FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (5/11/21) – Facing the consensus top team in the nation, the Arkansas State baseball team scrapped and fought, but ultimately dropped an 8-4 decision to No. 1 Arkansas at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Red Wolves (16-25) held the top-ranked Razorbacks (37-9) scoreless through four innings, but a five-run fifth was what the Hogs needed to earn the win in the inaugural meeting between the programs.
Tyler Jeans took the loss, pitching four innings and striking out four, but battled out of jams in his first two innings of work to keep the Hogs off-balance early on.
Brandon Anderson tossed a pair of shutout innings of relief, as he and Jeans were two of six pitchers used by A-State. Lael Lockhart earned the win for the Razorbacks, hurling a pair of perfect innings with three strikeouts. Lockhart was one of nine pitchers used by Arkansas, with Jaxon Wiggins pitching two innings in the start.
Ben Klutts extended his hitting streak to a team-best eight games, while
Liam Hicks reached base for the 17
th consecutive outing.
Tyler Duncan drove in a pair of runs with a double in the eighth, increasing his Sun Belt-best RBI total to 49 – the most since
Kyle MacDonald's 50 in 2018.
Jeans was strong through the first four innings, working around a pair of walks in the first and second and holding the Razorbacks scoreless on just one hit through four.
Arkansas broke the stalemate in the fifth with an opposite-field grand slam by Cayden Wallace to right field to make it 4-0. An RBI double down the left-field line by Christian Franklin then scored Brady Slavens from first to make it 5-0 through the fifth.
The Red Wolves got on the board in the seventh when
Blake McCutchen doubled down the left-field line to drive in Klutts, who reached on a leadoff walk. A close play at first ended the inning with the Razorbacks holding a 5-1 lead.
The Razorbacks added three runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Slavens, who then scored on a fielding error. Robert Moore scored on a double by Cullen Smith, whom Hicks tagged out on a play at the plate to end the frame with Arkansas up 8-1 through seven.
A-State clawed back with three runs in the eighth to make it a four-run deficit. Tipton reached on an error, and then Hicks singled to left to put two on for Duncan, who roped a double into the left-centerfield gap to drive both runners in. After Jaylen Deshazier coaxed a walk,
Sky-Lar Culver battled in an 11-pitch at-bat, drawing a walk to load the bases. Duncan then scored when a throwing error to second by Jalen Battles on the would-be final out of the frame.
Arkansas moved a runner into scoring position with back-to-back walks, but
Kollin Stone entered and thwarted the threat with a strikeout. Connor Noland then entered in the ninth for the Razorbacks, retiring all three Red Wolves to end the contest.
NEXT UP
A-State resumes Sun Belt Conference play with its penultimate weekend series of the season, traveling to Troy for a three-game set. Friday's opener is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch on ESPN+, while the radio broadcast can be heard on 95.3 The Ticket.
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