No. 1 Arkansas powers up in 8-0 blanking of Missouri

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – Earlier this week, Arkansas was elevated to the top spot in the college baseball rankings and the Razorbacks certainly looked the part on Friday night.

Hagen Smith tossed six scoreless innings and freshmen Nolan Souza hit two of his team’s four home runs as No. 1 Arkansas blanked Missouri 8-0 in both team’s SEC opener.

Missouri transfer Ross Lovich and Kendall Diggs also launched blasts as the Razorbacks (15-2, 1-0) scored all their runs on homers and won their 11th consecutive game.

It was Arkansas’ eighth straight win in as many SEC openers and its first of 30 schedule league games.

“I told the guys it was a good win, but you know you’ve got to enjoy it for a little while and you’ve got to move one,” Van Horn said. “You’ve got 29 more to go.”

Smith (3-1, 1.57 ERA) fanned 10, walked one and allowed just two hits with nine Major League Baseball scouts looking on – two from the Rangers and one each from the White Sox, Red Sox, Marlins, Giants, Rockies, Reds and Nationals.

“Obviously Hagen pitched outstanding again,” Van Horn said. “Even his misses  were close tonight. It’s fun to watch. It’s fun to watch from the side.

“And I think maybe people don’t realize what they’re watching because … I’ve watched a lot of baseball games, watched a lot of pitchers, had a lot of pitchers but Hagen is really good.

“And you know it’s just hard to come out and be good every outing. He’s become such a pitcher now. And you know he didn’t get all uptight when we didn’t make a couple of plays or he didn’t get a call. He just goes back on the mound and he goes to work. It’s fun to watch.”

Smith’s last pitch was his 100th of the ninth and recorded his 10th strikeout of the contest.

He has 50 strikeouts in 23 innings of work this season and has allowed just four runs, three of them coming in his first three batters of the season.

“Yeah, it was great,” Van Horn said. “100 was going to be, that was going to be his last hitter. I think it was 2-2, full count, whatever, I think he came with a slider and struck him out.

“If it was later in the season, Hagen wasn’t done. He could have gone another 20 pitches. He was fine. But we’re just doing the right thing.

“…Really excited to see his development over the last 12 months. It’s been pretty much what we thought would happen.

Smith was used as a starter and reliever last season.

“I mean last year, I don’t know if I ever did,” Smith said of going six innings. “I struggled when I started. There was always that one inning.

“The biggest thing for me during the preseason was just working on mechanics, staying true, getting stronger.”

Christian Foutch pitched the seventh and eighth frames for Arkansas and Cooper Dossett the ninth for the Razorbacks to finish off the shutout.

“Really glad to see two of our younger pitchers come in and finish that up,” Van Horn said. And “You know Cooper there in the ninth threw seven pitches and they were all strikes. And he got us off the field so that was really good.”

First year Missouri coach Kerrick Jackson knows Smith is one of the nation’s best college pitchers but thought the Tigers (9-9, 0-1) helped the junior left hander out.

“He’s done what he has been doing all year long,” Jackson said. “I wish our guys would have forced him into the zone a little bit better. I wish we would have shortened our swings and made some adjustments there, but you get caught up in the moment and the adrenaline can take over and put you in a tail spin.

“Basically that is what happened today. He is good, but we didn’t make it tough on him.”

Souza’s first homer was a two-run shot in the second inning for Arkansas’ first runs on a night it out-hit Missouri 7-4.

He would also slug a solo homer in the eighth that capped the scoring and gave him three for the season after struggling at the plate during fall scrimmages.

“He came back in January and it just seemed a little bit different to me,” Van Horn said. “He’s still a freshman. He still asks a lot of questions and really polite. Really polite kid, love him.

“But you could just tell there was a little more confidence in there. His batting practice was good, driving the ball the other way, the ball was just jumping off his bat.

“And then we put him in the game. As a coach you just kind of go, ‘Wow. This guy might be a gamer.’ He’s not scared. It’s not by going up there and hitting all the time, it’s by taking pitches that are borderline balls and you’re kinda going, ‘Wow. Sometimes that takes 2-3 years to figure that out.’

“And if you can do that at a young age, where you’re not swinging at pitchers’ pitches, man, you can do some damage and that’s what he’s done.”

Souza, hitting .423 with 11 hits, 9 RBI, 7 walks and 5 strikeouts in 26 plate appearances, said he feels locked in at the plate now.

“I feel pretty good up there,” Souza said. “I feel like I’m seeing the ball well. I feel like my swing is feeling good. I’ve been swinging at the right pitches and that’s what is kind of leading to my success.”

With his parents in attendance, Lovich’s three-run homer in the third inning pushed the lead to 5-0.

He got to past his younger brother Jackson – Missouri’s first baseman – on his home run trot.

“It was pretty cool,” Ross Lovich said. “It was a great feeling. It’s different playing against him. I dont think we’ve ever done that, always together and whatnot. It was fun to compete against him. It was good to win against him. It was cool.”

Eli Lovich, the youngest of the brothers, is an Arkansas signee.

“I’m sure that meant a lot to him and I’m sure his parents have mixed emotions,” Van Horn said. “They’ve got a son on one team and one on the other. But I’m sure they’re incredibly proud of that. 

“He’s been swinging the bat well. That’s why he’s in the lineup. Driven in some runs. He had to wait his time, and when he did, he took advantage of it.”

Diggs’ two-run homer was his team-leading fourth blast of the season and pushed the lead to 7-0 in the fourth.

“We know it’s in there,” Van Horn said of the power. “It just hadn’t happened yet, whether it’s guys aren’t going yet, or every now-and-then the wind knocks the ball down.

“Whatever the case may be, but we feel like we can hit for some power, and we’ve got a few other guys that obviously didn’t hit them tonight, and they can leave the yard as well.

“It’s nice to be able to have that, to be a threat really one-through-nine to hit the ball out of the park, or at least over somebody’s head. Obviously, it was a big part of the game tonight for us.”

Jackson thought his Missouri starter Logan Lunceford (1-1) getting behind in the count was a big factor in Arkansas hitting the ball out of the park.

“Well, we made some mistakes, fell behind in counts and all the home runs they hit were advantage count for hitters,” Jackson said. “When he was ahead in counts, he was pretty effective, but when he fell behind, they were ready for him. They jumped on it and didn’t miss.”

Arkansas and Missouri will meet against Saturday and Sunday with 2 p.m. starts each day.

The Razorbacks are slated to start right hander Brady Tygart (3-0, 0.90) on Saturday.