Arkansas blanks Little Rock 10-0 Tuesday in first of two mid-week games with Trojans

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – For the 14th time this season, Arkansas didn’t need the eighth or ninth inning to finish off a victory.

Tate McGuire pitched a career-high five innings of three-hit baseball as the No. 4 Razorbacks run-ruled in-state foe Little Rock 10-0 Tuesday during a Bark in the Park night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Relievers Dylan Carter and Carson Wiggins each pitched an inning of relief for Arkansas (35-7, 13-5) to complete the shutout before a crowd of numerous humans and an announced 107 dogs.

“I just thought we played solid baseball,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “…Pretty solid up and down the line up. We did hit some balls right at them.”

Arkansas was coming off losing two of three at home last weekend to Texas A&M and two of three at Georgia the previous weekend.

That had dropped the Razorbacks from their perch as the top-ranked team in the nation, but Arkansas second baseman Gabe Fraser noted his team was not panicking.

“There’s no panic in this dugout,” Fraser said. “I mean this team knows what we are capable of, has each other’s backs and there is not a doubt in our minds that the end of the season we are going to be competing for something.”

McGuire echoed those same sentiments ahead of Wednesday’s 5 p.m. game with Little Rock (18-21) and a weekend trip to Florida.

“Losing games is part of baseball,” McGuire said. “You are not going to of undefeated most likely. There wasn’t a lot of panic. We know who are and what we can do.”

Arkansas’ Cam Kozeal matched the visitors’ hit total by himself with three on a night when the Razorbacks totaled 11.


That included a second-inning home run from starting third baseman Brent Iredale that put his team up 1-0 and jump-started a five-run outburst.

The second inning also featured Charles Davalan’s sacrifice fly, Logan Maxwell’s two-run single and another run scoring via a wild pick off throw.

Iredale was later hit by a pitch in the third inning, stayed in the game and scored, but then sit out the rest of the game with a minor injury.

“It was really good to see him drive that ball,” Van Horn said of Iredale, whose homer was his 11th of the season. “…It is hard to hit a ball the other way that hard. I think his next at bat…he got hit in the hand.

“Took him out of the game. It was a cut, just above his hand, probably about where you wear your watch.

“We had a good lead and I thought it would be a good time to put Reese in at third, get Brent out of there and let him get a little ice on it. He’ll be good to go tomorrow I think.”

In the third inning, Kozeal’s single was misplayed into a two-base error that plated Iredale and Kozeal on Fraser’s sacrifice fly to push that lead to 7-0.


After Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick doubled later in the third inning, Justin Thomas tripled him in and scored himself to make it 9-0 when Little Rock threw the ball into the dugout.

Arkansas capped the scoring in the fourth when new third baseman Reese Robinett singled, Kozeal doubled and Fraser delivered a run-scoring single.

McGuire (3-2) walked the first two batters of the game, but didn’t issue any more free passes the rest of the night.

He fanned three, hit a batter and unleashed a wild pitch while throwing 67 pitches, 40 for strikes.

“He walks the first two hitters of the game and I am thinking’ wow, here we go, we are going to get into some pitching tonight,’” Van Horn said. “We got kind of lucky on a line drive double play.

“(Shortstop Wehiwa) Aloy did a great job of catching it getting it out of his glove like that and threw a pretty good ball to Fraser and got us a bang-bang double play.


“We ended up getting out of the inning and obviously we didn’t score, but then punched in five when they made a couple of mistakes and threw away a pick off.

“…I think McGuire then settled in and threw a lot of off speed pitches. Didn’t command his fastball real well.

“He pitched just good enough and obviously when you’ve got a nine-run led, the other team can start pressing a little bit.”

The game between the two teams on Wednesday will be televised by the SEC Network.

The Razorbacks are likely to throw several pitchers, including maybe left hander Hunter Deitz, who has not been in a game this season since suffering an injury to his ulnar bone after just two appearances last season.

“His velocity got up his last (practice) outing,” Van Horn said. “He was on the the 30-man (active) roster this past weekend. I gies that slipped by a lot of people.

“…I am hoping we can get him on the mound tomorrow. We are going to try and win the game. He can help us win the game, but there are other guys as well.

“He is ready to go. Is he two falls ago that good? Not yet, but hopefully he will get back and help us.”

Photo courtesy of Razorbacks Communications