Tag: Dylan Leach

No returning catchers? No problem for Arkansas baseball

Michael Turner, Dylan Leach and Max Soliz Jr. are all gone from the Arkansas baseball team, so Dave Van Horn is back-filling the catcher position.

Michael Turner will go down as one of the most memorable Arkansas baseball players of the generation.

Dylan Leach will be remembered for hitting for an Arkansas rarity – a cycle – during his time with the Razorbacks.

Max Soliz Jr. was on the roster, too.

All three of Arkansas’ listed catchers for the 2022 season are gone for the 2023 season. Leach and Soliz have transferred away and Turner is off to try his hand in the professional ranks.

But Diamond Hogs coach Dave Van Horn isn’t concerned about what he has behind the plate in 2023.

Parker Rowand, who played at Arkansas State before hitting over .400 this year at Eastern Oklahoma State, has committed to play for the Razorbacks next year. Van Horn said the team had also received a commitment from another catcher, but he wasn’t at liberty to say who because the player has yet to make it public.

He may not be done, either.

“We’re still looking for another guy that maybe he’s an outfielder, right fielder that also can catch,” Van Horn said. “It’s a secondary position because you’d like to have three.”

Three more Diamond Hogs to transfer portal, making seven off last year’s team

Arkansas will likely have to use the transfer portal to find a catcher as none remain on the roster.

Arkansas baseball currently has no catchers on its roster.

Starter Michael Turner has exhausted his eligibility. Top reserve Dylan Leach transferred to Missouri earlier in the week. And now, third-stringer Max Soliz is into the portal, as well.

Soliz’s entry is one of three transfer portal entries Arkansas has had this week. Pitchers Gabe Starks and Heston Tole also join him there. Tole announced on Tuesday he would transfer to Texas.

Starks’ and Soliz’s destinations are not yet known. All three players were part of Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament team and traveled to the College World Series, though only Starks played in the tournament.

Toles worked 14 1/3 innings with a 3.77 earned-run average and 20 strikeouts. Starks pitched 11 2/3 innings, striking out 18 with a 4.63.

Soliz played in five games with one start, at designated hitter. He had 10 plate appearances, going 2 for 9 with an RBI, two runs and a walk. His exit, combined with Leach’s and Turner’s likely means coach Dave Van Horn will examine the portal for catchers.

Arkansas’ 2022 recruiting class is ranked No. 5 in the nation by Perfect Game, but according to that site, none of the incoming players are catchers.

Arkansas loses catcher Dylan Leach to fellow SEC school

Dylan Leach spent the year as Arkansas’ No. 2 catcher to Michael Turner this past season.

Dylan Leach wasn’t in the transfer portal long.

The rising junior from Carthage, Texas, announced his entry into the portal over the weekend. On Monday, he announced his destination: Missouri.

“After talking with God and my family, I’d like to announce I will be continuing my baseball career at the University of Missouri,” Leach wrote on Twitter. “Thank you for everyone’s support through this process.”

Leach spent the season as the No. 2 catcher behind Michael Turner, who incidentally, came to Arkansas via the transfer portal from Kent State. Leach started 16 games and hit .224 with four home runs and 16 RBIs.

Leach’s biggest moment came against Central Arkansas on April 5 when he hit for the cycle, going 5 for 5 after entering the game just 1 for 22.

Arkansas will return only one catcher next season. Max Soliz Jr. was the No. 4 player in Alabama when he was in high school. Soliz played in five games this past season for the Razorbacks.

Diamond Hogs fall to old rival in final nonconference game

Arkansas fell to 4-4 in its last eight games after losing to its biggest out-of-SEC rival on Tuesday at home.

Missouri State hasn’t been on the national radar in a couple of seasons. But the Bears always get up to play [autotag]Arkansas baseball[/autotag].

The Diamond Hogs were shell-shocked Tuesday night in the final nonconference game at Baum-Walker Stadium by their biggest out-of-league rival, 6-4.

Arkansas (34-11) managed just two hits through eight innings against a Missouri State team that carried a 7.56 earned-run average in league play. And it isn’t as though the Razorbacks played a batch of reserves. Dylan Leach’s solo home run started the third to make it 2-1 Bears, but it was the second.

Missouri State  (22-19) tacked on an insurance run in the fifth and then three in the ninth. By the time [autotag]Robert Moore[/autotag] had Arkansas’ third hit, an RBI single, there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The Diamond Hogs made it interested after Moore’s knock, loading the bases with two outs by virtue of a hit-by-pitch and a throwing error. [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag] then singled home two more runs, giving Arkansas as many hits in the ninth as it had in the game to that point.

Leach came back to bat with runners at second and third and representing the winning run. But his rollover to shortstop ended in a groundout and Missouri State held on.

Arkansas’ loss makes the Diamond Hogs just 4-4 in their last eight games. They carry a two-game lead for second place in the SEC with three regular-season weekends remaining. The Razorbacks play at No. 19 Auburn on Friday through Sunday.

Arkansas vs. Ole Miss: Game preview, how to watch, stream Friday’s opener

Arkansas looks for an offensive revival, while Ole Miss hopes to get back to early-season form this weekend in Fayetteville.

The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks are set to welcome rival Ole Miss to Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday to begin a three-game set with the Rebels.

At the beginning of the season, fans of Southeastern Conference baseball circled this series date on their calendars, and they believed that they would be in for a great series between two of the conference’s elite programs. But, since time has passed, the series has lost its shine.

Ole Miss began the season in the top-5 of the national polls and would remain in the top-10 until the week of April 11, when Alabama swept the Rebels in Oxford, dropping them completely out of the top-25 from their No. 8 ranking a week prior.

Since the series loss to the Crimson Tide, Ole Miss has only mustered two wins in SEC games, dropping their last two series to South Carolina and arch-rival Mississippi State. Sandwiched in-between those series losses was a 13-3 thumping by Southeast Missouri State. The Rebels were able to get some revenge on Mississippi State however during a midweek contest, defeating the Bulldogs 5-2 at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss on Tuesday in a non-SEC affair.

Arkansas hopes for an offensive revival this weekend as they return to Baum-Walker Stadium for the first time in four games. The Razorbacks could only tally four runs in the first two games of their most recent conference series at Texas A&M before falling short in an 11-10 game on Sunday, where they lost just their second SEC series of the season.

The bats were relatively quiet during their midweek game with Central Arkansas in Little Rock on Tuesday as well, with the only true run was scored on an RBI single by [autotag]Dylan Leach[/autotag]. The final run scored thanks to a wild pitch with the bases loaded to give Arkansas the 2-1 walk-off win over the Bears in the 10th inning.

The Razorbacks square off with the Rebels for game one of the three-game set at Baum-Walker Stadium tonight at 6:30 p.m.

Razorbacks escape Central Arkansas’ upset effort in extra inning win

The Razorbacks took advantage of a late-inning mishap by Central Arkansas to grab the win.

It took extra innings, but the Razorbacks pulled it out.

A 10th inning mishap by Central Arkansas with runners in scoring position gave Arkansas the break they needed as they walked off victorious, defeating the Bears, 2-1 Tuesday at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

Tied 1-1 heading to the 10th inning, Central Arkansas would strand a runner at third base to end their half of the inning, giving Arkansas a chance to walk away was winners. [autotag]Robert Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag] would reach on a single and a walk respectively.

[autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag] would reach base at the expense of Wallace being thrown out at second base on a fielder’s choice but would advance Moore to third base. [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag] stepped in the box and would take a base on balls with a full count, but the last pitch escaped the pitcher, allowing Moore to score and to give Arkansas the win.

Defense was the name of the game prior to the 10th inning walkoff. Arkansas took their first lead of the game in the 5th inning, breaking a scoreless tie. [autotag]Braydon Webb[/autotag] opened the inning with a single to left field, and scored two at-bats later on a single to left field by [autotag]Dylan Leach[/autotag] to give the Razorbacks the 1-0 lead.

Central Arkansas answered in the top of the 6th inning. Hunter Hicks grounded out to score Kolby Johnson, who reached with a leadoff double, from third base.

Pitching wise, both teams received production from their bullpens. For Arkansas, starter [autotag]Will McEntire[/autotag] allowed three hits and an earned run in 6.0 innings, striking out four batters. [autotag]Zack Morris[/autotag], [autotag]Evan Taylor[/autotag], [autotag]Mark Adamiak[/autotag], and [autotag]Heston Tole[/autotag] would carry the load for the remaining four innings, with neither reliever allowing a hit.

Central Arkansas’ Oliver Laufman tossed seven innings in his start, allowing six hits and an earned run. Andrew Shoultz struck out four batters and allowed a hit in 2.2 innings of relief.

Webb led the Arkansas offense with two hits, while Leach led in RBI with one.

The Razorbacks return to Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday to host Ole Miss. First pitch of the weekend-opener is set for 6:30 p.m. CT

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Diamond Hogs score 10 on Arkansas State for second straight game, take series

Arkansas baseball won its seventh straight game by easing past Arkansas State on Wednesday.

[autotag]Arkansas baseball[/autotag] won its seventh straight game on Wednesday night, beating Arkansas State, 10-3, from Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Diamond Hogs took both games of a two-game set from State in just the schools’ third-ever meeting. Arkansas won the opener of the series on Tuesday, 10-1.

The sixth-ranked Razorbacks had a 6-0 lead after three innings, thanks to back-to-back three-run frames in the second and third. On the mound, Bryant sophomore Will McEntire went 4 1/3 innings, a career high, and picked up the win. It was just his second appearance of the season.

[autotag]Dylan Leach[/autotag] and [autotag]Kendall Diggs[/autotag] had the best days for Arkansas at the plate. Both normally back-ups, Diggs hit eighth in the lineup from first base and Leach, the catcher, was ninth. They produced the entirety of the runs in the third when Diggs plated the first on a sacrifice fly and Leach followed with a two-run homer.

Arkansas has just two nonconference games remaining: Tuesday in North Little Rock against Central Arkansas and May 3 in Fayetteville against Missouri State. The Diamond Hogs hit SEC play again Friday for a three-game set against Texas A&M.

Sticks of the Game: Every Diamond Hogs player reaches against UAPB in Game 1

Arkansas’ lineup, after some early season struggles, has been rather consistent in the last several weeks. Arkansas Pine-Bluff allowed the Razorbacks to add some more good mojo to such work in Game One on Tuesday. The Diamond Hogs had no trouble …

Arkansas’ lineup, after some early season struggles, has been rather consistent in the last several weeks. Arkansas Pine-Bluff allowed the Razorbacks to add some more good mojo to such work in Game One on Tuesday.

The Diamond Hogs had no trouble with UAPB in the first of two games of a doubleheader, winning 15-0.

Every Arkansas starter reached base and all but one had at least one hit. All of them also scored, saved one player, as well. Arkansas racked up 15 hits, eight walks and a hit-by-pitch in the win. Five of the knocks went for extra bases.

These players had the best of the day.

Diamond Hogs rolls over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Game One of doublehader

Arkansas gave up just a single hit in a shutout win over UAPB in Game 1 on Tuesday.

Arkansas baseball needed a tonic after the weekend saw the Diamond Hogs lose their first series of the season.

Arkansas Pine-Bluff was the cure to spell the ills.

The sixth-ranked Razorbacks had no trouble with the visitors from the southeast part of the Natural State, beating UAPB, 15-0, in seven innings of the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday. Game Two was scheduled to begin 45 minutes after Game One ended.

Arkansas collected 15 hits and walked eight times in the victory. [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag] led all hitters from the 2-hole. The first baseman went 4 for 5 with two home runs and six RBI. [autotag]Dylan Leach[/autotag], who had five hits and went for the cycle in his last start behind the plate, went 2 for 4 with two RBI and two runs.

Isaac Bracken was the only Arkansas pitcher to give up a hit. Kacy Higgins doubled for the Lions in the top of the seventh. [autotag]Kole Ramage[/autotag] picked up his first win of the season, striking out five of the nine batters he faced.