The Razorbacks opened up their two-game midweek series against the San Jose State Spartans with a 5-1 victory on Tuesday in Baum-Walker Stadium to extend their home winning streak to 22 games.
Jackson McAfee
No. 1 Arkansas (28-3, 11-1 SEC) had little trouble taking care of San Jose State (12-20, 7-8 MWC) on Tuesday in Baum-Walker Stadium with a 5-1 victory. The Razorbackslengthen their home winning streak to 22 gamesand are 6-0 in midweek competition.
Ben Bybee got the start on the mound for the second time this season and picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the year. Hetied a career-high with five innings of work while striking out four batters and allowing a run and two hits on 55 pitches (40 strikes).
"I thought Ben Bybee came out and pitched really well for us," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. "He had a good change-up, good breaking ball, fastball was good. Just really got us off to a good start. I know they hit a home run but sometimes that just happens. I really liked what I saw from our whole pitching staff."
Arkansas struck with a three-run rally in the bottom of the second inning with two outs while down, 1-0. Peyton Stovall tied the game up with an RBI single to right to score Jayson Jones from second and advanced Will Edmunson to third while Nolan Souza plated both runners with a double in the right field gap in the next at-bat. Ben McLaughlin put up another run for the Hogs with a solo shot to center in the bottom of the third for his fifth home run of the season to give the Razorbacks a three-run lead, 4-1. Souza went 1 of 2 at the plate with two runs batted in with three walks
Wehiwa Aloy cranked a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the fifth on the first pitch of the inning to give the Hogs lead to four. He went 2-for-5 and raised his batting average to .299 after hitting .190 through the first 10 games.
The Arkansas bullpen supplied four shutout frames with appearances from Christian Foutch, Gage Wood, Hunter Dietz and Stone Hewlett. The quartet combined for six punch outs while allowing one walk against 13 batters.
The Razorbacks were 4 of 18 with runners on base and 2-for-9 with men in scoring position. The Hogs excelled in two-out hitting while going 3 of 10 and were 8-for-21 in advancement opportunities.
THE RUNDOWN
1-0 San Jose State -Matt Spear put San Jose State up early with two outs in the top of the second inning with a solo shot to right field for his second home run of the season.
1-1 -With runners on first and second in the bottom of the second with two outs, Peyton Stovall roped a single to right to score Jayson Jones to tie the game up
3-1 Arkansas -Nolan Souza doubled into the right field gap to score Stovall and Will Edmunson to cap off the three-run second while raising his RBI total to 20.
4-1 Arkansas -Ben McLaughlinled off the bottom of the third with a solo blast to center for his fifth home run of the year. The ball traveled 106 feet at 412 miles per hour.
5-1 Arkansas -Wehiwa Aloy led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to right for his team-leading ninth dinger of the season. The ball traveled 407 feet at 108 miles per hour.
Pitching Change -Jesse Gutierrez relieved Keaton Chase in the bottom of the fifth with runners on the corners and two outs. Chase tossed 4.2 innings while allowing five runs, seven hits and four walks with seven strikeouts on 103 pitches (67 strikes).
Pitching Change -Ben Bybee was relieved by Christian Foutch to begin the top of the sixth. Bybee tied a career-high with five innings of work while striking out four batters and allowing a run and two hits on 55 pitches (40 strikes).
Pitching Change -Gage Wood relieved Foutch to start the top of the seventh. Foutch tossed a scoreless sixth while logging two strikeouts on 14 pitches (10 strikes).
Pitching Change -Hunter Dietz made his second relief appearance out of the pen in relief of Wood to open up the eighth. Wood threw a perfect sixth inning while striking out a batter on 10 pitches (seven strikes).
Pitching Change -Dietz was taken out of the game with a runner on first and one with an apparent arm injury and Stone Hewlett took over on the mound. Dietz recorded a strikeout while allowing a walk on eight pitches (three strikes).
Pitching Change -Cade Van Allen stepped up on the mound in relief of Gutierrez to start the bottom of the eighth. Gutierrez hurled 2.1 shutout frames while allowing a hit and two walks with two punch outs on 39 pitches (24 strikes).
1st INNING
Ben Bybee made his second start of the season on the hill for Arkansas and struck out Robert Hamchuk to begin the night. Sebastian Orduno blooped a single to left field but was thrown out trying to steal second and Dalton Bowling struck out looking on a full count.
Keaton Chase made his sixth start of the year on the bump for San Jose State and made Peyton Stovall fly out to left field. Nolan Souza worked a full count walkwhile Wehiwa Aloy lined a single to left to extend his hitting streak to 14 games and his on-base streak to 21. Ben McLaughlin lined out to center and Peyton Stovall struck out swinging to end the threat.
Strike 'em out, throw 'em out ? pic.twitter.com/tiq31ZC7UA
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) April 9, 2024
2nd INNING
Nathan Cadena flew out to right on the first pitch he saw and Theo Hardy skied out to left. Matt Spear cranked a solo shot to right for his second home run of the year to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Bybee picked up his third strikeout of the game by carving up Nik Trapani.
Hudson Polk went down swinging and Jayson Jones walked on a full count. Ryder Helfrick went down on strikes on a check swing but Will Edmunson walked to keep the inning alive. Stovall singled to right to score Jones to tie the game and advanced Edmunson to third. Souza doubled to right to give the Razorbacks a two-run lead to raise his RBI total to 20 on the year and Aloy flew out to center to cap the three-run rally.
Stove stays hot ♨️ pic.twitter.com/rDuDeEiF1P
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) April 9, 2024
CAN'T STOP NOLAN SOUZA pic.twitter.com/08SBbyW07T
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) April 9, 2024
3rd INNING
Zach Griffin grounded out to short and Jackson Forbes hit a grounder sharply to second. Hamchuk grounded out on a little tapper to first to give Bybee a perfect three up, three down frame.
McLaughlin led off the inning with a solo blast to center for his fifth homer of the season and Holt drew a walk. Polk struck out looking and Jones flew out to center. Helfrick went down on a check swing to finish the frame.
Midweek McLaughlin Mashin' pic.twitter.com/qQJ9oKjLVf
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) April 9, 2024
4th INNING
Bybee came out for his fourth inning of work and madeOrduno pop out to third.Bowling grounded out to short and Cadena hit a grounder sharply to second to go down 1-2-3 for the second straight frame.
Edmunson led off by flying out to center field and Stovall grounded out to first. Souza went down looking on a full count to give Chase his sixth punch out of the night while making Arkansas go down in order for the first time of the night.
5th INNING
Hardy was retired on two pitches after flying out to left and Spear struck out looking for Bybee's fourth strikeout. Trapani lined out softly to right on the first pitch for the Spartans to go three up, three down in the last three innings with the last 10 batters being sat down.
Aloy crushed a solo home run to right on the first pitch of the home half of the fifth to extend the Razorback lead to four. McLaughlin grounded out sharply to second and Holt poked a single to right field. Polk struck out swinging to become Chase's seventh strikeout victim but Jones lined a single to right to move Holt to third.Jesse Gutierrez came in as the new pitcher for San Jose State and forced Helfrick to ground into a fielder's choice.
WOAH WEHIWA pic.twitter.com/nE31cSn9g7
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) April 10, 2024
6th INNING
Christian Foutch relieved Bybee to begin the sixth and forced Griffin to ground out on a chopper to first. Forbes struck out swinging and Hamchuk went down chasing out of the zone for the Spartans to go in order for the fourth time in a row.
Edmunson grounded out to first and Stovall singled to right for his second hit of the night. Souza worked his second walk of the game and Aloy flew out to center to move Stovall to third. McLaughlin went down swinging forGutierrez's first strikeout.
7th INNING
Gage Wood came out of the Hog bullpen to start the seventh and carved up Orduno swinging. Bowling flew out to right field and Cadena grounded out to third for the last 16 Spartan hitters to go down in order.
Holt flew out to the deepest part of the ballpark in center to begin the bottom of the seventh. Polk skied out to right field but Jones walked for the second time of the game. Helfrick struck out looking to end the inning.
8th INNING
Hunter Dietz made his second appearance of the season to open up the eighth and walked Hardy on four pitches for San Jose State's first baserunner since the top of the second.Spear struck out swinging and was taken out of the game after tossing two more pitches inwhat seemed to be an arm issue. Stone Hewlett took over and madeTrapani ground out to third while Hardy advanced to second. Griffin struck out swinging to get Arkansas out of the frame.
Cade Van Allen came out of the bullpen for the Spartans and Edmunson welcomed him in with a single to right field for his first hit of the game. Stovall struck out swinging and Souza worked a walk. Aloy grounded into a double play to end the bottom half of the eighth.
9th INNING
Hewlett came back out on the mound to close the game and made Forbes ground out to third on a bunt. Hamchuk grounded sharply to second and Orduno struck out looking to end the game.Hewlett tossed 1.2 innings of relief to close out the game in his 13th game of the year on 23 pitches (15 strikes). He lowered his ERA to 1.12 and has punched out 16 batters through eight frames. The Hogs are on their best 31-game start since 1982 when they went 27-2-2.
UP NEXT
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS FOR GAME 2 WEDNESDAY
(ARK) Fr. LHPColin Fisher:5-1, 2.25 ERA, 20.0 IP, 21 K/4 BB vs. (SJSU) R-Sr. LHPEthan Ross:1-5, 7.47 ERA, 31.1 IP, 29 K/22 BB
WHEN: Wednesday, April 10 at 2 p.m. (CDT)
WHERE: Baum-Walker Stadium (10,737 cap.) | Fayetteville (Ark.)
TV/STREAMING:SECN+ | Stream available via the ESPN App
RADIO: RSN (92.1 FM in Fayetteville) |TuneIn| Full list of radio affiliates can be foundHERE
Conway KASR-FM 92.7, El Dorado KELD-FM 107.1, Fayetteville KQSM-FM 92.1, Fayetteville KYNG-AM AM 1590, Forrest City KJXK-FM 106.5, Forrest City KJXK-AM AM 950, Fort Smith KERX-FM 95.3, Hot Springs / Mena KTTG-FM 96.3, Little Rock KABZ-FM 103.7, Marshall KBCN-FM 104.3, Mountain Home KOMT-FM 93.5, Rogers KURM-FM 100.3, Rogers, KURM-AM AM 790, Russellville KARV-FM 101.3, Russellville KARV-AM 610, Stuttgart KWAK-FM 105.5, Texarkana KKTK-AM 1400
