SEC BASEBALL NO. 1 ARKANSAS 6, NO. 11 SOUTH CAROLINA 1

Moore for Hogs: Sophomore’s two home runs pace victory

Arkansas’ Robert Moore (right) is congratulated by third-base coach Nate Thompson after hitting his second home run during the Razorbacks’ victory over South Carolina on Thursday night in Columbia, S.C. Moore finished 2 for 4 with 3 RBI.
(South Carolina Athletics/Jeff Blake)
Arkansas’ Robert Moore (right) is congratulated by third-base coach Nate Thompson after hitting his second home run during the Razorbacks’ victory over South Carolina on Thursday night in Columbia, S.C. Moore finished 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. (South Carolina Athletics/Jeff Blake)

University of Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn decided to have Robert Moore bat sixth in the lineup for the first time this season when the Razorbacks played at South Carolina on Thursday night.

Good call.

"I just felt like it was time to put him in the middle to let him drive in runs," Van Horn said. "And he definitely came through for us."

Moore, who primarily has batted leadoff, helped power the No. 1 Razorbacks to a 6-1 victory over No. 11 South Carolina to open a three-game series at Founders Park in Columbia, S.C.

Moore, a sophomore second baseman, hit two runs to account for the Razorbacks' first three runs.

Both of the switch-hitting Moore's home runs came with him batting left-handed against Gamecocks starting pitcher Thomas Farr.

Moore's two-out home run on the first pitch he saw from Farr gave Arkansas a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

In the seventh inning, Moore hit a two-run home run -- after Christian Franklin's single -- when the Razorbacks (31-6, 12-4 SEC) scored three runs off Farr to go ahead 4-1.

"First at-bat, I saw that he was throwing a lot of first-pitch fastballs to left-handers, and that's what he was doing throughout the course of the year, especially in SEC play," Moore said. "I was hitting sixth, so I got to see [Zach] Gregory, [Matt] Goodheart and [Brady] Slavens hit, and that's what he [was] doing to them.

"So I just tried to get a pitch, a fastball, and try to take it right back up the middle. He missed middle in and my hands just reacted."

Moore's second home run came on an 0-2 pitch when Farr threw him an inside fastball.

"That was probably the hardest ball I've hit all year," Moore said on Arkansas' postgame radio show.

It was the second two-home run game for Moore this season. He also hit two home runs in Arkansas' 7-6 victory over Murray State on March 5.

"Franklin had a great at-bat, hit a line drive the other way," Van Horn said of the seventh-inning surge. "Then Robert came up and he was down 0-2 real quick. It looked like they tried to get him to chance an elevated fastball and [Farr] threw it too low, and he crushed it. He hit it harder than the first one, by a lot.

"That really got our team fired up. He got him a fastball both times and left the yard with them."

Farr had retired 11 consecutive batters going into the seventh inning.

"He did a good job of keeping the ball away from us," Van Horn said. "Then he'd bust you in a little bit, he'd elevate that fastball a little bit.

"But he threw his breaking ball a couple innings there pretty good. Then he lost command of it."

Van Horn said hitting coach Nate Thompson did a good job on film study of Farr.

"There was usually one inning you could get him," Van Horn said. "That's kind of what happened. We finally got him in the seventh."

Arkansas' fourth run came when Casey Opitz reached on an error when he hit a ground ball, and Farr didn't touch the first-base bag after taking a throw from first baseman David Mendham.

Opitz went to second on a wild pitch by Farr, advanced to third base on a throwing error by third baseman Jeff Heinrich after he caught a line drive by Jalen Battles and scored on a bunt by Gregory to push the Razorbacks' lead to 4-1.

The Razorbacks made it 5-1 in the eighth inning against South Carolina reliever Wesley Sweet when Cayden Wallace singled, Slavens doubled and Franklin followed with an RBI single. Arkansas added a run in the ninth inning on Slavens' RBI single.

Kevin Kopps pitched the final three innings for the Razorbacks and held the Gamecocks (24-11, 10-6) scoreless to earn his fifth save.

Kopps retired all nine batters he faced and had six strikeouts. He threw 28 strikes on 34 pitches.

"I don't know [if] it was his best stuff, but if it's not, it was real good," Van Horn said. "I like the fact he didn't mess around. He threw a lot of strikes.

"He got nine outs on 34 pitches. That will give us an opportunity to use him again [in today's doubleheader]."

The Gamecocks tied it 1-1 in the fourth inning against Arkansas starter Caleb Bolden when Andrew Eyster drew a leadoff walk on a 3-2 pitch and scored on a double by Colin Burgess.

South Carolina got runners on first and second base with no outs in the sixth inning when Ryan Costeiu walked Mendham and hit Eyster.

Caden Monke (5-0) came in for Costeiu and got out of the jam without allowing a run. Josiah Sightler popped out on a bunt attempt and Burgess grounded into a double play.

"I thought Monke did a tremendous job," Van Horn said. "Obviously we brought him in because we have a lot of confidence in him.

"He throws that hard cutter fastball, and we knew it would be tough to bunt on him. Plus he's a good defender.

"It was an elevated cutter and [Sightler] popped it up and then he threw the cutter in on the next hitter, and got it in on [Burgess] a little bit and got the double play ball and the dugout was fired up. It was big to get those three outs without them scoring."

Moore said he was motivated by hacking from the South Carolina fans, but that he was more fired up because his grandparents live in Columbia.

"My grandfather is actually in the hospital right now," Moore said. "I knew he was watching the game, and I really wanted to play well and make him smile. So, yeah, I had to have a little bit of an edge."

Moore has 10 home runs on the season, including four in the last four games. He hit two home runs against Texas A&M last weekend.

"Your timing comes and goes as a hitter, and right now my timing's going pretty good," Moore said on the postgame radio show. "So I'm just trying to ride it out."

Today's doubleheader will be the Razorbacks' sixth SEC game in seven days.

"We're baseball players," Moore said. "We're supposed to play every day, play nine innings hard and after we do that we'll do it again. We look forward to the challenge."

Today’s games

NO. 1 ARKANSAS AT NO. 11 SOUTH CAROLINA (DH)

WHEN 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Central

WHERE Founders Park, Columbia, S.C.

RECORDS Arkansas 31-6, 12-4 SEC; South Carolina 24-11, 10-6.

STARTING PITCHERS Game 1 Arkansas: RHP Peyton Pallette (1-2, 4.06 ERA); South Carolina: RHP Brannon Jordan (4-2, 3.15 ERA). Game 2 Arkansas: TBA. South Carolina: RHP Will Sanders (6-1, 2.11 ERA)

SERIES Arkansas leads 43-34

TV None

INTERNET SEC Network-Plus

RADIO Razorback Sports Network

SHORT HOPS Arkansas closer Kevin Kopps lowered his ERA to 1.03 with three perfect innings on Thursday night. He has 60 strikeouts in 35 innings … Arkansas and South Carolina are playing a doubleheader today because of rain and thunderstorms forecast for Saturday. Both games will be nine innings … Coach Dave Van Horn said he’s not sure who will the Razorbacks’ starting pitcher will be in Game two today because Arkansas will use whoever it needs pitching-wise in the opener … The Razorbacks won at South Carolina for the first time since 2013, when they swept a three-game series. Their only other trip to South Carolina between 2013 and this season was in 2016, when the Gamecocks swept three games.

THE WEEK AHEAD

TODAY at South Carolina, (DH) 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.

SATURDAY Off

SUNDAY Off

MONDAY Off

TUESDAY Off (Missouri St. canceled)

WEDNESDAY Off

THURSDAY Off

Caden Monke improved to 5-0 on the season Thursday, combining with three other University of Arkansas pitchers on a two-hitter to lead the top-ranked Razorbacks to a 6-1 victory over No. 11 South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.
(South Carolina Athletics/Jeff Blake)
Caden Monke improved to 5-0 on the season Thursday, combining with three other University of Arkansas pitchers on a two-hitter to lead the top-ranked Razorbacks to a 6-1 victory over No. 11 South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. (South Carolina Athletics/Jeff Blake)

Upcoming Events