FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 3 Arkansas defeated UCA 9-2 on Tuesday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings. Then when UCA answered with one in the top of the fourth, the Razorbacks pretty much put the game away in the bottom of the fourth with five runs for a 9-1 lead. Dave Van Horn was pleased to get the win.
"I thought it was a really good job by, I think it was my 4, 5 and 6 hole hitters drove in all the runs," Van Horn said. "Like 9 RBIs between those three guys. A couple of big swings. You think about how we scored the first one — there was a walk and then two-run homer. Then the next one, there’s an error and two-run homer and all of a sudden we’re up 4-0. They were hitting the ball pretty good. They had some line drives and they didn’t have anything to show for it. Obviously there in the fourth inning, we got some really big hits with two outs and kind of put the game away, or gave us a really comfortable lead. Didn’t do much after that."
Van Horn was correct in that three players have all the runs batted in. In the bottom of the second inning, Kuhio Aloy walked and then Brent Iredale unloaded on a pitch for a 2-0 lead. Then Kuhio Aloy followed that up in the bottom of the third with his own two-run blast that also plated Charles Davalan.
In the top of the fourth, UCA's Nathan Negre singled to start the inning. A balk allowed him to take second. He scored on a Blaine French single.
All the runs in the bottom of the fourth came with two outs. With one out, Davalan walked. Logan Maxwell was hit by a pitch with two outs. Kuhio Aloy then was also hit by a pitch to load the bases. Iredale singled to plate both Davalan and Maxwell. Cam Kozeal followed up with a three-run blast over the fence in left field for a 9-1 lead.
Van Horn was asked if he knew Kozeal has this much power?
"Oh yeah," Van Horn said. "We knew he was strong. We felt like in the fall, honestly, he swung too much for home to hit the ball out of the park. He swung too hard, and I think he was just trying to hit home runs in the fall. He knows how to bunt, he can hit and run, goes the other way, can pull. I think once he relaxed a little bit, he feels comfortable here, new school, and he knows he’s a big part of our team. I think he’s starting to just really excel."
In the top of the seventh, Zeb Allen walked with one out. He scored with two outs on a single by Bryce Cermenelli that ended the scoring.
Colin Fisher once again turned in a very impressive start. He pitched 3.0 innings, allowed just one hit and struck out three. He only had 39 pitches in his three innings of work.
"The reason we took him out after — what’d he throw? — 39 pitches in 3 innings is because we’ve got to have him ready for the weekend," Van Horn said. "He could get in the rotation on the weekend. Nothing’s set in stone. If things aren't going good or someone needs a week off or whatever the case may be, we have no problem starting him in league play or whenever. So we got him out of there because league play starts and we plan on using him."
Van Horn talked about it being 4-1 and then UCA brings in a new reliever. Five pitches later the Hogs were up 9-1.
"Just that we got a big hit from, I think, from Iredale," Van Horn said. "Hit to right center on a sidearmer type guy. Just stayed through the middle of the field. Didn’t try to do too much. And then Kozeal hits the first pitch he sees into the bullpen for a three-run homer. Yeah, you know, really if you look at it, on two pitches we scored five runs. But what led up to that were some good at-bats. Couple of walks, hit by pitches, whatever. They gave us a couple of extra at-bats, and we took advantage of it."
Fisher (2-0) took the win. The Hogs also sent Ben Bybee, Dylan Carter, Cole Gibler and Will McEntire to the mound. The five pitchers combined to allow two runs on seven hits while the Bears stranded 10.
UCA starter Perry Titlow (0-1) took the loss. In 2.0 innings, he allowed three hits, two runs, struck out two and walked one. Titlow was one of eight UCA pitchers to take the mound. Jake Jones, Tate Collins, Gavin Alveti, Luke Lorence, Jackson Schwank, Coleman Macrae and Hunter Alexander combined to allow the nine runs on just six hits with Arkansas stranding seven.
Arkansas (16-1) will open SEC play on Friday night when they head to Oxford to face Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. for a three-game series. The game can be streamed on the SEC Network+. UCA (5-9) will be at North Alabama for a three-game series with Friday's first pitch at 4 p.m.
