FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' run-scoring problems against West Coast teams deepened Tuesday as Gonzaga rallied from a two-run deficit to thump the Razorbacks 6-2 to open a two-game series.
Arkansas (9-4) scored its first two batters of the game, then the Hogs left runners stranded all over the bases before an estimated crowd of 2,022 at Baum Stadium.
"I was a pretty disappointed with the offense," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "Really, it was about driving in runs."
Gonzaga freshman Calvin LeBrun (2-2) walked six batters and allowed four base hits, but the Razorbacks could not deliver a run-scoring hit against the 5-10 left-hander who threw 115 pitches in six innings and picked up the victory.
"For a young kid on the mound in ... a great atmosphere, it was good for him to gather his composure a little bit," Gonzaga associate head coach Danny Evans said. "It was a quick couple of hits and a little punch there, and he did a good job of handling that."
"He worked out of some jams and he pitched with a little bit of attitude," Van Horn said. "He was a little bit wild and we let him off the hook."
The Zags (8-8) did not produce a hit through three innings against Arkansas right-hander James Teague but took control in the fourth when right fielder Justin Jacobs followed two walks with a towering three-run home run to right off Josh Alberius.
"He threw a pitch down the middle and the guy hammered it," Van Horn said. "He did a good job getting to that pitch by fouling off some pitches."
Arkansas has scored in only one of its past 18 innings against West Coast Conference members Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga since putting up six runs in the eighth inning of its 13-7 victory over the Lions last Saturday.
The Razorbacks stranded eight runners through five innings Tuesday but did not have another runner after third baseman Bobby Wernes' two-out single in the fifth.
Gonzaga right-handed relievers Brandon Bailey and David Bigelow combined with LeBrun to retire the final 13 Razorbacks.
Arkansas ran an all right-handed hitting starting lineup at LeBrun and got off to a quick start.
Rick Nomura followed Carson Shaddy's leadoff single with a double down the right-field line. Luke Bonfield's groundout brought home Shaddy with one out, then Nomura raced home on a wild pitch for a 2-0 Arkansas lead.
The Razorbacks threatened again in the third inning when Bonfield and Cullen Gassaway led off with back-to-back walks and moved up a base on Wernes' sacrifice bunt. LeBrun wriggled out of the inning by striking out Brett McAfee and Krisjon Wilkerson.
The momentum swung dramatically in Gonzaga's favor in the fourth inning. Dustin Breshears and Sam Brown drew walks to start the inning, signaling the end of the night for Teague.
Alberius (1-1) came out of the bullpen and struck out Jimmy Sinatro, but he left a 1-2 pitch up high for Jacobs. The left-handed-hitting Jacobs clubbed it well over the wall of the Gonzaga bullpen in right field, and the Bulldogs' first hit produced a 3-2 lead.
"You've got to use what they give you," Evans said. "We didn't have a ton of hits, but we were productive when we needed to be. When we had some guys on base, we got hits."
The Bulldogs struck again in the seventh against Lance Phillips, who hit Cory LeBrun with a pitch to lead off the inning. Wernes threw out LeBrun at second on Tyler Frost's sacrifice attempt, but the failed bunt didn't cost Gonzaga. Nine-hole hitter Joey Harris lashed a double down the right-field line for his first extra-base hit and Frost wheeled all the way around to make it 4-2.
"It seemed like we were climbing uphill all game after that three-run homer," Van Horn said. "We just couldn't get over the hump."
Gonzaga put it away with two runs in the eighth inning off Arkansas closer Jacob Stone on Caleb Wood's sacrifice fly and a swinging bunt by Taylor Jones.
Gonzaga announced that the right-hander Frost (0-2, 7.20 ERA) will start today's 3 p.m. game, while Van Horn did not name a starter and said multiple players would pitch.
SOUTHLAND
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 12, WICHITA STATE 1
Central Arkansas jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and pounded the Wichita State Shockers in nonconference action Tuesday at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan.
The Bears (8-3) scored four times in the second inning, added a run in the fourth, then exploded for five more in the sixth to put the game away. UCA outhit WSU 12-6, with junior shortstop Logan Preston going 3 for 3. Matt Anderson, Tyler Langley and Wesley Hoover all had two hits each, with Langley hitting his first home run of the season.
Sophomore righthander Riley Echols (1-0) shut the Shockers down from the start, holding them to three hits and striking out four. Echols, in his first start and only second appearance of the season, went 7 1/3 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 singles and striking out 4.
The second inning started with consecutive singles by Joey Pinney and Anderson. A wild pitch by WSU freshman starter Tyler Jones allowed Pinney to score. Preston’s sacrifice fly scored Anderson and Hoover followed with a base hit to center field. Langley reached on a throwing error before Braxton Phillips tripled to the gap in right-center to make it 4-0.
In the fourth, Preston doubled, went to second on Hoover’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Langley’s sacrifice fly for a 5-0 advantage. The Bears got an RBI double from Hoover and a threerun home run from Langley in the sixth. Ferrell added the final run of the frame with a single to center.
The Shockers (4-10) got their first run in the eighth on three consecutive singles. UCA scratched out two more runs in the ninth inning on Brad Dillenberger’s groundout that brought in Chuck Deckard and Phillips’ bases-loaded walk. Junior righthander Derek Beier pitched the final 1 2/3 innings and struck out the final two batters to end the game.
UCA returns to Southland Conference action this weekend at home, hosting Lamar. Game times are 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Bear Stadium.
— Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sports on 03/11/2015