FAYETTEVILLE — No. 21 Arkansas tuned up for a weekend series against No. 5 Florida with a bit of excitement Tuesday night at Baum Stadium.
What seemed like the entire Arkansas pitching staff flirted with a no-hitter as the Razorbacks beat Oral Roberts 6-1 in front of 3,184. Arkansas (29-12) lost its nohit bid in the ninth inning when Jose Trevino lined a double to the left-field fence off Barrett Astin.
The midweek game — normally a chance for teams such as the Razorbacks to plumb the depths of their staff — saw the teams use 13 pitchers combined.
The Razorbacks were certainly more effective, with their seven pitchers allowing only 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 14.
“They all did a tremendous job,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “It was fun to watch those pitchers.”
It was the most strikeouts in a game by Arkansas pitching since Nick Schmidt struck out 15 against Auburn on May 18, 2006. Schmidt also had a hand in the Razorbacks’ last no-hitter, when he and two relievers shut down Oklahoma State on Feb. 12, 2006.
Starter Trent Daniel (1-0) worked three innings to earn the victory. Daniel struck out five and didn’t allow a walk before giving way to Nolan Sanburn, who struck out two and allowed two walks and a wild pitch.
Brandon Moore worked an inning for the Razorbacks before Tyler Wright came on and struck out all three batters he faced in his only inning. Colby Suggs struck out one in two-thirds of an inning before Michael Gunn struck out the only batter he faced.
Astin worked the final inning, giving up 1 run on 1 hit and a 1 walk and struck out 2.
Arkansas’ no-hit bid was helped by two standout defensive plays in the sixth inning. Third baseman Matt Reynolds made a charging play on a chopper, and second baseman Bo Bigham ran into short right field to make a lunging stab of Trevino’s flare.
Oral Roberts starter Phillip Wilson (1-2) took the loss, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and 1 walk in two innings.
Arkansas started quickly offensively as leadoff hitter Tim Carver hit a home run to left field on the second pitch of the game from Wilson. It was Carver’s first home run of the season.
“It’s not really my job to do that,” Carver said. “I wasn’t trying to do that. I ran into a ball and was fortunate it got out.”
“I don’t really want him to hit home runs,” Van Horn said of Carver. “We’ll take them tonight. It was a good start for us to get that lead.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 04/25/2012