Murphy settles in at home LINCOLN, Neb. — Sam Murphy’s relief appearance Tuesday wasn’t simply a chance to give a local kid the opportunity to pitch.

Murphy did well in his last outing, giving up 1 hit in 1 inning with 1 strikeout March 12 at topranked Arizona State. That was enough to earn him another shot Tuesday against Nebraska.

“We knew he’d pitch sometime in this two-game series,” Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said. “And he pitched good.” The five innings Murphy held Nebraska scoreless were meaningful for the redshirt freshman from Omaha. Neb. He kept Arkansas within 3-1 until the first two Cornhuskers reached base in the eighth inning. Justin Wells replaced Murphy and allowed a three-run home run by Mitch Abeita.

“He would have done a better job had I been a little bit smarter,” pitching coach Dave Jorn said of the two runs charged to Murphy in the eighth. “I knew he was pretty much done, but I let him talk me into the fact that he wasn’t. I liked what I saw.” Murphy said his personal pass list of eight — mostly family members — was a little less than he thought might show up from his hometown, which is about 60 miles away. “I really wanted to play these guys and compete against them, and there were some guys I knew in high school,” said Murphy, who played at Omaha Westside. Murphy even smiled when he talked about hitting Cornhuskers shortstop Ben Klein, who played high school ball at Omaha Central. “It was not intentional,” Murphy said, “but, yeah, I know him.” Double scoops ? One of Nebraska’s promotions provides two sections at Haymarket Park with free ice cream for the first double play hit into by an opponent. Had the deal been for the entire game, the Razorbacks would have provided plenty of complimentary frozen treats. Arkansas hit into three double plays Tuesday, quelling whatever momentum the Razorbacks could muster against Nebraska pitcher Dan Jennings, who threw a complete-game five-hitter. “We had a good approach at the plate and a couple times got ourselves out,” said shortstop Tim Smalling, who drove in the Razorbacks’ lone run with a second-inning single but grounded into a 5-4-3 double play with runners on first and second in the fourth. “[Jennings ] did a great job mixing pitches up and getting ahead of guys. “ You’ve got to be able to battle when you’ve got two strikes.” Link it up There probably won’t be enough time for Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn and Nebraska Coach Mike Anderson to play any golf over the team’s twogame series.

But when they worked together with the Cornhuskers, their golf matchups were hardfought.

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“He’s going to tell you I might be the worst golfer he’s ever seen, but I have beaten him a couple times,” Anderson said of Van Horn. “If I get a couple strokes off him, I can beat him.”