College Baseball

Hogs beat up 6 Lumberjacks pitchers in rout

Arkansas third baseman Bobby Wernes throws the ball during a game against Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday, April 15, 2015, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas third baseman Bobby Wernes throws the ball during a game against Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday, April 15, 2015, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Andrew Benintendi hit another massive home run, stole three bases and made a gold star catch in center field, and Jacob Stone made his second successful midweek start as Arkansas walloped Stephen F. Austin 15-3 on Wednesday.

The Razorbacks (22-16) scored in every inning after the second, battering six Lumberjacks pitchers for 15 hits and a season high in runs before an estimated crowd of 1,534 at Baum Stadium. Arkansas piled up 23 runs in its two-game sweep of Stephen F. Austin (12-25), and every starter had at least one hit Wednesday.

"We scored in six of the eight innings today and three of them were innings with like three or more, so it's definitely a good way to go into the weekend," said Benintendi, who raised his batting average to .356.

"Obviously happy with the two-game series," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We scored a lot of runs, we swung the bats."

By taking its final non-conference home game, Arkansas has won six of seven games and 10 of its last 14 heading into its weekend set at No. 1 Texas A&M.

Benintendi's home run, on the first pitch he saw from left-handed reliever Ryan Manz in Arkansas' five-run sixth, soared over the visitor's bullpen and hit a tree beyond the right-field wall. The sophomore leads the nation with 14 home runs.

"It was a fastball, up and in," Benintendi said.

The sophomore swiped his three bases in the fourth and fifth innings and scored each time. Benintendi went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, 2 walks and 4 runs scored.

Shortstop Brett McAfee went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI, and third baseman Bobby Wernes drove in 4 runs while going 2 for 4. Joe Serrano also had two hits for the Hogs.

Side-arming right-hander Jacob Stone (3-2) won his second consecutive start, dropping his earned run average to 3.67 by allowing no runs on three hits in 5 innings. Jackson Lowery allowed a solo home run to Nick Ramos, his first, to break up the shutout in the sixth inning. Lance Phillips gave up no hits and recorded the final four outs to lower his ERA to 2.33.

Arkansas struck for a single run in the third to take the lead for good against 6-4 left-hander Eric Polivka (1-3). McAfee laced a first-pitch single into left field, moved up on Tyler Pennell's sacrifice bunt and scored on Serrano's two-out single to center field.

The Razorbacks blew the game open with a four-run fifth inning. Benintendi walked, stole second and sprinted home on Tyler Spoon's team-best 15th double. Wernes drove in Spoon with a rocket shot through the pitcher's box. Polivka ran into some tough luck when consecutive bloops from Luke Bonfield and McAfee fell in for singles to bring in another run. Pennell's double-play grounder brought in the final run of the inning for a 5-0 lead.

The Razorbacks turned a pair of double plays to bring their season total to 44, which leads the SEC.

Benintendi also had the best of several defensive gems for Arkansas, laying out vertically to catch a drive to right-center by Matthew Dickey in the sixth. The third baseman Wernes made a nifty pick on a ground ball from Holden Holsomback in the fifth inning, then ranged to his left to throw out Dickey in the ninth. In the seventh inning, with the bases loaded, Wernes charged up to field Eric DeJesus' sharp grounder and started a double play to keep the Lumberjacks off the board.

The Razorbacks wrapped up their homestand with a 6-1 record, which Van Horn termed a big success.

"We knew 10 days ago when we were getting ready to start this home stand that this was the time for us to kick it into gear, get over the hump and we've done that," Van Horn said. "The team's playing pretty well right now. We're pretty confident. The pitchers are throwing strikes and just like today, I think all the starters had a hit, at least one hit."

Sports on 04/16/2015

Upcoming Events