Razorback junior second baseman Robert Moore (#1) from Leawood, KS makes a tough catch and put-out to second base against LSU at Baum-Walker Stadium Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville, AR.
By Otis Kirk
Arkansas got great pitching and timely hitting to defeat North Carolina 4-1 on Saturday in the Chapel Hill Super Regional before a sold-out crowd.
Connor Noland (7-5) worked 6.2 innings to earn the win and keep the Tar Heels off balance the entire game. Noland was only in trouble one inning. The Tar Heels loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first. Noland struck out Alberta Osuna for the second out. Then took a line drive from Mikey Madej off his leg only to recover and throw him out at first base to end the inning. Dave Van Horn praised both pitching staffs.
"Both teams pitched extremely well," Van Horn said. "First four innings flew by. Connor got into a jam in the first and got out of it. After that he settled in. The next three innings were pretty smooth."
It was a scoreless game until the Razorbacks struck for three runs in the top of the fifth. Peyton Stovall led off the inning with a blast over the fence in center field for a 1-0 lead. Zack Gregory then walked and Braydon Webb singled. A wild pitch allowed Gregory and Webb to advance a base. Brady Slavens then singled to center field to plate Gregory. Cayden Wallace hit a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Webb to cross the plate for a 3-0 lead.
"We got the leadoff home run there in the fifth which relaxed us a little bit," Van Horn said. "We ended up scoring a couple more runs. We really wanted to that third run in there. Wallace battled, had a good at bat and hit the sac fly."
In the top of the seventh, Gregory walked to start the inning. Webb also walked. Slavens then sent a shot into center field that easily got Gregory home. However, Webb tried to go from first to third and North Carolina freshman All-America Vance Honeycutt gunned him down at third base.
Honeycutt gave the Tar Heels their only run of the game in the bottom of the eight when he sent an Evan Taylor pitch over the wall in left field. The Tar Heels finished with eight hits to nine for the Hogs. Arkansas left nine stranded on base and North Carolina eight.
Webb was hot for the Razorbacks. He had three hits to lead the offensive attack. Slavens had two singles. Wallace, Stovall, Michael Turner and Chris Lanzilli each had one hit.
Noland allowed six hits, no runs, one walk, fanned a half dozen, faced 27 batters and threw 89 pitches. Taylor went 1.1 inning, allowed one hit, the home run and struck out a hitter. Hagan Smith worked the ninth inning allowing one hit and struck out a hitter to earn his second save of the season. Smith now has earned saves in the Razorbacks last two games, this one and a 7-3 victory over Oklahoma State. Noland talked about his success after the first inning.
"I just made better pitches," Noland said. "In the first inning they were attacking the fast ball so I started mixing the slider in there."
Honeycutt, Danny Seretti and Colby Wilkerson each two hits for the Tar Heels. Madej, who was the MVP of the Chapel Hill Regional, and Angel Zarate each added a hit.
Max Carlson went 5.1 innings, allowed six hits, three runs, walked two and struck out four. Carlson (4-3) took the loss. Nik Pry and Caden O'Brien also pitched for the Tar Heels.
Jaxon Wiggins (6-3, 6.12) is expected to get the start for Arkansas on Sunday. The Razorbacks pretty much will have a rested bullpen with Brady Tygart not being used on Saturday. Will McEntire is also available though Van Horn might prefer to use him on Monday if a third game is necessary.
Brandon Schaeffer (7-3, 3.73) is the expected starter for North Carolina on Sunday. North Carolina (42-21) and Arkansas (42-19) will begin at noon with the Razorbacks one win away from heading to the College World Series. The game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.