OMAHA, Neb. -- Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Blaine Knight's unbeaten streak has taken him to the top of the school's single-season wins list.
Knight notched his 13th win in Sunday's 11-5 triumph over Texas, his sixth consecutive start that resulted in a victory.
"Stuff-wise, it was OK," Knight said in his understated style. "Fastball command was average for me. I had the big breaker working a little bit. Slider was working and change-up a little bit as well."
Knight allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk while throwing 81 pitches in his 5 innings. He left the game with a 3-2 lead, but the Razorbacks turned it into an 11-2 rout after six.
"He battled again," Arkansas catcher Grant Koch said. "That's what he does. He's going to give you a quality start every time, and that's why he's the best."
Said Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn: "He worked his way out of a jam or two and just didn't give up that big inning. He's meant a lot to the team, obviously. You've got to have somebody that you can depend on every weekend at this level and especially in our league. I wouldn't be sitting here right now if it wasn't for Blaine Knight."
Knight tied the record of 13 wins held by Rich Erwin (1979) and Steve Krueger (1980).
"The 13-0 thing, I just chalked it up as another win for the team," Knight said. "I'm just going to do what I can in my next outing to get another win for the team and keep them going."
Knight said someone told him in the dugout about tying the school record.
"I guess that's cool and all. I'm just more about getting this team where we need to be," he said.
Messing with Texas
Arkansas improved to 8-0 against teams from Texas this season, including 3-0 against the Longhorns, with its 11-5 victory Sunday.
The Razorbacks also beat Texas Tech 5-1, swept three games from Texas A&M by scores of 9-3, 3-1 and 6-3, and eliminated Dallas Baptist 4-3 in the final of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional.
No smorgasbord
Coach Dave Van Horn did not want his club eating a lot of food during the 2-hour, 49-minute rain delay based on previous observations.
The NCAA sent a large platter of cheese, cold cuts and other snack items during the break, but Van Horn said they could only nibble.
"I didn't want them eating too much," Van Horn said. "We had a doubleheader really early in the year, and we won the first game, then somebody ordered us a smorgasbord in there and I didn't like it. We got whipped in game two. So the running joke after that is you're getting a banana and a Snickers."
The split doubleheader came against Kent State on March 9, with Arkansas winning 7-2 and then losing 10-4.
"When I walked in, I said, 'That tray full of food, you're not eating it. [Blaine] Knight, you can have some, you're out of the game,' the coaches could have some. I didn't have any."
Knight thanked the CWS for bringing the food and said it did slowly disappear.
DVH's crew
Mariel Van Horn and Hollan Clark, the daughters of Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn and his wife Karen, waved cardboard cutout Dave Van Horn masks on sticks -- along with Hollan's husband Jacob Clark -- during the game on Father's Day.
They were shown on the video board at TD Ameritrade Park a couple of times.
Van Horn got a kick out of them.
"They showed me those right before I left for the game," he said. "Father's Day, hey, look at these. They knocked on my door and showed them to me, and I was like, 'Yeah, OK.' "
For Augie
The Longhorns are wearing a helmet sticker that reads "AG16" in memory of legendary Coach Augie Garrido, who led the Longhorns to two College World Series titles.
Garrido, who passed away March 15, also led California-State Fullerton to three championships. Garrido held the college record with 1,975 victories after retiring in 2016, but his total was surpassed this year by Florida State's Mike Martin.
Two-strike bunt
Texas nine-hole hitter Ryan Reynolds laid down a successful sacrifice bunt toward third base with two strikes in the top of the fifth.
The risky move, which advanced Masen Hibbeler to third and Tate Shaw to second, worked in Texas' favor. Leadoff man David Hamilton followed with a deep fly ball to right fielder Eric Cole for a sacrifice fly and a 2-1 lead for the Longhorns.
Blaine Knight struck out Duke Ellis looking with a runner on third to escape further damage.
Hogs' CWS data
The Razorbacks had a couple of their entries in "the last time" archives at the College World Series wiped out by Saturday's late game.
The scoreless game between Mississippi State and Washington through eight innings in the nightcap was the first of that kind since Arkansas and South Carolina played a 0-0 game through 13 innings in 1985. The Hogs went on to win 1-0 in 14 innings when Keith Kerns, a defensive replacement at second base, drove in Norm Roberts from second with an RBI single.
Mississippi State won 1-0 on Luke Alexander's one-out single to right field, making it the first walk-off victory at the series since Miami downed the Razorbacks 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning in 2015.
Heavy hearts
North Carolina players opened the series Saturday with heavy hearts after the death of former Tar Heels pitcher Zach Attianese and his father Jude in a car crash late Friday night on Interstate 75 in Michigan.
North Carolina catcher Brandon Martorano was Attianese's best friend, Coach Mike Fox said.
"I just want to give a shout out to Brandon Martorano because it was mighty hard for him to do, to go out there, because they've been friends ever since they were kids," Fox said, fighting back tears.
Martorano scored two runs in the Tar Heels' 8-6 victory over Oregon State. Attianese, a left-hander from Old Bridge, N.J., pitched in nine games for North Carolina in 2017 before transferring to State College of Florida this season.
Fan frenzy
A fan dressed in a Razorbacks shirt jumped from the stands onto the warning track in center field during the long rain delay, was tackled by a member of the grounds crew and escorted off the field.
After the players began warming up, a shirtless fan with a beard jumped onto the warning track in left field to retrieve a beach ball and throw it back to his friends. As the man tried to jump back onto the wall and return to the stands, a member of the grounds crew slammed him into the wall and dragged him onto the warning track. He gave a hook 'em Horns sign, which drew jeers from the Razorbacks fans down the first-base line. He was cuffed and escorted off by police.
Around the horn
• Texas outfielders Austin Todd and Tate Shaw collided on a long Carson Shaddy fly ball to the wall in left-center field in the eighth inning. Todd hung on to the ball despite being crunched by Shaw and having his sunglasses fly off his head. Todd ran to the wall to pick them up after the inning ended.
• Mississippi State women's basketball Coach Vic Schaefer, a former Arkansas women's assistant, attended the game.
• Washington's 1-0 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday marked the 11th shutout for a school making its debut at the College World Series.
• North Carolina starter Gianluca Dalatri, who had come back from a stress reaction in his right elbow, faced five batters and posted two outs before signaling something wasn't right. He was pulled from the game. The Tar Heels wound up using six pitchers Saturday.
Sports on 06/18/2018