Live Blog: Arkansas vs. Central Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark – Good afternoon and welcome to sunny Baum-Walker Stadium. Today the Arkansas Razorbacks get set to take on a pesky UCA Bears team out of Conway.
The Bears have a tradition of pulling off bit upsets. They've especially been problematic to Ole Miss over the years and have managed to get into the NCAA Tournament in the past few years. This season they have played LSU especially tough in a pair of games earlier in the season, losing 2-0 and 4-3.
Today's Weather
It's sunny and around 70° today with winds blowing around 12 mph out of the north. This means there is a good chance we will see a few home runs today.
Need to Familiarize Yourself with This Year's Team?
Take time to look through our in-depth coverage of everything fans could ever want to know about this year's Razorbacks. You will not only catch up on the latest developments, but will have tons of opportunities to get to know a lot of the new players fans will see today.
Starting line-up:
Top 1st:
Colin Fisher is on the mound today. He has been really impressive this season and seems to have locked up the mid-week starting spot on this vaunted pitching line-up for the Razorbacks. He's able to get an easy grounder from AJ Medolia to start things off.
He gets Zeb Allen to strike out looking and then Cas Shipley flies out to Jones in left field. He got a solid swing on it, but despite the win, it stays in the yard. Fisher has yet to give up an earned run this season.
Arkansas 0, UCA 0
Bottom 1st:
Bryce Parlin will take the mound for the Bears. Lovich flies out to center for an easy out to start. If he gets that a little more toward right field it possibly carries out.
The Hogs are definitely wanting to get one out of here today. Aloy lifts one high into that jet stream in right-center. It carries to the wall, but Zeb Allen is able to bring it back into the field in right-center for the out. If he's not moving so quick and positioned so well, that's probably a home run.
Parlin then gets Diggs to strike out on a nasty breaking pitch inside down on top of his shoelaces and that's his first strikeout of the game.
Arkansas 0, UCA 0
Top 2nd:
Fisher strikes out Schattle on a slider that broke at least a foot that time. He's really got great stuff out there on the mound today.
Sturgeon paints the left field line with a hard shot for a single and that will be the first hit of the game. If UCA drives a run in this inning, it will be the first time anyone will have gotten a run off an Arkansas starter that isn't a one-run homer.
There' a hard line single by Curtis that shoots into left field off a hard breaking ball and we're gonna see how Fisher handles pressure from runners.
Cermenelli lines a shot to right field and Diggs makes a throw to the plate, but has no shot at throwing out Sturgeon. The Bears lead it 1-0 after three straight singles.
Fisher puts his head down and battles back by striking out King. He then gets Leonard to ground out on a hard ball down the line. Holt, who has moved over to third today, happens to be playing closer to the line and makes a great snag directly over the bag and is able to step on third for the force to end the inning.
UCA 1, Arkansas 0
Bottom 2nd:
Parlin is rocking on the mound. He is really taking advantage of how aggressive the Arkansas hitters are. He gets Polk, McLaughlin and Jones on three groundouts while throwing only six pitches in a perfect inning. He's throwing a perfect game so far and has only thrown 19 pitches.
UCA 1, Arkansas 0
Top 3rd:
Fisher hits both Mendolia and Allen to start the inning, so the Bears have two on without a swing of the bat. That will bringing on the pitching coach to visit with Fisher to see if he can settle him down.
Fisher responds by striking out Shipley, but he gets no time to bask in his accomplishment. Schattle hits a shot up the middle that skips off the top of the mound, which lifts it over Aloy's glove as he dives behind second base trying to snag it. It's a single into center and that's going to bring in Mendolia to make it 2-0.
UCA beat No. 10 Vanderbilt last year, so Arkansas might want to feel a bit more urgency if the Hogs want to avoid the upset. The Bears are more than capable of pulling this game out.
Fisher shakes it off to get Sturgeon and Curtis on three pitches with a pop-out and groundout respectively to escape the inning without further damage.
UCA 2, Arkansas 0
Bottom 3rd:
Souza is up to bat. He's getting work at second base which is why Holt is at third. What that means though is the Razorbacks' best hitter, Jared Sprague-Lott, is not in the line-up today. You kinda wonder how big the deficit can get before that changes.
He rips a hard low liner that skips in front of the second baseman who is unable to make the grab. It rolls into right-center for what should be an error, but we'll wait to see if there's a little home scoring on that one.
Holt hits into a potential double play. However, the shortstop gets pulled too far over, delaying the flip to second which means there's not enough time to get Holt out at first, so the Bears only get one out.
Helfrick walks on four straight balls and the Razorbacks have a runner in scoring position for the first time today. The error at second looks like it could be huge this inning.
Lovich lifts a ball that starts off looking like it's going to end up in the stands in foul territory in left field. However, the wind, which is blowing toward right-center, blows it back. It appears to land about four inches in foul territory next to the foul pole, but Van Horn asks the crew to review it. They do, and it is officially a long foul ball.
Lovich watches a full count pitch that was right on the edge of the zone for ball four and that will load the bases for Aloy.
On the first pitch to Aloy he almost snatched his back in half. He was swinging for the fences on that one and nearly injured himself. He can relax on this second pitch. He blasts it deep to left field and he stands there watching it as there is no question about this one. Aloy's first home run as a Razorback is a grand slam. He hit a ton during fall, but he hasn't been able to get a hold of one in the regular season until now. Arkansas really needed that one.
Alveti comes in and he's got a difficult task in front of him. The Razorbacks are starting to get more patient at the plate, which, while rare for this team, makes them dramatically more dangerous.
The patience continues. Polk walks on a full count to move Diggs to second. McLaughlin crushes a ball to center and that's got a shot. It gets in the wind and it looked like it may stay in off the bat, but it's solidly out off the batter's eye above the 400 sign. That's a three-run shot to open this game up.
Alveti settles back down as the Hogs get impatient at the plate again. He's able to get both Jones and Souza to ground on quickly to end the inning, but the damage has been done.
Arkansas 7, UCA 2
Top 4th:
Cooper Dossett will come in to pitch for the Razorbacks. He gets Carmenelli to ground out to first on three pitches. Then King smashes a hard shot to third that Holt is able to knock down and get the out at first after three pitches. McLaughlin did a great job of digging that throw out. He turned his head away and I am pretty sure he had his eyes closed, but he still scooped it for the second out.
Dossett then gets Tan to strike out swinging to complete a perfect inning.
Arkansas 7, UCA 2
Bottom 4th:
Holt hits one hard up the middle that gets knocked down by Alveti who is able to make the throw to first. Helfrick grounds out to third on the first pitch he sees and with the lead the patience has been thrown out the window for the Razorbacks.
Lovich singles to very shallow left. Mendolia dove to his left and barely missed it. Leonard dove to his right in shallow right field and made the catch, but when he tried to lean up into a throwing position there was no play to be made.
Leonard makes another diving catch on the next play, but this time he is able to get up and throw out Aloy at first.
Arkansas 7, UCA 2
Top 5th:
Dossett walks Mendolia on four straight pitches. He holds the UCA record for walks at 120. That's a lot of free bases. Dossett rebounds by getting Allen to fly out after starting off with a pair of strikes.
Shipley starts off 1-2 and watches what looks like strike three. He takes advantage. He turns it into a 10-pitch battle featuring five foul balls that ends with a ball off his face. Dossett lets a breaking pitch get away from him and it hits Shipley square in the nose.
Shipley, who is from down the street in Farmington, probably has family and friends here and what a scary moment. It looks like his day is done as he is hurting really bad. Van Horn immediately goes to the pen to bring in Frank. Cooper White comes in to run on behalf of Shipley as there are runners on first and second with no outs.
Frank gets Schattle to pop up to shallow center, but Lovich was playing deep and it falls for a single. He fires it in to McLaughlin who relays it to the plate, but Mendolia beats the throw. It goes to the backstop and the Bears are still running. Runners advance to second and third as the throw from Helfrick to third is dropped.
Sturgeon gives this one a ride deep to center and if this goes we're in a one-run game. It hits off the yellow line and another run scores. It should have been two, but Schattle held up at third. It's now 7-4 and the tying run is at the plate.
Curtis hits one to right-center that is caught on a great play by Diggs, but Schattle beats the throw to the plate from third and it's now a 7-5 game. Here come the Bears as they are really getting to Frank.
Carmenelli plants the first pitch he sees into right field and that will score Sturgeon. UCA has come storming back to chew up this Razorback lead.
Frank finally gets out of the inning. King tried to catch the Hogs off guard with a bunt, but it didn't work out.
Arkansas 7, UCA 6
Bottom 5th:
Diggs tries to set the tone with a full count walk to start the inning. The Hogs are unable to capitalize though. Polk strikes out swinging on four pitches and McLaughlin grounds out as UCA goes around the horn for a double play to end the inning to keep momentum on their side heading into the sixth.
Arkansas 7, UCA 6
Top 6th:
Gage Wood comes on as the Hogs' fourth pitcher. He will look to be the first to keep UCA from putting a lot of pressure on the Razorbacks with runners on the bases. He gets Tan to fly out behind first base to start the inning on the first pitch. He then gets Mendolia to strike out looking to settle things down a little bit for Arkansas.
Allen walks to put the tying run on, but Seldomridgeh grounds to second on the first pitch he sees to end the inning.
Arkansas 7, UCA 6
Bottom 6th:
Alveti has Jones completely off balance as he strikes him out swinging. Then he gets Souza to line out to left on an 0-2 pitch. Holt wraps the inning with an easy grounder. Alveti started off giving up that 3-run homer to McLaughlin when he came into the game in a difficult spot, but he has really settled things down and is giving the Bears a chance since.
Arkansas 7, UCA 6
Top 7th:
After Wood proves to be the only pitcher who has been able to easily handle the Bears, he gets pulled so Hewlett can come in to pitch. He starts by getting Schattle to strike out swinging on three pitches to start things off.
Now we have either a foul ball off the bottom of the bat or a hit by pitch as that hit the hand of Sturgeon and now the question is whether it also drew bat. The umpires will look to see. He battles back for a full count and gets hosed on what should have been a walk. The umpire calls a strike on a ball that came in below the knees and finishes an inch off the ground. He was unbuckling his shin guards when he got punched out and the UCA coaches are livid. Usually you give the benefit of the doubt to the umpires, but that one wasn't even close.
Perhaps karma evens things up. Curtis strikes out swinging, but the ball gets away from Helfrick and he is able to easily get to first before the throw can get down on the dropped third strike. Curtis will now steal second and the tying run is in scoring position.
That will be a four strikeout inning for Hewlett and almost required a five strikeout inning. The pitch hits the ground and there's another third strike throw to first. This time Helfrick is able to get it there in time and that will retire the side.
Arkansas 7, UCA 6
Bottom 7th:
Hudson White will pinch hit for Helfrick to try to get something going here in the seventh. That doesn't work out though because Alveti is dealing. He threw a belt high fastball on the outer edge of the plate. It looked like White was looking for a breaking pitch on an 0-2 count and got surprised with a heater.
Lovich hits a single to left on the first pitch he sees to give the Hogs a little momentum, but seconds later it's seized back by UCA. Aloy pounds the first pitch he sees into the ground for a possible double play ball. The Bears get Wilmsmeyer who is running for Lovich. However, Aloy narrowly beats out the throw to first. It doesn't matter though as these aggressive swingers refuse to look at pitches. Diggs hits the second pitch he sees to short for an easy out at second base to end the inning.
Arkansas 7, UCA 6
Top 8th:
There is clear concern about this game from Van Horn. He's slowly slipping some of his better hitters into the line-up. Wilmsmeyer goes to center for Lovich and White will go behind the plate. Gaeckle takes the mound for the Hogs.
He gets King to ground out to second and Sagely hits a chopper to short for two quick outs. The Bears are down to their final four outs now. Faherty is warming up in the bullpen, but I can't imagine him coming into a game this tight as unstable as he has been his last couple of outings. It would seem there is a need to get him in for a less stressful situation to rebuild his confidence.
Mendolia hits one hard down the line at third. Holt snags it moving backward and makes a long throw that pulls Holt off the bag. If Mendolia just takes a half step to his right he's safe. However, McLaughlin not only makes a great catch, he is able is able to immediately switch his brain into making the tag and is able to scrape Mendolia as he bolted past him about four feet up the line from the bag. Great save by McLaughlin and the Hogs are three outs away from closing this one.
Arkansas 7, UCA 6
Bottom 8th:
Edmunson comes in and rips a ball down the third baseline that is too deep for the throw to have a chance. One of those quietly inserted hitters by Van Horn. Polk then rips a hard ball that gets through the right side for a hit. That will put runners at the corners with no outs and that will do it for Alveti. That's huge for Arkansas to finally get him out of the game as he has had the Razorbacks' number.
Hunter Alexander from tiny Bigelow will come in and it may be hard for the Hogs to pick up the ball. He is quick from the glove to delivery. The ball gets on top of hitters quickly. It's weird to think about it this way, but if two swings by the Razorbacks are taken away, this is a 6-0 snoozer with UCA walking away with an easy win.
Jones falls over swinging at strike three. The Bears try to throw out Edmunson at the plate and he will be ruled safe. Meanwhile, McLaughlin moves to second as Arkansas extends the lead to 8-6.
Souza gets hit by a ball off the foot and that will put runners on first and second with one out. Holt drops a single into right field and that will load the bases. McLaughlin had no chance at all to score on that one as the ball got back in quickly.
That brings up White and he will get one far enough into right field that it will allow McLaughlin to come in and score to pad the lead even further at 9-6.
Wilmsmeyer squares to bunt three times, but it ends up just being a walk. That will brink up Aloy with a chance to hit a second grandslam and there is no doubt he is going to snap his spine into trying to hit a home run if the ball is anywhere close. He is a free swinger who hasn't seen a pitch he isn't willing to try to land in a grill in left field.
They try to pitch around Aloy and he faces a full count for what might be the first time this season. I'll have to go back and look at some point. It's hard to remember him going more than two pitches deep in an at-bat. He fouls the first full count pitch off and then he pops up to shallow right to end the inning. Both pitches were on the outer edge of the plate.
Arkansas 9, UCA 6
Top 9th:
UCA has three outs to get three runs. The Bears responded when Arkansas put up seven runs, so we'll see how they handle a small spurt by the Razorbacks this time. Gaeckle comes back out and gets the first hitter to ground out on a single pitch.
Seldomridgeh hits a grounder up the middle on the first pitch he sees to give the Bears a runner. Schattle hits a hard grounder through the gap into right field for a single. Seldomridgeh moves to third and the tying run is at the plate with one out.
Gaeckle gets jammed in on the hands and if he had gotten the ball a couple of inches more over the plate this game is ties. However, that's a long out and the runners hold, which is very surprising. The Bears are down to their final out now.
Gaeckle gives up a walk and the bases are now loaded. The winning run will take swings for the Bears in the form of Cermenelli. He's got two hits today.
Gaeckle starts out 2-0, but is able to barely squeeze in a strike to avoid 3-0 before running the count to 2-2. It's now full and that pitch isn't close. It was high and outside and it's now a 9-7 game with the bases still loaded.
Van Horn doesn't hesitate to make it clear he will stick with Graeckle. King watches an 0-2 pitch on a ball that was perfect for pulling to left field. It was right in the zone, but King froze. The Bears topped Arkansas in hits 9-7, but two swings account for seven runs for the Hogs as UCA leaves 10 runners on base.
The Hogs will be happy to escape with a win as they get ready to face to more out of conference opponents before SEC play starts against Missouri.
Arkansas 9, UCA 7 [FINAL]
(Arkansas Communications)
Bottom 9th:
If needed.
Arkansas 0, UCA 0