An inauspicious start for the University of Arkansas had a near-record crowd of 10,463 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock on edge Tuesday night.
By the end of the first inning, the No. 6 Razorbacks were clearly in charge as local favorites Casey Martin and Trevor Ezell combined for 6 hits, 7 RBI and 7 runs.
Martin, a sophomore from Lonoke, belted his second inside-the-park home run of the year and Ezell, a senior from Bryant, went 3 for 3 with 3 walks, 6 runs scored and 2 RBI as Arkansas rolled to a 17-3 victory over Grambling State in the Razorbacks' final nonconference game of the regular season.
Arkansas also had two three-run home runs against the Tigers. Zack Plunkett capped the Razorbacks' six-run first inning with a drive to left field. Heston Kjerstad hammered his team-leading 13th home run in the eighth inning to cap the scoring.
Grambling (23-21) started the game with three consecutive singles, but the Tigers managed to push only one across the plate. Arkansas (35-11) responded with six runs in the bottom of the first, using three walks, a hit batter, an infield single and a three-run blast from the senior Plunkett.
Starting sophomore pitcher Kole Ramage struck out a career-high seven batters, but he allowed the first three batters of the fifth inning to reach base. Sophomore Marshall Denton (2-0) struck out four in two innings and was awarded the win.
The 17 runs more than doubled the largest output the Razorbacks have ever scored at the North Little Rock stadium. The previous high in runs was seven done twice, a 7-2 victory over Memphis in 2011 and a 7-6 victory over Grambling last season.
Arkansas finished with 14 hits, six of which went for extra bases.
Grambling trotted out eight pitchers to face the Razorbacks. Starter D'Quan Matthews (0-2) faced only five batters. He walked 3, hit 1 and struck out 1.
Martin, who was out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the second inning, hit his inside-the park home run in the fourth. He sent a one-ball, one-strike pitch to the right-center field wall. Grambling freshman center fielder Warren Laster slipped trying to chase down the ball. Martin also had a run-scoring single in the sixth.
Ezell reached base and scored in all six plate appearances.
Tuesday's crowd was the second largest to attend a Razorbacks game at Dickey-Stephens Park. The Razorbacks' game with Louisiana Tech in 2012 drew 10,512.
Sports on 05/01/2019