LEXINGTON, Ky. -- When he made contact, Casey Martin thought the ball was gone.
"It ended up hitting the top of the fence," said Martin, the University of Arkansas shortstop who hit his second inside-the-park home run in as many games this week. "That's part of the game. Just got to keep running, just in case."
Martin kept running and never stopped until he slid head-first into home plate, well ahead of a dribbling throw from center field.
Martin's dash helped the No. 6 Razorbacks (36-11, 16-6 SEC) put the game largely out of reach early Friday night in a 5-2 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats (22-23, 5-17) at Kentucky Proud Park.
"It's big time that he hustled like he did out of the box," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "A lot of guys might have thought it was out of the park."
The Hogs scored most of their runs before the end of the first inning. All nine Razorbacks in the order saw an at-bat and, thanks to timely hitting and poor defense, accounted for four runs.
Trevor Ezell led off the game by driving Kentucky pitcher Jimmy Ramsey's third pitch deep into left field for a stand-up double. Ezell's double was followed by an infield single and throwing error that loaded up the bases for the Razorbacks.
Dominic Fletcher knocked a two-run single into right field. Two more runners scored on a passed ball and a fielder's choice as Arkansas grabbed a 4-0 edge.
Martin's home run was all the offense in the second inning and the last run for the Razorbacks on the night. He also had an inside-the-park home run in Tuesday's 17-3 victory over Grambling State at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. Three of Martin's 11 home runs this season have not left the park.
Ramsey was pulled in the second inning soon after Martin's home run. Four different Kentucky relievers kept the Hogs' off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.
Kentucky's first run occurred in the bottom of the fourth inning when right fielder Heston Kjerstad lost a deep fly ball to right field in the stadium's lights. The ball landed several feet behind Kjerstad, giving Kentucky's Coltyn Kessler a triple and allowing a runner to score.
Hogs' right-handed starting pitcher Isaiah Campbell secured his eighth victory after bouncing back from a rough start against Tennessee the previous week.
"Tonight, we knew pretty early on that he felt pretty good about the way he was throwing the baseball," Van Horn said of Campbell. "It was good to see him bounce back and have a great outing."
Campbell went 7 innings, struck out 6 and surrendered the 1 run. He was rarely threatened while giving up five hits on 101 pitches.
"Bottom line, he gave us a chance to win the game," Van Horn said.
Kentucky had a chance to creep back into the contest in the eighth when reliever Kevin Kopps entered the game in the eighth for the Hogs. He loaded the bases after a single and two walks and was replaced without recording an out.
With the meat of the Wildcats' order due up with the bases loaded, Van Horn called on closer Matt Cronin for damage control. The left-hander proved cool under pressure and escaped the jam while allowing only one run to score. He forced a groundout and struck out two Wildcats looking.
Cronin pitched the ninth with little trouble to clinch his 10th save.
Friday night's victory extended the Razorbacks' SEC winning streak to eight. After winning 14 of 18 games in April, the Hogs opened up the month of May with a victory.
The Razorbacks will face Kentucky ace Zack Thompson today at 1 p.m. Central.
Sports on 05/04/2019