FAYETTEVILLE — Despite its earliest start of the season, Arkansas finally got its bats going from the jump Saturday.
In a game that started at 11 a.m. because of expected bad weather in the evening, the Razorbacks scored all nine of their runs in the first four innings and were able to cruise to a 9-3 win that clinched their four-game series against Southeast Missouri State.
“I mean, we had a team breakfast at 7 a.m. and we took batting practice in the fog,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “I give guys credit for coming out with a lot of life and getting after the starter, knocked him out early, took control of the game, it looked like.”
Most of the damage was done in the first third of the game, as Arkansas scored four runs in the opening frame and tacked on two more in both the second and third.
The Razorbacks pounded out nine hits in 18 at bats during that stretch, which was a stark contrast to their 5-for-49 (.102) performance in the first three innings of the previous five games combined.
Making his season debut after missing some time because of stomach issues, Matt Goodheart played a role in the quick start. He followed an RBI single by Christian Franklin with an RBI single of his own to make it 2-0 in the first inning.
He ended up coming around to score on a Brady Slavens ground out and finished the day 1 for 3 with a pair of walks.
“Having Goodheart in the lineup, it brings a little more depth to our lineup I feel like,” Van Horn said. “He did a tremendous job. He hadn't had batting practice until today. … I thought his pitch recognition was pretty good and obviously one of the top hitters in the league.”
The Razorbacks got a two-run home run from Franklin in the second inning, an RBI single by Robert Moore in the third and an RBI double by Jalen Battles in the fourth, with a pair of runs on wild pitches mixed in.
That was plenty of offense for Arkansas, which picked up its first drama-free win of the season after needing to come from behind in four of its first five games. The Razorbacks are now 6-0.
Pallette Solid Again
While his teammates were providing him with a lot of run support, Peyton Pallette did his part by turning in a second straight scoreless start.
The right-hander scattered three hits and a walk across five innings and three of those four base runners were put on with two outs, so he was never really threatened Saturday.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Pallette’s start was his command. In the first two innings, only two of his 21 pitches were called balls and at the end of the day, 73.8 percent of his pitches were strikes.
“He just has a really classic arm action,” Van Horn said. “He can repeat his delivery. … He's all around that zone. He doesn't have a lot of bad misses with his fastball. Maybe every now and then with an off-speed pitch, (but) when he's throwing a fastball, it's going to be around the zone.”
The Link LonkFebruary 28, 2021 at 11:16AM
https://arkansas.rivals.com/news/bats-get-going-early-pallette-shines-in-easy-win-for-hogs
Bats get going early, Pallette shines in easy win for Hogs - Rivals.com - Arkansas
https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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