TAT: Hogs Bounce Back With Sweep of Aztecs

This article originally appeared in the March 11, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler

The Arkansas baseball team rebounded following a four-loss weekend in Arizona by sweeping San Diego State in a four-game series at Baum Stadium over the weekend.

In a wild weekend of baseball, Razorback fans saw a complete game three-hitter by an opposing pitcher, a walk-off home run, a near no-hitter and head coach Dave Van Horn’s 1000th career victory.

Arkansas started the series with a 2-0 win over the Aztecs Thursday.

The Razorbacks scored both runs in the third inning. The first came with sophomore Brian Anderson at bat.

Senior Jacob Mahan attempted to steal second base, but when the catcher threw the ball down there, sophomore Brett McAfee ran home from third. Instead of tagging Mahan for the third out of the inning, San Diego State’s shortstop threw it back to the catcher, who couldn’t get the tag down on McAfee.

Anderson then hit an RBI double that scored Mahan.

That is all Arkansas got for the rest of the game as Aztecs’ sophomore Michael Cederoth retired the next 16 batters he faced. He finished with three walks, seven strikeouts and two earned runs while tossing an eight-inning complete game three-hitter on 114 pitches.

Freshman Colin Poche earned the win for the Razorbacks, going four innings and giving up three hits, striking out two and walking one. Junior Barrett Astin picked up the save.

Astin now has 15 career saves, which is tied with Bill Bakewell, who played from 1977-79, for second most saves in program history. Phillip Stidham had 33 saves from 1989-91.

The second game of the series ended on a walk-off home run by Joe Serrano with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

It was Serrano’s first home run as a Razorback and gave the Hogs the 4-3 win.

San Diego State sophomore Matt Munoz put the Atzecs on the board first with a two-run home run in the second inning.

Arkansas responded in the third as wild pitches and a fielding error by the second baseman allowed Serrano and Mahan to score.

An RBI-double in the fifth by San Diego State junior Brad Haynal broke the tie and knocked junior pitcher Ryne Stanek out of the game.

Freshman Tyler Spoon answered with an RBI-single in the seventh that tied the game and knocked out the Aztecs’ starting pitcher, junior Philip Walby.

By pitching the final 2.2 innings of the game, sophomore Jalen Beeks picked up his second win of the season.

Stanek and Walby each earned a no-decision and gave up three earned runs. Walby gave up six hits, four walks, had three strikeouts and threw 116 pitches in 6.1 innings. Stanek went 4.1 innings and gave up five hits, five walks and had five strikeouts.

Due to the threat of thunderstorms Sunday, Arkansas played a doubleheader Saturday.

The Razorbacks won game one of the doubleheader 8-2, led by freshman Trey Killian, who didn’t give up a hit in seven innings of work, and earned Van Horn’s 1000th career victory as a head coach.

Killian was perfect through 5.2 innings before walking a batter. He was pulled after seven innings because of his pitch count and replaced by junior Colby Suggs, who lost the no-hitter with one out in the eighth.

Offensively, Arkansas had four batters with multiple hits. Mahan went 3-for-3, with a double and an RBI, and reached base twice on walks.

Anderson and sophomore Eric Fisher both went 2-for-4, while Anderson had two RBI and Fisher had a double.

Suggs gave up San Diego State’s only two hits and two earned runs of the game in 1.1 innings, before senior Tyler Wright came in to close out the game.

Aztec senior Ryan Doran took the loss, pitching five innings and giving up eight hits and three earned runs on 105 pitches.

The Razorbacks used a four-run seventh inning to win game two of the double header 4-1 and complete the four-game sweep.

San Diego State pulled their starting pitcher, senior Ethan Miller, after only 83 pitches, the fewest pitches thrown by an Aztec starter all weekend.

Arkansas made them pay, as their seven-, eight- and nine-hole batters each had RBIs in the seventh.

Fisher knocked in a run with a single, junior Jacob Morris hit a two-RBI triple and McAfee laid down a safety squeeze bunt to score the fourth run of the inning.

Miller took a no-decision and gave up three hits, one walk and struck out five. Freshman Bubba Derby took the loss for the Aztecs, giving up four earned runs on five hits.

Arkansas’ starter, senior Randall Fant, also took a no-decision. He went six innings, allowed four hits and struck out three.

Sophomore Michael Gunn earned the victory for the Razorbacks, tossing a perfect inning in the seventh. He was also 2-for-2 with a walk at the plate.

San Diego State managed to score a run off of Astin in the ninth inning, but that was all they could get.

Leading off the eighth inning with a single, freshman Tyler Spoon extended his hit streak to 16 games. He has collected a hit in every game of his career.

The Razorbacks return to action with a midweek two-game series against Alabama A&M beginning at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.