power hitter.
Wegner works a full count and then watches a ball low just out of the zone to draw the walk and that will score Holt while keeping the bases loaded. It's now 8-3 Hogs. Rowland watches four straight balls and things are falling apart at the seams for the Broncos as the Razorbacks stretch the lead to 9-3 here in the bottom of the sixth.
Now Bolton is able to work a full count, threatening to push the Hogs into double digits. There's Ball 4. Cali scores and it's 10-3 Arkansas. We are now starting to get into run rule territory.
That will bring Josenberger to the plate with a chance to reach that magic number. He started off the inning with a home run. Can he do it again? There's a shot deep to left. If it has the distance Arkansas can end this early. Back to the warning track. And it's a long out. That will end the inning, but the damage is done.
ARKANSAS 10, SANTA CLARA 3
7th inning (Top)
McEntire will again come out to the mound. He gets Brigman to ground out to Cali at third to start the inning. O'Hara drops a single into right field, but it just doesn't feel the same as it did early in the game. The brings Manzo to the plate who has had a monster game. He can definitely swing this game back the other way.
Manzo swings at the first two pitches and McEntire is dealing. Manzo watches a ball, but then strikes out swinging. Great at-bat for McEntire and he is now pushing 60 pitches.
Brigman gets a hold of one and this one is headed deep to left. It's going to be close. And Wegner makes the catch at the wall. Arkansas will come to the plate with the chance to end this one early.
Mid-Inning break
BIGGEST CHANGE TO COME FROM SEC MEETINGS
MIGHT NOT BE ON FOOTBALL SIDE
7th inning (Bottom)
Peyton Holt will start the inning for the Razorbacks and he's hit by a pitch in the back.
The Santa Clara pitcher keeps throwing up in the zone to Diggs. He's going to pay if it gets a tad lower. and Diggs walks, bringing Slavens to the plate with the chance to end the game with a single swing.
Slavens strikes out swinging and it now rests on Cali to possibly end this. He certainly has the power, he just hasn't shown it much lately. He's showing it today though. Cali turns on one and it's deep to left. That one's going to carry into the Hog Pen and it's 13-3 Arkansas.
Apparently, we're not playing by the run rule because Josenberger is headed to the plate. He hits a hard liner off the pitcher's foot and what a play by Heinrich to make the throw to first. He's hurt through. The Santa Clara pitcher is clearly hobbled.
It looks like he's going to be OK. He's going to stay in to pitch to Wegner.
And Heinrich almost takes Wegner's head off. The Arkansas left fielder was able to barely avoid what would have been a horrifying hit by pitch and the count is full. Van Horn has to hope he can get his guys out of here without getting anyone hurt. Wegner responds by reaching on a single off the glove of the short stop. Rowland comes up and grounds out to end the inning.
ARKANSAS 13, SANTA CLARA 3
8th inning (Top)
McEntire has been pitching a gem and it looks like Van Horn is going to see if he can finish it out an save some arms. McEntire starts off 1-1 to Lance to start the inning. Lance turns on one that's headed deep to left. Wegner has a shot. He climbs the wall, but it's gone and the Broncos have chipped into the lead, 13-4.
McEntire responds by getting Williams to fly out. His pitch count is pushing close to 80 at this point. He walks Ferroggiaro on four straight balls and McEntire might be running out of steam. Van Horn has to just hope he has enough to get out of the inning.
McEntire battles back with a pair of strikes after six straight balls to make it 2-2 to Steck. Steck fouls off another strike and the fans are anxious to see McEntire get this out. He throws a strike, but Steck gets a piece of it to stay alive. He hammers the next pitch to shallow left and you have to wonder if that's it for McEntire. And that will be it. Van Horn comes out and signals to the bullpen for Cody Adcock.
Adcock is able to get Berring to foul one off to run the count to 2-2. There are runners at first and second with one out. Berring hits a grounder to Bolton at second. He steps on the bag, but can't complete the double play. Holt came over to take the throw, which threw Bolton off as he had to alter his stride before making the throw, so the Hogs only get one instead of two.
Brigman immediately makes the Hogs pay. He sprays a line drive to the gap in right that scores Ferroggiaro home and the Broncos are building a little momentum. It's now 13-5. Adcock needs to get O'Hara to end this inning and get the Razorbacks to the plate, but after throwing a pair of balls, O'Hara has fouled off four straight pitches. He now watches a ball low and the count is full. Zach Morris is warming up in the bullpen now. Van Horn does not want to bring in another arm.
McEntire gets O'Hara to foul another one off and we're now 10 pitches into this at-bat. O'Hara fouls another one off and he has eaten up 31 pitches from the Arkansas staff. Ohara hits a line drive to the gap at second. Holt lunges and he's able to scrape it off the top of the grass to get the automatic out to end the threat.
Mid-Inning break
RANDOM NOTES: NCAA BASEBALL REGIONALS
8th inning (Bottom)
Bolton with a high chopper back to the mound. It's fielded by Heinrich who underhands it to first for the first out of the inning. That will bring Josenberger back to the plate. Josenberger watches a nasty hook go by and there are two down in the bottom of the eighth.
Indiana State held on to beat Wright State 6-5. Holt hits a line drive that looks like it's going to go off the wall, but Berring shows his hops and snags one at the peak of his jump to end the inning. Holt was crouching down at first after the hit and he has coaches tending to him. He looks hurt.
ARKANSAS 13, SANTA CLARA 5
9th inning (Top)
Update on Holt. He is now out of the game. You have to hope he's not legitimately injured. Hopefully, this is something that's just going to hurt for a little while and he will be fine. Hard grounder hit to Bolton who is moving backward in the outfield grass. He slips on the throw, does the splits and still makes the throw to first. That's a great way to ear a hamstring and Van Horn has to be chewing off all his nails right now. Arkansas just needs to get to the end. Adcock gets Brigman to strike out on three straight pitches and the Razorbacks are one out away.
Adcock opens with two strikes and you can tell he's feeling it. The next two pitches miss the zone. The next one is high and it's now a full count. He's just gotta groove this one and deal with the consequences, but instead, it's outside for the walk. That will bring up Williams.
The first two pitches to Williams are balls and that brings Matt Hobbs to the mound. Pitch is up and in to Williams and Lance takes second. Ball 4 isn't even close. Now Ferroggiario will come to the plate and he runs it to 3-1. Eleven of the last 12 pitches have been balls. The count runs full and Ferroggiario hits a solid line drive into right field and it's now 13-6 as Williams scores. Adcock is now 3-1 to the No. 9 hitter Steck. He gets another strike and for the third time he is down to one strike to end it. Steck pops it up and Josenberger comes in to make the catch to finally put this one away. It got dicey at the end, but Van Horn held off to keep a lot of his pitchers available for tomorrow as Arkansa finally gets the win.
The Hogs now await the winner of TCU vs. Arizona this evening in the winner's bracket on Saturday.
Mid-Inning break
RAZORBACK FOOTBALL'S TIMES, NETWORK SET FOR FIRST THREE GAMES
9th inning (Bottom)
Not needed.
ARKANSAS 13, SANTA CLARA 6