No. 4 Arkansas ran into an old nemesis Friday night in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series when they fell to Kansas State 3-2.
Kansas State also defeated the Razorbacks on its way to winning the Fayetteville Regional last season. Kansas State (2-4) had struggled this season, but Arkansas (4-1) also struggled at the plate Friday night.
Kansas State center fielder Micah Dean scored a run, drove in the game-winning one and also threw out the potential tying one. Starter Jacob Frost worked 5.1 innings to earn the win while Blake Dean earned the save.
Dave Van Horn was frustrated obviously as the Hogs couldn't take advantage of solo home runs by Wehwia and Kuhio Aloy in the bottom of the sixth that chased Frost from the mound.
“Just a lot of frustration over here today,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “We hit the two homers and you think things are gong to go our way and we let them back into it the next inning. But we had and our opportunities and we just didn’t get it done.”
Indeed the Razorbacks seemed to have a golden chance in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and no one on base Charles Davalan was hit by a pitch. Wehiwa Aloy then hit a single to center field. Davalan could have stayed at second and brought third baseman Brent Iredale to the plate. Instead, he tried for third and Micah Dean gunned him down. Iredale, hitting .500, had doubled in the first inning.
“He should have stayed at second,” Van Horn said. “The play was in front of him. It didn’t look like he was going full speed, like he was going 100 percent right away. He kept looking for help.
“If the play is in front of you, you have got to shut it down. And the bottom line is you don’t make the third out at third base, especially when you have your hottest hitter coming up."
The Wildcats had taken a 2-0 lead with runs in the third and fourth off Gabe Gaeckle. After the Aloy brothers tied it in the bottom of the sixth, Kansas State wasted no time going by up in the top of the seventh.
With one out, Micah Dean doubled to plate David Bishop who had singled to start the inning. Blake Dean retired six of the last seven hitters after Davalan was out at third. Only a Kendall Diggs single in the ninth broke the string. But Blake Dean then retired the next three Hogs in order to complete the game.
Gaeckle, Arkansas' ace, worked 5.2 innings. He allowed five hits, two runs, walked four and only struck out two.
“Gabe didn’t have his stuff tonight,” Van Horn said. “We actually were going to take him out after five. He was getting to his pitch limit, but he really wanted to go back out there in the sixth because the fifth was his best.
“He was feeling better and was actually commanding the ball better when he got up there a little bit. But he wasn’t able to locate the heater where he wanted it and left some breaking balls over the plate."
Tate McGuire, Parker Coil and Bryant's Will McEntire all threw for Arkansas. Kansas State had eight hits and stranded six runners. The Razorbacks had seven hits and left seven on base. Gaeckle (0-1) took the loss.
Arkansas will face No. 22 TCU Saturday night at 6 p.m. The Razorbacks will wrap up their time in Arlington on Sunday when they face Michigan at 11 a.m. Zach Root will start against TCU while Batesville's Gage Wood will go Sunday.