This article originally appeared in the April 8, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.
Arkansas’ baseball team picked up their third straight series
win this weekend in Tuscaloosa, Ala., taking two of three games against
Alabama.
The Razorbacks, who came into the series ranked No. 11 in the
Collegiate Baseball rankings, defeated the No. 22 Crimson Tide in the first two
games but fell short of the sweep and lost third game.
The series began Thursday with a nationally televised game on
ESPNU. Despite stranding 13 runners on base, Arkansas won 3-1.
Senior Matt Vinson scored the first run of the game in the
second inning, when junior Jacob Morris laid down a squeeze bunt up the first
base line.
Arkansas added a pair of runs in the fifth inning, using two Crimson
Tide errors and an RBI fielder’s choice by Vinson. Alabama scored a run off two
hits and an error in the bottom of the fifth.
Freshman Willie Schwanke had a solid day at the plate, going
3-for-3.
Junior Barrett Astin started the game for the Razorbacks and
gave up three hits, two walks and struck out four in 4.1 innings, before he was
relieved by sophomore Jalen Beeks.
Beeks earned the win, his fourth of the season, giving up only
one hit and one walk in 2.2 innings while striking out three batters.
Alabama threatened to score in the eighth and ninth innings but
came away with no runs. A pair of strikeouts by sophomore Chris Oliver stranded
runners on first and second and ended their threat in the eighth.
In the ninth, junior Colby Suggs gave up a lead-off walk and
after a wild pitch and a groundout, the Crimson Tide had a runner on third with
one out. However, Suggs struck out a batter, walked another and finally got a
groundout to earn his fourth save of the season.
The Razorbacks rode a strong performance by junior Ryne Stanek
to clinch the series Friday, winning 6-0.
Stanek tossed eight shutout innings, allowed four hits and
struck out five to improve his season record to 3-2. In his two road starts
against Southeastern Conference opponents, he is 2-0 and has only given up
seven hits, one walk and struck out 12 batters in 17 innings.
Alabama freshman Kyle Overstreet collected half of their hits,
going 2-for-3 on the day.
Arkansas’ offense struck first in the second inning. Sophomore
Brian Anderson reached on an error and junior Jake Wise drove him in with an
RBI-single. Morris added a run with an RBI sacrifice fly later in the inning.
The scoring continued in the third inning. Sophomore Joe Serrano
led off the inning with a double, and an RBI-double by Anderson scored him. An
RBI-single by Vinson scored Anderson a couple batters later.
An RBI-single by Anderson in the seventh and another Morris
sacrifice fly in the eighth tacked on the last two runs for the Razorbacks.
Five Razorbacks collected two hits and junior Dominic Ficociello
went 3-for-5 and scored a run.
Arkansas lost their chance for a sweep Saturday, committing five
errors and losing 5-0.
The five errors brought their season total to 52 errors and
dropped their fielding percentage to .960.
Senior Randall Fant started on the mound for Arkansas and picked
up his first loss of the season. He lasted just three innings and gave up two
earned runs on five hits.
This was the first time Fant failed to pitch at least six
innings since his first start of the season, when he pitched four innings and
earned a no-decision in Arkansas’ 4-3 loss to Pacific March 3.
The Crimson Tide led off the second inning with a home run by
senior Brett Booth, his third of the season. Booth went 2-for-2 with two RBI,
two walks and two runs Saturday.
Most of Arkansas’ offense came from Serrano, who went 2-for-4
with a double.
Fant’s
two earned runs were the only two given up by Arkansas pitchers in the series
and it brings the team ERA to 1.59. The Razorbacks entered the series with an
NCAA-leading 1.68 ERA.
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