FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas got dominating pitching from Gage Wood and Gabe Gaeckle as well as four home runs to take an 8-3 win over Creighton to capture the Fayetteville Regional championship.
Arkansas (46-13) was never threatened in the game that saw them jump on Creighton for a 6-0 lead after three innings. Wood and Gaeckle combined to strike out 20 Creighton hitters. Wood (3-1) worked six innings allowing just three hits, three runs, no walks and fanned 13 to earn the win. Gaeckle pitched the final three innings allowing two hits and striking out seven while getting his first save. He too didn't walk anyone.
The offense was there as well. The Hogs scored their eight runs on nine hits. Logan Maxwell hit two home runs and knocked in three. Ryder Helfrick had a solo home run and Justin Thomas Jr. smashed a three-run home run. Charles Davalan had the other RBI when he tripled with two outs in the sixth to plate Brent Iredale who had reached when hit by a pitch.
In the bottom of the first, Maxwell hit a two-run shot with Wehiwa Aloy, who had singled, on board. Thomas hit his three-run shot in the second with both Iredale and Reese Robinett on base. Helfrick's solo shot with one out in the bottom of the third put the Hogs up 6-0.
Creighton did manage to cut that lead in half in the top of the fourth when Ben North blasted a three-run shot over the fence in center field. Wood had struck out the first two hitters in the fourth and appeared to be cruising. However, Teddy Deters singled and Will MacLean was hit by pitch to set up North's home run.
But in the bottom of the fifth Maxwell hit his second home run of the game putting the Hogs up 7-3. In the sixth, Iredale started the inning off getting hit by a pitch. Davalan's shot off the fence in center field went for a triple and plated the final run of the game.
Creighton starter Garrett Langrell (7-2) took the loss. He pitched 2.2 innings, allowing six hits, half dozen runs, walked two and struck out a pair. Jimmy Burke pitched 3.1 innings in relief allowing the other two Arkansas runs. Noah Klein was the final Creighton pitcher in the game and had the most success. He pitched two innings allowing just one hit, no runs, walked a hitter and fanned another.
Arkansas will now advance the Fayetteville Super Regional next weekend. They will play either Tennessee or Wake Forest. Wake Forest defeated Tennessee 7-6 on Sunday to force a winner-take-all game on Monday in the Knoxville Regional.
Arkansas, the No. 3 national seed, is the highest seed left in the field. No. 1 Vanderbilt was beaten by Wright State 5-4 in the Nashville Regional to be eliminated. UTSA won the Austin Regional eliminating No. 2 Texas 7-4. The Razorbacks were undefeated in the three games at the Fayetteville Regional. They defeated North Dakota State 6-2 on Friday and blasted Creighton 12-1 Saturday night.
The Razorbacks had seven players named to the Fayetteville Regional All-Tournament team. Helfrick was the catcher and MVP. Wehiwa Aloy at shortstop, Cam Kozeal second base and Maxwell in the outfield. Wood and Zach Root were named starting pitchers and Parker Coil relief pitcher.
Arkansas 12, Creighton 1
Arkansas played one of its best games to date this season with a 12-1 win over Creighton to move into the finals of the Fayetteville Regional Sunday night at 8 p.m.
Arkansas (45-13) got outstanding pitching from Zach Root and the bullpen and hit five home runs while blasting out 13 hits. Dave Van Horn obviously liked what he saw from his team after his last two struggled at this spot in regional play.
"I just thought we played a complete game," Van Horn said. "Zach pitched great. We played good defense and obviously got some timely hits, hit some home runs. They put us on base a few times. They walked us probably 10 or 12 times. Some of them were in the middle of the game when we had things under control a little bit. But really it was because we pitched extremely well, threw a lot of strikes and made them earn everything they got. Creighton hit a couple of balls hard at us but for the most part I thought Zach just did a tremendous job setting the tone. Then offensively we got some big hits, especially with two outs, that created a little bit of separation. Yeah, it was a good ball game for us."
Wehiwa Aloy and Ryder Helfrick each hit a pair of home runs and Cam Kozeal also hit one over the fence. Aloy knocked five runs, Helfrick three and Kozeal two. Aloy and Helfrick were part of the Arkansas team that lost on Saturday night last year.
"Yeah it’s very cool," Aloy said. "We’re just trying to compete and help our team to win no matter what. And the job’s not finished, we’ve got one more, so yeah, it’ll be a lot of fun."
Root (7-5) pitched 6.0 innings allowing just three hits, no runs, walked one and fanned seven. He had 94 pitches with 55 of them strikes including 98 mph on one pitch.
"Yeah, that was the game plan," Root said. "Zach Barr, director of scouting, put together a plan. It was, they’re not in a Power 5 conference and the thought process was they haven’t really seen the kind of velo we’ve got. So just going out there and make them hit the heater. That’s what I went out and did."
Van Horn was asked if he knew early on this was going to be one of those games?
"Well, you know, even a couple of the games that didn’t go well for him, he’d have an inning or two where he looked awfully good," Van Horn said of Root. "But he looked awfully good right from the beginning of the first inning. We felt like he had really good stuff. He had a breaking ball that he could land. Fastball’s in the mid 90s very consistently, and he’s throwing a little bit of a changeup here and there. Maybe a cutter. But yeah, we felt like he was going to be really good today. He had a good week of rest and it felt good getting him out of there with 94 pitches. If the game would have stayed a little tighter, we would’ve let him go more."
Arkansas scored two in the top of the second. Kozeal opened the inning with a solo shot over the fence. Brent Iredale singled with one out. Reese Robinett followed with a walk and then Justin Thomas Jr. singled to load the bases. Charles Davalan was hit by a pitch to plate Iredale.
In the third, the Hogs plated two more runs. Logan Maxwell singled to start the inning. Helfrick singled to move him to third. Kozeal's double plated Maxwell. Kozeal eventually scored on a single by Robinett.
In the top of the fifth, Arkansas added three more runs for a 7-0 advantage. Robinett and Davalan walked then Aloy unloaded his first home run of the night. This one a 3-run shot.
It was business as usual for Arkansas on Friday as they took a 6-2 win over North Dakota State at the Fayetteville Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas (44-13) fell behind early on, but then took care of business to advance to the second round on Saturday night at 8 p.m. Arkansas used three pitchers with the second one to the mound, Parker Coil (3-0), getting the decision. Coil pitched 3.1 innings allowing just three hits and striking out four. He followed Aiden Jimenez to the mound and then Landon Beidelschies worked the final 2.0 innings. Dave Van Horn talked about the Hogs responding to early punches from the Bison.
"That's what our team's done when we play good," Van Horn said. "It's like they don't get uptight about being down a run or two or three. We know we're a pretty good offense, and we just wait for a mistake and a big hit. They did that today. And you know, I would have loved to have had 11 or 12 runs, but 4-2 was a little stressful. And we got Cam (Kozeal), got the big hit, that was a big relief for us. As far as thinking what we were going to do, we're going to get these guys loose and gave us an opportunity to just keep the lefties in there instead of going to a couple of our right handers."
Arkansas broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the second inning and never looked back. Reese Robinett walked to start the inning. He went to third on a one-out single by Charles Davalan. Robinett then scored on a sacrifice flyout by Wehiwa Aloy for a 3-2 lead.
The Bison scored in the top of the first when Jake Schaffner walked to start the game. Then with two outs, Sam Canton singled to left field off Jimenez for a 1-0 lead.
The Hogs scored two in the bottom of the first when Davalan and Wehiwa Aloy each singled to start the inning. Logan Maxwell's sacrifice fly allowed Davalan to tag and score. Aloy scored on a single by Kozeal, who had three hits and knocked in four runs in the game.
Colten Becker led off the top of the second with a solo home run that tied the game at 2.
In the bottom of the third, Ryder Helfrick singled to start the inning. He stole second and then scored on a Kozeal double for a 4-2 lead.
The final two runs in the game in the bottom of the fifth when Kuhio Aloy singled with two outs and no one on base. Kozeal followed with a two-run blast over the fence in right center field. Van Horn liked what Kozeal did against Bison starter Nolan Johnson.
"A little bit," Van Horn said. "The fastball runs back into the lefties, so he’s trying to throw it out over the plate, other side, it can run down the middle. And the fact that it takes away maybe his offspeed a little bit as far as the changeup. And then the breaking ball, that’s his pitch, really. Doesn’t land it enough, I think. That’s kind of what Cam was insinuating, that you kind of as a left-handed hitter maybe just kind of look for something hard, even though he hit a slider out of the park. That was a good guess by you that it was off-speed. But yeah, that’s probably the main thing against him."
Jimenez worked 3.2 innings allowing five hits, two runs, walked four and struck out three. Coil and Beidelschies combined to allow four hits and no runs while striking out four each. Neither allowed a walk,
"Yeah, I mean, obviously, in a perfect world it would have been nice for Aiden to go five," Van Horn said. "We would have let him go, probably, to 80 pitches. I think he threw 60 something. But it wasn't an easy 60. It was a rough 60. And so it was like he threw 80-85 to him. We just felt like, when I took the ball from him I said, that's enough pitches. And as far as the bullpen, whatever we needed to do. And I thought those guys did a good job. I think they might both be an option to bring back. For sure on Landon."
North Dakota State only had to use two pitchers. Starter Johnson went 5.0 innings allowing eight hits, six runs, two walks and fanned a pair. Landon Koenig worked the final 3.0 innings and only allowed one hit, walked a hitter and struck out three Hogs. Coach Tyler Oakes praised both teams after the game.
"I thought it was a really good college baseball game," Oakes said. "Great environment, I thought our guys came ready to play and it was really good to see us score early on them. Obviously they came back with the two in the first, but I thought our guys had really good at-bats."
