FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said this year’s team is built for pitching, speed and defense, and it showed Friday afternoon in the Razorbacks’ baseball season opener at Baum Stadium.
DJ Baxendale and Cade Lynch combined for a seven-hit shutout and Arkansas bunched together three runs in the sixth inning to defeat Delaware State 5-0 before 7,526 fans on a bright, crisp day with temperatures in the low 60s.
The crowd broke the opening day attendance record at Baum Stadium, topping the 6,523 who watched the Razorbacks beat Washington State in 2009.
Arkansas posted its first opening-day shutout since 2004, and the Razorbacks had only two shutouts in 64 games last season.
College teams are playing this year with new bats that have been modified to make them more like the wood bats used in professional baseball. The modifications were made in an effort to make the game safer by reducing the exit speed of balls coming off the bats, which also is expected to cut down on the number of home runs seen over the past few seasons.
Van Horn anticipated the changes two years ago and began altering his recruiting efforts to take advantage of the changes in the game, and the Razorbacks didn’t seem to have any problems adjusting Friday.
Arkansas scored five runs off eight hits. Senior Kyle Robinson and junior Bo Bigham had two hits each for Arkansas, and the Razorbacks did not make an error.
“It was a pretty crisp game for the first game of the year,” Van Horn said. “It wasn’t like there were double-play balls that were booted, dropped fly balls and things that you usually see for the first game. It was good.”
Baxendale (1-0) showed why he was considered Arkansas’ best pitching hope coming into the season, throwing five scoreless innings in only his fourth career start. The sophomore right-hander from Little Rock survived an early scare when Troy Drummond lined the first pitch hard up the middle for a single and Scott Davis beat out a bunt single. Baxendale retired the next three batters on two strikeouts and a flyoutto left field.
Baxendale allowed four hits and set a career high with seven strikeouts.
“I was kind of surprised [Drummond] swung at the first pitch,” Baxendale said. “It kind of woke me up and settled me down to realize[the season] is really here.”
Delaware State (0-1) didn’t threaten again until the ninth inning, when the Hornets put two runners on base against Lynch, a sophomore lefthander. Brandon Crist singled and Keith Hernandez doubled before Lynch preserved the shutout by striking out Drummond, who had two hits.
Lynch allowed 3 hits and struck out 7 in 4 innings to earn the save.
“We were thinking we’d throw three pitchers, but Lynch’s pitch count was down,” Van Horn said. “He threw about 10 more pitches in that ninth inning than we wanted, but that’s just the way it is.”
Arkansas’ only offensive surge came in the sixth inning when Robinson hit a leadoffdouble and Matt Vinson had a two-out triple. Tim Carver added a single, and the Razorbacks benefited from a balk and a wild pitch that scored two runs.
“The game may have beena bit different if we could have eliminated some strikeouts and walks,” Delaware State Coach JP Blandin said. “But we’ve been outside a good week before we got here, so we’ve been as prepared as we have in a long time.”
Delaware State pitchers walked seven batters, including four by Jordan Elliott that walked in a run in the second inning. The Hornets made a move to tie the game in the sixth after a leadoff walk, but Arkansas catcher James Mc-Cann made a diving catch on a bunt attempt by Trey DeRouen to keep the runner at first.
The play drew a big ovation from the Arkansas crowd, and Lynch worked his way out of the inning by striking out Cameron Cecil.
“We were leading only 1-0, and McCann made a great play on that pop bunt,” Van Horn said. “That got us fired up a little bit, and we were able to get out of the inning.”TODAY’S GAME Delaware State at Arkansas WHEN 1:05 p.m. today WHERE Baum Stadium RECORDS Arkansas 1-0; Delaware State 0-1 ADMISSION $10 reserved seats, $8 general admission RADIO RSP statewide radio network, which includes KQSM-FM, 92.1, in Fayetteville; KURM-AM, 790, and KURM-FM, 100.3, in Bentonville-Rogers; KABZ-FM, 103.7, in Little Rock;
KASR-FM, 92.7, in Conway; KHGG-FM, 103.1, in Fort Smith; KELD-FM, 106.5, in El Dorado; and KOMT-FM, 107.5, in Mountain Home. Not all games will be carried by affiliates. Check local listings. INTERNET www.arkansasrazorbacks.
com PITCHING MATCHUPS Delaware State: Jordan Elliott (RHP, 4-5, 6.68 ERA in 2010). Arkansas: Geoffrey Davenport (LHP, 2-2, 3.63 ERA in 2010). Davenport made 26 appearances with three starts last season. His longest outing came against Ball State, when he went four innings and struck out seven.
THE WEEK AHEAD TODAY vs. Delaware State, 1:05 p.m.
SUNDAY vs. Delaware State, 1:05 p.m.
MONDAY off TUESDAY off WEDNESDAY off THURSDAY off FRIDAY vs. Utah, 3:05 p.m.
SATURDAY vs. Utah, 1:05 p.m.
Sports, Pages 15 on 02/19/2011