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No. 4 Arkansas gets past No. 21 Texas, 7-3
HOUSTON – DJ Baxendale
pitched five strong innings to earn his fourth win of the season as No.
4 Arkansas defeated No. 21 Texas, 7-3, on Sunday afternoon inside
Minute Maid Park.
The Razorbacks closed the weekend by going
2-1 at the Houston College Classic. For the season, Arkansas is 11-2,
while Texas is now 4-7.
Baxendale earned his fourth win in as
many starts and his sixth straight win dating back to last season,
giving up two runs, just one earned, and striking out four in five
innings of work.
Nolan Sanburn and Barrett Astin came out of the
bullpen to finish off the win. Sanburn pitched two innings, giving up a
run on four hits. Astin pitched the final two to earn his third save of
the season. Astin retired all six batters he faced, striking out four.
Bo
Bigham and Joe Serrano each had two hits to lead Arkansas offensively.
Bigham scored a run, while Serrano added a RBI and a run scored. Matt
Reynolds hit his second homer of the season and Dominic Ficociello
drove in a pair of runs. Tim Carver extended his hitting streak to 10
games, going 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Jonathan Walsh had a
team-high three hits with a RBI and a run scored to pace Texas
offensively. Erich Weiss added two hits in the loss.
Arkansas
struck first with two runs in the top of the first. Carver and Jimmy
Bosco started the game with back-to-back singles and a double to the
left-center field gap by Ficociello brought in both runners to put the
Razorbacks up 2-0.
Texas got a run back in the bottom of the
second. With one out, Brooks Marlow walked and moved to second when
Jacob Felts reached on a fielding error by Reynolds at third. After a
strikeout by Collin Shaw, Kirby Bellow grounded a single into left
field, scoring Marlow from second base.
The Longhorns tied the
game with a run in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Weiss
doubled into the left field corner and Walsh followed with a double
into right field to score Weiss and tie the game at two
The
Razorbacks regained the lead with a run in the top of the fourth. With
one out, Reynolds sent a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left field for his
second homer of the season to put Arkansas in front 3-2.
Arkansas
added on to the lead with four runs in the top of the fifth. Bigham led
off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Carver. A wild pitch advanced Bigham to third. Bosco then hit a ground
ball to first. The first baseman’s throw home was wide, allowing Bigham
to score and sending Bosco to second on the fielder’s choice.
Ficociello was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second.
Serrano then came up to pinch hit and singled to right field, scoring
Bosco from second. A passed ball advanced Ficociello to third and
Serrano to second. After an intentional walk to Reynolds loaded the
bases, Vinson drew a walk to score Ficociello. Jacob Morris then hit a
sacrifice fly to center to score Serrano and put Arkansas in front 7-2.
Texas
got a run back in the bottom of the sixth. Walsh led off with a single
and moved to second on a walk. Felts grounded into a double play to put
a runner at third with two outs. A wild pitch from Sanburn scored Walsh
for the Longhorn’s third run.
Astin entered the game with two
runs on and nobody out in the bottom of the eighth and proceeded to
quickly dash any hopes of a Texas comeback. He struck out two of the
next three batters to get out of the inning and then in the ninth,
Astin added two more strikeouts to complete the save.
Arkansas
returns home to open a 10-game homestand next Friday when it faces
Binghamton in the first game of a three-game series. Game times against
the Bearcats are set for 3:05 p.m. on Friday, 1:05 p.m. on Saturday and
12:05 p.m. on Sunday.
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