OMAHA, Neb. -- Stanford pitcher Alex Williams said he'd take the Cardinal offense over the University of Arkansas' bats any day and added, "I think we've got 'em" during his Thursday news conference.
Turned out the Cardinal didn't have the Hogs in Saturday's College World Series opener.
Arkansas pitcher Connor Noland took the Cardinal offense down with an efficient 79-pitch outing in 7 2/3 innings in 90-plus degree heat and the Razorbacks' offense made Williams eat his words.
The Razorbacks racked up a season-high 21 hits in a 17-2 rout before a crowd of 24,337 at Charles Schwab Field to advance to a winner's bracket game at 6 p.m. Monday.
"I thought we played just a fantastic game," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said.
The Razorbacks (44-19) broke their school record for runs scored in a CWS game, exceeding their 11-4 win over Texas in 2018, and smashed their largest margin of victory in Omaha, which had been seven runs.
Stanford (47-17) will play an elimination game on Monday at 1 p.m. against the loser of Saturday night's Auburn vs. Ole Miss game, while Arkansas will play the winner.
Noland (8-5) extended his streak of commanding postseason starts by pitching to contact and shutting the Cardinal down for six consecutive innings following Brock Jones' leadoff home run in the first.
"I knew they were going to swing the bat," Noland said. "They're an aggressive team. They like to put the ball in play. We had the wind blowing in. I get a lot of ground balls normally. I just stuck to the plan."
Noland allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 1. He is 3-0 in his NCAA Tournament starts with 3 earned runs allowed in 21 1/3 innings for a 1.27 ERA.
"Their guy beat our guy. That's all you ask when you come into the World Series," Stanford Coach David Esquer said of Noland outdueling Williams.
"It started on the mound with pitching," Van Horn said. "Outstanding. A lot of strikes. Defense behind him was outstanding as well.
"He set the tone. He sets the tone for the whole weekend."
Noland threw 12 pitches in the first, then rattled off pitch counts of 7, 5, 7 and 9 the next four innings to keep the scorching heat off his defense.
"He did a really good job just staying in the zone," Jones said. "He has good stuff. But he threw a lot of strikes. ... Our offense did a good job of putting the ball in play and testing their defense. They had really good defense today, and he was able to pound the zone."
Noland said his start against Stanford mirrored his efforts in wins over Grand Canyon and North Carolina in terms of his approach and effectiveness.
"Just filling up the strike zone, that's the biggest thing," he said. "Getting ahead in counts, getting them to take uncomfortable swings. That's really been the big thing the past three weeks. Just get ahead and let my defense work, and it worked today."
The Razorbacks turned a pair of double plays behind him, a 6-4-3 in the first inning and a 5-4-3 in the fifth, and shortstop Jalen Battles, second baseman Robert Moore and first baseman Peyton Stovall all made sterling individual defensive plays.
But the Arkansas bats would not be denied following the challenge by Williams.
Chris Lanzilli smacked a three-run homer off Williams on his 24th birthday to break a 1-1 tie and spark a five-run fifth inning that chased Williams, who allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 4 1/3 innings.
The Stanford bullpen didn't fare any better. Arkansas ravaged five relievers for 12 runs on 13 hits and 5 walks, piling up 11 runs in the final three innings, including a six-run ninth.
Every Arkansas starter had at least two hits for the first time this season after Braydon Webb's two-run double in the ninth inning. Webb opened the game with a triple on the first pitch by Williams.
Michael Turner went 4 for 6 to lead the Hogs' offense, while Cayden Wallace went 3 for 6 with a home run and three RBI. Peyton Stovall drove in a team-high four runs batting eighth, and Robert Moore scored a team-high three runs while going 2 for 3 and reaching base five times.
"Offensively, I've seen us hit the ball in the middle of the ball a lot more, advance runners, move runners around, use the whole field," Van Horn said of the Hogs' heavy hitting in the postseason. "We had a bunch of backside hits today, sac fly. I mean, we're running a pretty good offense right now."
Noland recorded 11 outs in a span of 10 batters from the first through the fourth innings before Drew Bowser's leadoff single in the fifth. Bowser was erased on designated hitter Tommy Troy's double-play grounder.
"We were seeing the ball well," Esquer said. "We hit the ball right at them.
"It's one of those days where they found the holes and I think we hit 15, 16 balls right at the infield. They did a good job preparing for us and preparing for that pitching. And hopefully we'll get a chance to see them again and the rubber match between Arkansas and Stanford, what happens there."
Stanford beat the Razorbacks 5-0 on Feb. 27 in the Round Rock Classic in Texas with temperatures in the 30s and a stiff wind blowing in.
Both teams had a chance for a big first inning before settling for one run apiece.
Webb hit Williams' first pitch off the right-field wall, just above the glove of Braden Montgomery. Brady Slavens brought him home with a sacrifice fly. After Wallace flied out to deep left field, the Hogs loaded the bases on a Turner single, Lanzilli's hit by pitch and a Moore walk. Williams struck Jalen Battles out looking on a 2-2 pitch to leave them loaded.
Jones hit a line drive home run just over the glove of Zack Gregory at the left-field fence on Noland's third pitch of the bottom of the first. Brett Barrera and Montgomery reached on one-out singles, but Noland escaped by getting catcher Kody Huff to hit into a double play.
Slavens and Wallace singled to set up Lanzilli's key three-run shot, his ninth of the season.
Moore singled, moved up on Battles' walk and Peyton Stovall's ground out and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-1 in the fifth. Then Gregory singled in a run as the Hogs began pulling away.
Battles, Slavens and Wallace had RBI hits in the seventh and Stovall delivered two-run singles in both the eighth and ninth as the Cardinal used its back-of-the-pen pitchers.
At a glance
College World Series
At Charles Schwab Field
Omaha, Neb.
(Double elimination; x-if necessary)
BRACKET PLAY
Saturday's games
Game 3 Arkansas 17, No. 2 Stanford 2
Game 4 Ole Miss 5, No. 14 Auburn 1
Today's games
All times Central
Game 5 No. 9 Texas (46-20) vs. No. 5 Texas A&M (41-19), 1 p.m.
Game 6 Notre Dame (41-15) vs. Oklahoma (43-22), 6 p.m.
Monday's games
Game 7 No. 2 Stanford (46-17) vs. No. 14 Auburn (42-21), 1 p.m.
Game 8 Arkansas (43-19) vs. Ole Miss (37-22), 6 p.m.
Tuesday's games
Game 9 Game 6 Loser vs. Game 5 Winner, 1 p.m.
Game 10 Game 8 Loser vs. Game 7 Winner, 6 p.m.
Wednesday's games
Game 11 Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 1 p.m.
Game 12 Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 6 p.m.
Thursday's games
x-Game 13 Game 6 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, TBA
x-Game 14 Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, TBA
Championship Series
(Best-of-3)
Saturday, June 25: Pairings TBA, 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 26: Pairings TBA, 2 p.m.
x-Monday, June 27: Pairings TBA, 6 p.m.
Arkansas first baseman Peyton Stovall (right) tags out Stanford second baseman Brett Barrera on Saturday during the sixth inning of the Razorbacks’ 17-2 victory over the Cardinal in their opening-round game of the College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb. More photos at arkansasonline.com/619omaha/. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)
Arkansas outfielder Braydon Webb (24, right) reacts after reaching third base Saturday in the first inning of the Razorbacks’ opening game at the NCAA College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Charlie Kaijo)