Tag: Robert Moore

Diamond Hogs blast four home runs, take series from Mississippi State

Arkansas’ bats came alive in taking Game 2 from Mississippi State on Saturday. The Diamond Hogs go for a sweep Sunday.

Every Arkansas and Mississippi State baseball series since 2015 has resulted in a sweep. The 2022 series may be no different.

Arkansas won Game 2 between the two schools on Saturday night from Baum-Walker Stadium, 12-5, behind the strength of four home runs. The Diamond Hogs will go for the sweep Sunday at 2 p.m.

Arkansas scored runs in five straight innings, including four runs in the second and another four in the third. [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag] hit a two-run blast in the third. [autotag]Chris Lanzilli[/autotag] hit a solo shot in the fourth and [autotag]Robert Moore[/autotag] followed on the next at-bat with one of his own. [autotag]Zack Gregory[/autotag] sent the last ball over the fence in the fifth.

Slavens knocked in three runs total, going 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and his homer. He was only bested by [autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag], who went 2 of 5 with four RBI on a two-run double and a two-run single.

Mississippi State opened the scoring when [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag] walked the first three batters of the game and the Bulldogs scored on a sacrifice fly. Smith settled after that, though, ultimately going six innings while not allowing any more walks, striking out seven and giving up three runs.

Arkansas routs Mississippi State in series opener

A six-run second inning lifted Arkansas to an easy win over Mississippi State on Friday.

[autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag] homered twice and [autotag]Connor Noland[/autotag] worked seven innings in Arkansas’ 8-1 win over Mississippi State in the teams’ series opener on Friday night from Baum-Walker Stadium.

The win kept the Diamond Hogs (20-4, 6-1 in SEC) two games ahead of second-place Texas A&M in the SEC West and one game behind unbeaten Tennessee in the overall conference table.

Arkansas pounced early, scoring six runs in the second inning to put away Mississippi State. Five straight Hogs batters reached in the inning with two outs. [autotag]Robert Moore[/autotag] smacked a two-run triple and Battles hit a two-run home run to highlight the frame.

On the other side, Noland continued his sharpness. The senior moved to 4-1 on the season after allowing just four Bulldogs hits and striking out six in his seven innings.

[autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag] joined Battles as the only other Razorbacks batter to collect two knocks, one of which was a double.

The two teams play Game 2 from Fayetteville at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Arkansas vs. Little Rock: Game preview, how to watch and listen to Wednesday’s game

The No. 2 Razorbacks completed a major comeback on Tuesday against Little Rock. Arkansas will go for a midweek series win Wednesday at 4 p.m.

The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks host the Little Rock Trojans on Wednesday, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks overcame a 6-0 deficit prior to the bottom of the 3rd inning to take game one of the two-game midweek set with Little Rock on Tuesday, defeating the Trojans 16-8 at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Arkansas began chipping away at the Trojan lead in the bottom half of the 3rd inning when [autotag]Robert Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Chris Lanzill[/autotag]i each collected an RBI on a double to left and a single to center respectively to cut the Little Rock lead to 6-2 heading to the 4th inning.

Little Rock’s Canyon McWilliams aided his team by coming off of the bench to hit a solo home run in the top of the 5th inning to expand the Trojans’ lead to 7-2. The Razorbacks responded by scoring nine runs over the next two innings to head into the 7th inning with a comfortable 11-7 lead.

[autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Battles[/autotag], and [autotag]Drake Varnado[/autotag] contributed to the five-run 5th inning with their bats while Kendall Diggs was able to secure an RBI by reaching base on a fielder’s choice. Wallace led off the inning by hitting his 4th home run over the right center-field fence, while Battles and Varnado each grabbed RBI on singles.

Battles and Varnado would contribute to the four-run 6th inning as well by picking up an RBI each. Battles on a single to left field and Varnado on a sacrifice fly to score Moore. The two key bats of the game, [autotag]Braydon Webb[/autotag] and [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag], scored their first runs of the game in back-to-back at-bats. Webb singled to left field to advance Wallace to 3rd base, who would then score on an error by Little Rock to extend the Razorback lead to 12-7. Webb would later score on an RBI double by Turner.

For safe measure, Arkansas would score five insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th on two swings of the bat. After beginning the inning on two-straight walks, freshman [autotag]Kendall Diggs[/autotag] hit his first career homerun as a Razorback to give Arkansas the 14-7 lead. Varnado would get hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, and would score two batters later when Braydon Webb hit his now team-leading 5th home run of the season, expanding the lead to 16-7.

Little Rock’s Miguel Soto cut into the Razorback lead in the top of the 9th inning on an RBI double, but the Trojans could not storm back, giving Arkansas their 19th win of the season.

Wednesday, the Razorbacks and Trojans will conclude their midweek series. First pitch from Baum-Walker Stadium is set for 4 p.m.

SABR Prattling

The Arkansas Razorbacks have played less than 20% of their scheduled 56 games, which means we’ll cite “limited sample size” for a bit longer when parsing the team’s statistics. It’s a fair caveat after three weekends, though one can see some early trends. With so few games under its belt I’d caution anyone to be wary of making bold statements about this team just yet.

The Arkansas Razorbacks have played less than 20% of their scheduled 56 games, which means we’ll cite “limited sample size” for a bit longer when parsing the team’s statistics. It’s a fair caveat after three weekends, though one can see some early trends. With so few games under its belt I’d caution anyone to be wary of making bold statements about this team just yet.

From the proverbial 30,000-foot view, the offense is clearly down compared to expectations (based largely on the returning players from the record-setting 2021 season). The Hogs have scored only 55 runs in 10 games. By this time last season they’d already put up 78 runs. But one could easily point to some environmental factors here. For one, the Hogs started last season in Arlington, Texas, playing in a domed stadium. This year they opened with frigid weather at home, followed by almost equally as poor conditions in Round Rock, Texas.

But weather aside, it’s clear this team has yet to find its hitting mojo just yet. Which is bad news for future opponents. Statistics and intuition collide at one clear conclusion: these bats have a history of production, and history tends to repeat itself. The Hogs will score a lot of runs.

The big evolution from 2021 to now appears to be on the mound. Arkansas has shows tremendous depth early in the season. The staff has yielded 30 runs so far, compared to 38 through the first 10 games a year ago. Eighteen different Razorbacks have recorded at least one out through 10 games. A team needs 8-10 quality arms available each weekend in the SEC, and the Hogs appear to have the depth needed to make a run.

In short, there’s no need to panic. If the Hogs continue to win at this clip, it will be yet another 40-win season in Fayetteville with a strong likelihood of hosting an NCAA Regional. And that’s the first step toward earning the monicker of OmaHogs in June.

Cayden Wallace didn’t want to be outdone by Brady Slavens so he went perfect, too

Arkansas’ bats haven’t even truly come alive and yet they continue hitting the ball just fine in their 3-1 start to the year.

Arkansas baseball started strong in Texas at the Round Rock Classic on Friday, dispatching Indiana, 5-2.

The Razorbacks banged out nine hits and walked another four times to chase Hoosiers starter John-Biagio Modugno after five innings. After knocking in four runs against him, the Diamond Hogs tacked on an insurance run in the seventh.

Leading the way were Arkansas’ usual suspects. Cayden Wallace had a perfect day at the plate. Robert Moore knocked in two runs with two hits. Brady Slavens reached twice and Michael Turner tripled.

In the meantime, starter Connor Noland and reliver Kole Ramage struck out 16 Indiana batters en route to the relatively easy victory.

The Hogs are back at it Saturday against No. 6 Stanford. In the meantime, these were the hitters of the game.

Diamond Hogs ease past Indiana down in Texas

No. 2 Arkansas had little trouble with Indiana in the Round Rock Classic on Friday.

Second-ranked Arkansas scored three runs in the fourth inning to build a comfortable lead in ultimately beating Indiana, 5-2, in the Razorbacks’ first game of the Karbach Round Rock Classic on Friday night.

Four straight batters reached in the big inning as Brady Slavens doubled, Michael Turner tripled him home, Jalen Battles walked and Zack Gregory was hit by a pitch. Cayden Wallace walked with the bases loaded and two outs, then Robert Moore reached on an error, allowing Gregory to score, as well.

It was more than enough for starter Connor Noland. The senior right-hander pitched six innings of five-hit ball, allowing one run and two walks while striking out 10.

Indiana put itself on the board in the fifth when Morgan Colopy tripled and Mark Pyne’s double on the next at-bat knocked him home. Noland would leave Pyne stranded as its all the Hoosiers would get in the frame.

Arkansas pulled the run back in the seventh when Wallace doubled, advanced to third on a passed ball and Robert Moore singled for his second RBI of the game.

The Razorbacks are back in action Saturday in the Classic when they play No. 6 Stanford at 4 p.m.

Sticks of the Game: Slavens perfect as Hogs take series from Illinois State

It’s harder to more at the plate than Brady Slavens did in Arkansas’ 4-2 win on Sunday. Perfect is just fine.

Arkansas racked up 12 hits and drew five walks in Sunday’s 4-2 over Illinois State and almost everyone got in on the act.

Unfortunately, the Diamond Hogs left 12 runners on base, but runs in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings were enough to keep the Redbirds from a would-be surprise season-opening series win.

Eight of Arkansas’ nine starters reached base, though none as efficiently as Brady Slavens, who served as the designated hitter.

He was joined in a multi-hit game by freshman first baseman Peyton Stovall, preseason All-American Robert Moore, and slick-fielding shortstop Jalen Battles.

Four of the Hogs’ 12 hits went for extra-bases, including Battles’ RBI double in the eighth that provided a run of insurance for reliever Kole Ramage, who picked up a four-inning save.

Here is a closer look at Arkansas’ Sticks of the Game.

Arkansas takes season-opening series with win over Illinois State on Sunday

Eight of Arkansas’ nine starters reached base while Jaxon Wiggins and Kole Ramage limited Illinois State in the Diamond Hogs’ win.

Arkansas baseball salvaged a series win after dropping the season opener on Friday, beating Illinois State, 4-2, Sunday afternoon in Fayetteville.

Chris Lanzilli and Brady Slavens hit back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth to break a 1-all tie while Jaxon Wiggins and Kole Ramage worked around trouble over nine to limit Illinois State.

The Redbirds pulled within a run in the eighth when Ryan Cermak hit a solo home run off Ramage to start the inning. But Arkansas’ right-hander retired the next three to keep Illinois State at bay.

Arkansas built the lead back to two in the bottom of the inning when Jalen Battles doubled home Zack Gregory, who walked as the inning’s first batter.

Wiggins allowed seven baserunners and a run in his five innings of work, striking out five, as well. He worked himself into trouble in the second when he allowed back-to-back singles at the beginning of the inning and a wild pitch gave Illinois State runners at second and third. A fielder’s choice allowed the Redbirds to score first, but Wiggins induced a flyout and groundout to get out of it.

Ramage worked four innings in relief, striking out six and giving up two hits, including the solo homer.

Slavens went 3 for 3 with an RBI and a walk. Battles, Robert Moore and Peyton Stovall each had two hits with Moore crossing the plate twice and Stovall once.

Arkansas will travel to Round Rock, Texas, on the weekend for three games as part of the Karbach Round Rock Classic. The Diamond Hogs play Indiana on Friday, Stanford on Saturday and Louisiana on Sunday.

Sticks of the Game: Robert Moore, Cayden Wallace rake in Hogs’ win

Robert Moore, Cayden Wallace and Michael Turner had the best hitting days for the Diamond Hogs on Saturday.

The two most dangerous hitters in the Arkansas lineup gave an early glimpse on Saturday of what Diamond Hogs fans hope will be a regularity this season.

Preseason All-American Robert Moore and high-round MLB prospect Cayden Wallace did a bulk of the Razorbacks’ damage in the team’s 5-1 win over Illinois State at Baum-Walker Stadium. The win avenged the Diamond Hogs’ loss in the season opener the day before.

Accordingly, Moore, Wallace and catcher Michael Turner earned the Sticks of the Game honors for Game 2 of the series. Read more about each of their days below.

Arkansas and Illinois State play the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m.

Hagen Smith BRILLIANT in Arkansas debut as Diamond Hogs beat Illinois State

Hagen Smith, a freshman from Texas, looked every bit the part of SEC weekend starter in his collegiate debut.

Hagen Smith was rated as the top left-handed high-school pitcher in the country last year. When it became clear the MLB draft was out of the picture, Arkansas as all too happy to receive his services.

Saturday showed why.

Smith pitched six innings of shutout ball in his collegiate debut and preseason All-American Robert Moore knocked in three runs as Arkansas bounced back from its season-opening loss to Illinois State on Saturday, 5-1.

Smith was dynamite from the word go, striking out three of the first six batters he faced, eliminating all of them. Even by the sixth, his final inning, on 77 pitches, he still retired the Redbirds in order, 1-2-3.

By that point he had already been staked to a 4-0 lead. Moore had hit a solo home run in the first and Cayden Wallace had an RBI single in the second for the early Arkansas runs. Moore blasted a two-run home double in the fifth to give the Diamond Hogs even more breathing room. Moore and Wallace each went 2 for 4 on the day with Wallace also cranking a double.

But the game belonged to the southpaw pitcher as coach Dave Van Horn completely re-organizes his weekend rotation from last year. Smith is almost assuredly going to be in it.

Kent State transfer Michael Turner had an RBI double in the eighth for Arkansas’ final run. Connor Olson singled home Illinois State’s lone run in the ninth.