Photo courtesy of Wesley Hitt/UA Media Relations
FAYETTEVILLE – Behind some strong pitching from some very unlikely sources, the No. 15 Razorback baseball team clinched their second straight Super Regional berth on Monday night after defeating Washington State, 7-2, at Baum Stadium. Senior T.J. Forrest made his second start of the Fayetteville Regional and pitched five strong innings, saving what was thought to be a much depleted bullpen. With the win, Arkansas will now travel to Tempe, Ariz. to face the number one overall seed, Arizona State Sun Devils, in a best of three series. The winner will advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
After being the team behind early in the previous game, Arkansas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first after RBI singles by Brett Eibner and James McCann. A sacrifice fly by Andy Wilkins would finish the inning and really give the Hogs all they needed for the rest of the night.
Zack Cox, who was making his first start at third base in the regional, had a pretty eventful night of his own. Cox, who finished the night 2-for-3, got his second hit as a double in the second inning, which would tie him with Matt Erickson at 97 for most hits in a season by a Razorback player. Soon after that, in an off-the-field event, Cox was selected 25th overall in the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round. Cox is the third Razorback under Dave Van Horn to be selected in the first round.
Washington State would get a run back on Arkansas in the second inning by way of a solo homer by Matt Fanelli, but the Razorbacks would strike right back in the third with three more runs on some timely hitting. The final blow would come in the seventh inning by freshman, Derrick Bleeker, who had entered the game to replace Zack Cox. Bleeker, clubbed a solo shot to right-center field, his first career home run as a Razorback.
After Forrest pitched just into the sixth inning, head coach Dave Van Horn made a certain call to the bullpen that many Razorback fans didn’t see coming. Drew Smyly, the starter from just two nights ago, was making a relief appearance. Provide relief he did as he held the Cougar batters scoreless over 2.2 innings, striking out three.
However, the surprises didn’t end there. In the final pitching move of the night, junior Brett Eibner was called to close the game for the Hogs in the ninth. Eibner, who recently has been hurt from a nagging wrist injury suffered during the Florida series, came in the ninth and struck out two batters to clinch the game and the regional for the Hogs.
Arkansas will now be set to face Arizona State in the NCAA Super Regional. As the number one overall seed, ASU was given the right to host the three-game series. This is the fourth trip for Arkansas to the super regionals and the team holds a 3-3 all-time record against the Sun Devils. The first game is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU.
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