College Baseball: Hogs throw Utes a curve in eighth

Arkansas pitcher Ryan Stanek gave up 3 hits, struck out 2 and walked 1 in 5 2/3 innings, helping the Razorbacks hold off Utah 3-2 on Friday at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas pitcher Ryan Stanek gave up 3 hits, struck out 2 and walked 1 in 5 2/3 innings, helping the Razorbacks hold off Utah 3-2 on Friday at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

— Two key plays in the eighth inning swung a nail-biter Arkansas’ way Friday afternoon in a 3-2 victory over Utah.

An estimated crowd of 2,073 on a cold, blustery day at Baum Stadium saw No. 20 Arkansas (4-0) win its firstever game against the Utes (0-3).

Arkansas reliever D.J. Baxendale (2-0) worked out of a jam in the eighth inning with a strikeout and picked off Utah’s James Brooks at second base to hold the game in a 2-2 tie.

In the bottom of the eighth, Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn called on clean-up hitter Kyle Robinson, who had tripled and scored earlier, to bunt Matt Reynolds to second after a leadoff walk.

Robinson got the bunt down against right-hander Ben Mordini (0-1), and the move paid immediate dividends as Bo Bigham’s flare sailed just over the glove of Utah second baseman Michael Beltran to score Reynolds with the winning run.

“Coach Van Horn asked me to bunt and I’m going to do whatever he says to help the team, whether it be bunting or hitting-and-running or whatever,” Robinson said.

Van Horn said small ball was called for in the conditions.

“You had to,” he said. “The wind was blowing in, it was cold, you had outstanding pitchers. We don’t win the game if we don’t execute a few things, and we did.”

Baxendale, reverting back to his closer’s role after winning the season opener, gave up a go-ahead RBI single to the first batter he faced in the sixth inning before closing the door on the Utes.

“It’s always good to be on the mound in the ninth inning with a lead,” Baxendale said.“I just went out there and threw strikes.”

The late dramatics came after starters Ryne Stanek and Rick Anton hooked up in a well-pitched duel that lasted five innings.

Stanek, an Arkansas freshman, pitched no-hit ball through 5 2/3 innings, while the left-handed Anton looked sharp with a late-breaking cut fastball that ran in on righthanded hitters.

Stanek helped his own cause in the fourth inning when he plucked a line drive off the bat of C.J. Cron just off his right ear.

Arkansas broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning without a hit. Collin Kuhn was hit by a pitch - for the 38th time in his career - with one out. Anton appeared to have him picked off as Kuhn broke for second base, but Cron’s throw from first was not in time and Kuhn slid under the tag at second.

“Just doing what I can to get on base and advance,” Kuhn said. “We hadn’t had any close games yet, so it was good to pull it out against a good team today.”

After Jarrod McKinney struck out, Anton induced a grounder that should have gotten him out of the inning, but Cron couldn’t handle Brooks’ bounced throw from shortstop and Kuhn wheeled around third to score.

Stanek breezed through two outs in the fifth before Brooks laced a single to left. Beltran followed with a chopper up the middle for another hit, then Cron’s first-pitch single through the hole to left tied the game 1-1.

Baxendale entered and gave up a bouncer up the middle by Shaun Cooper to score Beltran.

The Hogs wasted little time in tying. Robinson led off the bottom of the sixth with a deep drive to right-center field for a triple. Bigham’s chopper to third brought Robinson in for a 2-2 score.

“He had been coming in most of the game early on, but he finally got a little tired in the late innings,” Robinson said. “He left a fastball over the plate, and I was able to put a good swing on it to right-center.”

Sports, Pages 20 on 02/26/2011

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