Arkansas hadn't won a series in Nashville against Vanderbilt since 2010, but on Sunday the No. 2 Razorbacks completed a sweep of the No. 14 team in the nation 7-3.
On Sunday, Dave Van Horn got a great pitching performance from Landon Beidelschies and Ben Bybee as well some power hitting from Charles Davalan and Logan Maxwell to rally late and get the win. Vandy held a 3-2 lead until the Razorbacks exploded for five runs in the top of the eighth. Davalan hit his second home run of the game and two batters later Maxwell hit another solo shot, With two outs, Brent Iredale singled and then Cam Kozeal and Ryder Helfrick walked. Iredale would score on a wild pitch. Nolan Souza followed with a double that plated both Kozeal and Helfrick.
"Yeah, just… I said yesterday, another great win, have an opportunity to sweep a team like Vanderbilt on the road, I don’t think it’s been done for a long time," Van Horn said. "I don’t know if during Tim’s time here. We found a way to do it. Kept the game close. We kept thinking if we can just keep this thing close, we can get them late and we did it. Charles Davalan had a great day, three RBIs, and some production from the end of the order. It was really good again. Because we had a couple of our better hitters didn’t hit a whole lot here this weekend, but we had some of the guys that have come through here and there, maybe don’t have as high a batting average or whatever, and they really chipped in this weekend and again today."
Bybee (3-0) relieved Beidelschies and worked 4.0 innings to pick up the win. He allowed two hits, no runs, walked one and struck out seven. Van Horn praised his midweek starter who pitched well out of the bullpen Sunday.
"Ben came in and using three, four pitches and throwing most of them around the zone," Van Horn said. "Threw his fastball for a strike, changeup to lefties, a few breaking balls, a couple cutters here and there. Really when we got the four-run lead going into the bottom of the eighth, we just said, ‘Ben, just pound the zone with your heater. Let them hit it.’ He spun a couple breaking balls, a couple changeups, but for the most part, the last couple innings he just went at them with fastballs. I think he did a great job."
It's obvious that Van Horn and his staff upgraded this team in recruiting. The entire starting outfield is new and so is Iredale at third base, Kozeal first base and Kuhio Aloy designated hitter. The depth of the offense continues to shine.
"Yeah, no doubt," Van Horn said. "I just feel like that it’s that time of year. Guys are starting to heat up, seeing a lot of pitches, seeing a lot of sliders and off speed stuff, and you just get a little more comfortable. You kind of see it and react. I don’t know, it’s just a great job by the offense. I think they’re all just motivating each other."
In addition, Beidelschies and Friday starter Zach Root came to the Hogs in the transfer portal. Van Horn saw his pitchers go through a tough stretch a few week's ago, but they have seemingly turned it around since the Ole Miss series.
"The staff has been really good," Van Horn said. "Obviously, we throw a lot of strikes. We make you earn it. I think that our pitching staff is confident that the defense is going to play good defense behind them. Not going to give up much. Not going to kick balls around. Maybe make a great play every now-and-then. I think they also have in the back of their mind ‘we can score’. I think that takes a little bit of pressure off of them. Whether it was a starter, middle guys or the guys finishing games, the last couple of weeks they’ve been really good."
The Hog took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third when Justin Thomas Jr. doubled with one out. Davalan followed with his first home run of the game. That lead held up until Vanderbilt catcher Colin Barczi blasted a three-run home run. The 3-2 lead held up until Arkansas' big eighth inning. Beidelschies got the start and worked 5.0 innings. He allowed six hits, the three runs, walked two and struck out four. He also hit a couple of Vandy batters.
"I thought he did a good job," Van Horn said. "I mean, he got behind in the count a couple times and fought back. Kind of bent but didn’t break, so to speak. Gave up a few hits, but not a lot. Give their catcher credit, he went down and hit a cutter that was down-and-in, and he just got it. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap. The pitch wasn’t elevated. He probably guessed a little bit, thought he was going to bring a cutter in and he did. He had to square it up and he did. Found ourselves down 3-2, didn’t panic, got out of another jam and the game went on a few innings without us doing anything, and then we tied it up and then obviously took a four-run lead, and we needed six outs. I’d give him a good grade on today. I appreciated the effort. Five innings. He gave us an opportunity to have a chance to win the game in the last few innings."
Van Horn was asked if he had an update on Batesville junior pitcher Gage Wood who has been out since early in the season with an injury?
"No, maybe we will sometime this week or after the game on Tuesday, Wednesday, somewhere in there," Van Horn said. "I know he's feeling good, playing catch, just healing up. We're just super anxious to get him back, hopefully we do."
Arkansas (26-3, 8-1) will be in North Little Rock on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. to take on Grambling State (10-15) who had a game not completed yet on Sunday against Jackson State. The Razorbacks will be at Baum-Walker Stadium next weekend for a three-game series against Missouri (9-17, 0-9). Friday's game will begin at 7 p.m. and televised on the SEC Network. Saturday's game will be at 6 p.m. and then 2 p.m. on Sunday. Both Saturday and Sunday can be streamed on the SEC Network+.
Arkansas 6, Vanderbilt 4, 10 innings
For the first time since 2010, No. 2 Arkansas has won the series at No. 14 Vanderbilt with a 6-4 10-inning win on Saturday and will go for the sweep Sunday.
Arkansas got three runs in the top of the 10th and then limited Vandy to a single run in the bottom half of the inning to escape with the victory. Dave Van Horn was pleased with his team getting the tough win. Cam Kozeal and Justin Thomas Jr. hit home runs for the Hogs and Aiden Jimenez was brilliant out of the bullpen. Jimenez (3-0) got the win relieving Gabe Gaeckle and Carson Wiggins.
"Just a really good win for the team," Van Horn said. "I mean, last night’s game, on paper it looks like we blew them out, but we really didn’t. It was a lot closer game than the final score. Today, we knew it was going to be a dogfight. Got out to a quick two-run lead. We left some runners out there. We didn’t get that big two-out hit that could have doubled our lead or even just extended it. You kind of felt they were going to creep back in it and they did. Just a very well-played game by both teams. There were a couple little errors that — the big one there in the 10th by them, that ball was hit extremely hard that we took advantage of. They scored when that ball went off our center fielder’s glove and then he kind of kicked it. Just really well pitched. Both teams pitched extremely well. I think we walked a couple, they walked three or vice versa.
"Feel good winning the series here. Have a chance to win all three at Vandy. I’ve never done that here with one of my teams. It’s tough to win a series, tough to win a game here. So hats off to the players. A lot of guys contributed."
Jimenez (3-0) worked 3.1 innings. He allowed three hits, one run, walked none and struck out four. Gaeckle went 5.2 innings allowing six hits, two runs, and struck out seven while not walking anyone, Wiggins followed Gaeckle to the mound and issued the only two walks on the day by Arkansas. Wiggins worked 1.0 inning allowing one run and striking out a hitter while not allowing a hit. He did allow a run on a wild pitch.
With the score tied at 3 after nine innings, Arkansas went to work in the top of the 10th. Wehiwa Aloy reached on an error by Vandy second baseman Mike Mancini to start the inning. Aloy then stole second. Logan Maxwell then singled to move Aloy to third with no outs. Kuhio Aloy struck out. Brent Iredale then singled to plate Wehiwa Aloy. Maxwell and Iredale advanced a base on a wild pitch. Maxwell then scored on a sacrifice bunt by Kozeal. Ryder Helfrick then got Iredale across the plate on a fielder's choice for a 6-3 lead heading to bottom of the 10th. Van Horn went to small ball in the top of the 10th.
"Yeah, just a chance to either get the lead, extend the lead," Van Horn said. "That situation I felt like was the perfect time. Iredale takes that fastball away and hits hit hard right past the first baseman and all of a sudden we have the lead and we got a runner at third with Cam coming up. Cam’s a really good bunter, can handle a bat. Laid down a beautiful safety squeeze. We score on that. Then Ryder actually laid down a great safety squeeze, as well. Iredale got a late read on it. I don’t know what took him so long, but the first baseman panicked a little bit and we got another run in. No lead’s really safe. Things happen. A ball went off the pitcher’s glove, the next thing you know they’ve got the tying run at the plate three batters in a row, and we got out of it. Great job of handling the bat there and extending that lead and finding a way to win that game."
Jacob Humphrey singled off Jimenez to start the bottom of the 10th. A wild pitch moved him to second. RJ Austin moved him to third. Humphrey scored on a sacrifice fly by Riley Nelson, but then Jimenez shut the door on Vandy. Van Horn was pleased to be able to use Jimenez again after a short outing on Friday night.
"It was huge, obviously," Van Horn said. "I mean, he got some experience and throws that heavy ball. Figured he'd get some ground balls, some quick outs, throw it over the plate. And we didn't know if we would use him today or tomorrow. And, I mean, coach came up to me — Coach Hobbs — and we discussed it a little bit when we brought in Wiggins and the game was tied and we were like, let's just go for it today. We don't know what tomorrow is going to be all about. It's tied up. Let's go. Let's not save him. Tomorrow he might be sore from yesterday. Today he felt great, so it ended up working out."
In the top of the second, Iredale singled with one out. Kozeal greeted Vandy starter Cody Bowker with a shot over the fence for a 2-0 lead. Vandy answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth and another in the sixth to tie the game.
Thomas hit a solo home run to start the top of the seventh to put the Hogs up 3-2. Jonathan Vastine walked to start the bottom of the seventh. He stole second and then moved to third on a ground out by Mancini. Vastine scored when Wiggins threw a wild pitch to tie the game at 3. Neither team could get a runner across the plate in the eighth or ninth innings.
Vandy used three pitchers on the day. The last one, Miller Green (0-2) took the loss. Green worked 1.0 inning allowing two hits, three runs, walking none and struck out a pair. He had one wild pitch. Bowker went 5.0 innings and then Sawyer Hawks pitched 4.0 innings. Hawks kept Vandy in the game during his time on the mound. He allowed just one hit and run. He walked one and fanned three Hogs.
Arkansas (25-3, 7-1) and Vanderbilt (20-7, 4-4) will play the final game of the series on Sunday with the first pitch set for 1 p.m. The game can be streamed on the SEC Network+.
Arkansas 9, Vanderbilt 0
No. 2 Arkansas jumped on No. 14 Vanderbilt Friday night for a 9-0 victory in Nashville behind the hitting of Cam Kozeal and pitching of Zach Root.
Kozeal, who transferred to Arkansas from Vandy in the offseason, ended up with three hits, two home runs and knocked in five runs. Root worked 7.2 innings allowing just three hits, walking a trio and striking out seven with no runs. Dave Van Horn was happy with his team's performance afterward.
"Just a great job by our team tonight, bouncing back after that tough ballgame on Tuesday," Van Horn said. "Played really well. Some big hits. Zach Root pitched extremely well. Just filled up the zone, mixed four pitches and still throwing the ball in the mid-90s in hit last inning. In the eighth inning, he was still 94, 95 when he wanted to. Yeah, just a really good win on the road in a tough place."
As far as Kozeal, Van Horn was asked if he had sensed any extra motivation for his first baseman returning to Vandy?
"Well, not really," Van Horn said. "I mean, I’m sure there was, but he didn’t show it. I was in the hitter’s meeting today and he didn’t act any different than he normally does. At the field, he seemed normal. We talked to him about it in the last day or two just to try to keep his emotions in tact and play the game. He did a great job doing that I feel like."
The biggest jam of the night for the Razorbacks came in the bottom of the eighth when Vandy loaded the bases with two outs on a double and two walks. At that point, with the Razorbacks leading 6-0, Van Horn went to the bullpen to bring in Aiden Jiminez. He immediately retired the only Vandy hitter he faced getting a fly out to Charles Davalan in left field.
"Yeah, he threw first pitch fastball," Van Horn said. "They were taking it looked like. And then second pitch, he threw his best pitch. It was kind of a cutter down, really nice. Third pitch, we wanted it to be the same type pitch, but he left it up and they lined out. Then we went in and scored I think three more runs, so we just thought, ‘Hey, we might need him again tomorrow or Sunday.’"
The Razorbacks did add three runs in the top of the ninth to set the final margin of victory. At that point Van Horn opted to bring in Dylan Carter for the ninth. Carter faced four hitters, walked one and struck out another.
"Brought in Carter and Carter threw great," Van Horn said. "I mean, he was throwing 96, 97 mph, dotting it up pretty good. Threw a hard slider and only threw 13 pitches I think, so we could bring him back, as well."
Root (4-1) pitched a complete game (seven inning run rule) against South Carolina last week. So this was the second consecutive outstanding outing for him since the Ole Miss series where it didn't go well for him. Van Horn talked about Root's improvement.
"Well, he had his breaking ball again," Van Horn said. "He had all his pitches tonight. Last week he had a breaking ball. Ole Miss he didn’t have a breaking ball. Everything was up. Just had a bad outing. It happens every now and then. But just doing what he does — four-pitch mix and was ahead a lot. Even when he got behind, you know, kind of caught back up and made them swing the bat. He wasn’t trying to just strike everybody out. Just let his defense work and they did a great job for him. Just doing what he does. He pitches."
The game was scoreless until the top of the third when Ryder Helfrick led off the inning with a triple. He scored on a ground out by Nolan Souza. Then in the top of the fourth, Logan Maxwell hit a solo home run. Brent Iredale walked and Kozeal hit his first home run of the night for a 4-0 lead. Van Horn talked about his team getting to Vandy starter J.D. Thompson (2-2).
"Well, the first and second inning he just came at them with fastballs, got ahead and got them out," Van Horn said. "The third inning, I think, did we get a leadoff home run, I don’t know, with two strikes. Then it was just hitter after hitter was just fouling off pitches and working the count. We didn’t score again in the third, but we definitely got his pitch count up and then in the fourth inning, it was just a lot of the same. We got a couple big hits, home run and really got his pitch count up after four. Just doing what our offense has pretty much done most of the season, which is fight you and if you get them out, they get a little piece of you, so to speak. They wear you down."
Thompson gave Vandy 6.0 innings, allowing five hits, five runs, walking two and striking out six. Van Horn has seen his team having a tough time to win in Nashville was pleased with an offense that put up nine runs on the night.
"I don’t know," Van Horn said. "It feels like nine to me. You know, we got some big hits and we made some nice plays in the field. The game might’ve been a little closer than 9-0, actually, so no I’m not going to make anything out of it. We just did a great job."
Arkansas (24-3, 6-1) had a large group of fans at the park. Van Horn was appreciative of the following.
"I mean, we probably had about as many fans as they did," Van Horn said. "It was hard to tell. I don’t look up there a whole lot, but I know that we had a lot of red. A lot of them were there early, too. They watched us take batting practice. Some down the first base line and then in the outfield both sides. It was kind of neat to see."
Kozeal hit his second home run of the night in the top of the sixth for a 5-0 lead. Maxwell delivered a one-out double in the top of the eighth. He eventually scored when the Vandy pitched walked him in with the bases loaded.
The two teams will play on Saturday with the first pitch set for 2 p.m. The final game of the series will be Sunday at 1 p.m.
