NORTH LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas never could get the big hit Wednesday night, which is why the Razorbacks needed a sophomore reliever to get them out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning to escape lightly regarded Mississippi Valley State.
Arkansas (19-7), ranked No. 15 by Baseball America, scored all its runs in the second inning and missed several opportunities to add to its lead during a 2-1 victory over Mississippi Valley State (3-23) in front of an announced crowd of 9,285 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
Coach Dave Van Horn applauded the efforts of senior Tyler Wright, who gave up 1 hit and struck out a career-high 5 in 3 innings of his first start, and reliever Jalen Beeks, who came through with a strikeout and a popup to end the game after the Delta Devils loaded the bases with one out in the ninth.
Van Horn didn’t have much to say in defense of an offense that stranded runners in eight innings and left 12 total runners on base.
“Kind of lackadaisical offensively,” Van Horn said. “We just didn’t do a whole lot. That’s what’s disappointing. … I don’t think there’s any excuse. We just didn’t do a very good job.”
The Razorbacks, who beat the Delta Devils 6-0 on Tuesday in Fayetteville, scored all the runs they needed in the second inning, when they managed to hit just one ball out of the infield.
Dominic Ficociello led off with a bunt single and moved to third when Jake Wise reached on an error. Ficociello scored on Jacob Morris’ sacrifice bunt to make it 1-0, and Jacob Mahan’s double down the left-field line made it 2-0.
Mahan was stranded at second base when Joe Serrano popped out to second base, which seemed to start a trend for the Razorbacks. They left the bases loaded in the third, stranded a runner in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, left two more on in the seventh and another in the eighth.
“Usually, two runs isn’t enough,” said Arkansas left-fielder Matt Vinson, who went 2 for 4 and was left on base three times. “It’s very frustrating. Our offense has to do better. We will. We have a good approach. We have agood philosophy. … We feel like we’re going to be good coming into the weekend.”
With the Razorbacks leading 2-1 in the sixth, Morris hit a one-out double to right field but was thrown out at home when Mississippi Valley State center fielder Edmund Cheatham’s looping throw beat him to the plate.
“He didn’t know where the outfielder was, or he acted like he didn’t,” Van Horn said. “He just turned and peeked at him. I guess he thought it could be caught. We could have held him right there, but he madea great throw.”
Van Horn had nothing but compliments for Arkansas’ four pitchers, even if their efforts came against the worst hitting team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Wright (1-0), a senior lefthander, struck out three of the first four batters he faced and gave up only a one-out double in the second inning to earn his first victory this season. In two seasons at Arkansas, Wright hadn’t made a start in 20 appearances before Wednesday.
“Your adrenaline gets pumping a little bit. It’s definitely fun,” Wright said. “I just tried to go out there and throw quality pitches … throw a lot of strikes and let the guys get themselves out.”
Landon Simpson gave up a fourth-inning bunt single to Cheatham, who stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on German Hays’ single to makeit 2-1.
Simpson didn’t give up another hit, though, and Michael Gunn pitched three hitless innings before Beeks worked out of a jam when Mississippi Valley State put the go-ahead run on second base.
After getting Cheatham to fly out to start the ninth, Mark Kaplan, Hays and Kevin Simmons singled to load the bases. Beeks then struck out Luke Brumfield and retired Jonathan Parker on a popupto Ficociello.
Arkansas extended its winning streak to five games after last weekend’s three-game SEC sweep at South Carolina, which has played for the national championship the past three seasons, winning titles in 2010 and 2011. The Razorbacks open a three-game SEC series against Mississippi State at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville on Friday.
Van Horn said it will take a better performance offensively against the Bulldogs than the Razorbacks turned in Wednesday night.
“It’s a huge weekend,” Van Horn said. “They [Mississippi State] are on a mission. We’re going to have pick up our intensity if we’re going to beat them.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 03/28/2013