Sticks of the Game: Wallace, Turner power Hogs over Antelopes

Wallace’s two-home run day and Turner’s quality hits led Arkansas to a game one win in the Stillwater Regional on Friday.

In a game where both teams nearly matched each other in the hit column, the Arkansas Razorbacks proved that “quality over quantity” is what will ultimately win games.

The Razorbacks outhit Grand Canyon by just one hit on Friday, 9-8, but were able to add more value to their swings in a 7-1 win over the Antelopes in game one of the Stillwater Regional, hosted by Oklahoma State.

Six Razorbacks collected at least one hit in the game, while three of those batters sent at least one run across the plate in the win. Out of those players, the sticks of [autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag] and [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag] made the most noise on Friday by teaming up to grab five hits and to score six of Arkansas’ seven runs.

Arkansas has seen its’ share of offensive struggles in their four-game losing streak, but after taking a week off of competition, it seems that they have left those days in the dust. That became apparent in the bottom of the 1st inning.

After a successful top-half of the inning by the Arkansas defense, the Razorbacks were able to get on the board first thanks to a mammoth home run by Wallace to left field, that appeared to exit the stadium completely.

That would be the first of two long balls for Wallace on the afternoon. Up 5-1 in the bottom of the 4th inning, Wallace hit another solo blast into the Razorback bullpen to add an insurance run. The longball was a response to GCU’s Tayler Aguilar hitting his 21st home run of the season in the top of the inning to put the Antelopes on the board.

After a wild week that featured a local radio host spatting off insults in his direction, Michael Turner silenced the critics by going 3-for-4 with three RBI in the win.

Turner played a key role in Arkansas breaking the game open in the 2nd inning. After two runs scored previous to his at-bat, Turner added two more runs to the total on a two-RBI single to score Braydon Webb and Brady Slavens, and to give Arkansas the 5-0 lead.

The Turner-Slavens combo would work together again to put the nail in the coffin and to solidify the Razorbacks win. Slavens reached base on a leadoff walk, and later scored on another RBI single by Turner to put Arkansas on top, 7-1.

Joining Wallace and Turner in earning hits for Arkansas were [autotag]Braydon Webb[/autotag], [autotag]Chris Lanzilli[/autotag], [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag], and [autotag]Peyton Stovall[/autotag].

Arkansas moves on to the winner’s bracket to face the winner of Oklahoma State-Missouri State on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. CDT.

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