Sticks of the Games: Big innings carry Arkansas past UIC in two games Thursday

Cayden Wallace is becoming a mainstay on this list for Arkansas. So is Michael Turner.

Great teams sometimes struggle, but the best teams come out the other side most of the team even when it looks like they won’t.

Arkansas is a great team.

The Razorbacks likely haven’t had the start they were hoping for, losing at least one game every weekend in each of the first three to start the season. So far in the fourth weekend, however, two wins in a day marks a good start.

Arkansas beat Illinois-Chicago 12-4 in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday and then rallied with four runs in the eighth to win the second game, 5-4. 

Five different Arkansas players had multiple hits, led by three from third baseman Cayden Wallace in the first game. Then, in the second, despite only registering six hits, the Diamond Hogs reached base 18 times (10 walks and two bean-balls) to create just enough on the base paths to get the victory.

On a day like that, picking out the best bats of the game is a bit tough. Here goes, anyway.