The Arkansas Razorbacks got back to their old ways on Friday in the Stillwater Regional opener against Grand Canyon.
The Razorbacks and Antelopes nearly matched each other in hits, but Arkansas did more with their opportunities. Behind a two-home run day by [autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag] and a three-RBI performance by [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag], Arkansas ran away with a 7-1 win over Grand Canyon, snapping a four-game losing streak.
The most noteworthy item from the game was that Arkansas only used two pitchers, Connor Noland and Kole Ramage, to grab the win, which gives Arkansas more options out of the bullpen over the remainder of the series. Noland threw 7.0 innings in his start, his longest outing since tossing 8.0 innings against Ole Miss on April 29. Kole Ramage closed the game out by working 2.0 innings and striking out three batters.
For Oklahoma State, six Cowboy batters recorded multiple hits in their 10-5 win over Missouri State on Friday night. Jake Thompson recorded three hits while Nolan McLean mirrored Wallace’s performance by hitting two home runs in the game.
Arkansas will give the ball to Hagen Smith on Saturday. Smith, who last started May 14 against Vanderbilt, has two relief appearances in that time. In his last outing, he threw an inning and struck out two batters in the 7-5 loss to Florida in an elimination game of the SEC Tournament.
The Cowboys are expected to throw ace Justin Campbell. The two-time All-American has struck out 133 batters in 94.1 innings pitched, while holding a 9-2 record. Most recently, Campbell struck out ten batters while allowing three hits and a run in Oklahoma State’s 11-1 win over Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on May 26.