Arkansas defeats Dallas Baptist, advances to super regionals

Arkansas pitcher Matt Cronin celebrates after the Razorbacks beat Dallas Baptist 4-3 in a college baseball game in the NCAA regional tournament Sunday, June 3, 2018 in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)
Arkansas pitcher Matt Cronin celebrates after the Razorbacks beat Dallas Baptist 4-3 in a college baseball game in the NCAA regional tournament Sunday, June 3, 2018 in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

— Arkansas swept another three-game set at Baum Stadium. This time it was for an NCAA regional championship.

The Razorbacks defeated Dallas Baptist 4-3 Sunday night in front of an announced attendance of 9,715 to clinch the program's first regional title since 2015. Arkansas, the No. 5 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, will host a super regional next weekend against either South Carolina or North Carolina-Wilmington.

Arkansas (42-18) improved to 32-3 at Baum Stadium, breaking the single-season wins record of 31 that was set by the 2004 team that won the Southeastern Conference and went to the College World Series. The Razorbacks have won 13 consecutive home games, including three this weekend over Oral Roberts, Southern Miss and Dallas Baptist.

Trailing 2-0 after two innings, Arkansas held Dallas Baptist (42-21) scoreless over the next six innings and took the lead with a run in the third inning and two runs in the fourth. Grant Koch's two-out RBI single to right field scored Dominic Fletcher from third base to give the Razorbacks a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning.

Fletcher had one of three singles in the inning. Luke Bonfield reached with a one-out single and advanced to third on Fletcher's hit. Bonfield appeared to be out at the base on a great throw from right fielder Luke Bandy, but DBU third baseman Tim Millard failed to apply a tag, letting Bonfield slide into the base underneath his glove.

Jake Reindl pitched seven innings of one-run baseball for Arkansas after he entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the first inning. Sophomore starter Isaiah Campbell issued two full-count walks and a single, and didn't record an out for the Razorbacks, but Reindl limited the damage by only allowing one run in the first on a fielder's choice.

Reindl also allowed a run in the second inning after allowing a leadoff single, but didn't allow a run over his final five innings. Sophomore closer Matt Cronin allowed a run in the ninth after a leadoff double by Devlin Granberg, but stranded the tying run at first base when Tim Millard flied out to Heston Kjerstad in the left field.

Kjerstad robbed Granberg of a home run in the sixth inning when he made a leaping catch at the left field wall. Kjerstad added a two-out RBI single in the seventh to extend Arkansas' lead to 4-2.

The game was the only of the regional without a home run. Teams had combined for 24 home runs through the first five games of the regional, including nine by DBU and six by Arkansas.

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