COLLEGE BASEBALL

Hogs stranded in desert again

Arkansas' Dominic Ficociello watches from first base in the first inning of the Razorbacks' 3-1 loss to Arizona State on Saturday. Ficociello was one of six runners stranded in the game.

— Arkansas’ woeful road trip continued Saturday.

The Razorbacks failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position early and committed a pair of costly errors late in a 3-1 loss to Arizona State at Surprise Stadium, falling to 0-3 at the Coca-Cola Classic.

Arkansas continued to struggle at the plate, recording six hits and stranding six runners. In three games in Surprise, the Razorbacks have recorded 23 hits but have only three runs.

“We haven’t had the big hit,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “That’s probably the frustrating thing is that early in the game again we left too many runners on base. We got a great pitching performance.

“If you asked me a week ago, if you only give up seven runs total, I’m going to tell you we’re at least 2-1. It’ll turn around for us. We’ll get it going.”

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Arizona State outfielder Trever Allen slides into home plate after a Nathaniel Causey RBI double in the second inning of Saturday's game at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Ariz.

Arizona State (7-2) took the lead after three seven thinning mistakes by the No. 2 Razorbacks (7-4). Trever Allen reached with a bunt single and advanced to third base on a pair of throwing errors by pitcher Trey Killian and first baseman Jacob Mahan on the play. Allen scored later in the inning when reliever Cade Lynch threw a wild pitch.

“The little things add up,” Van Horn said. “I’m disappointed they scored the lead run, which ended up being the winning run, without getting a hit.”

The Sun Devils added another run in the seventh on a two-out RBI double by Jake Peevy house and nearly extended their lead, but a diving catch by second baseman Dominic Ficociello stranded two runners on a hit-and-run.

Arizona State reliever Ryan Burr made quick work of Arkansas from there, retiring all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings. Arkansas had only one base runner in the final four innings.

The Razorbacks’ only back-to-back hits of the game resulted in their only run. Matt Vinson reached with a twoout double in the fifth inning and scored on Joe Serrano’s single. Arkansas squandered scoring chances in the first and fourth innings when Tyler Spoon reached with singles and stole second.

The outfielder, who extended his hitting streak to all 11 games, was stranded at third base in the first inning. Arkansas has stranded 22 runners in the past three games.

“It’s obviously frustrating that we can’t get back-to-back hits,” Spoon said. “When people are on base and in scoring position, we’re just not coming up with that big hit. We need to take advantage of our opportunities when we get them.”

Killian, a freshman from Mountain Home, picked up his first loss despite a solid outing. After allowing a RBI double to Nathaniel Causey in the second inning, Killian retired 16 consecutive batters before Allen’s bunt in the seventh.

The right-hander finished with a career-high nine strikeouts. In 14 innings this season, Killian has a 1.92 earned run average and 15 strikeouts.

“After he gave up that double, he started throwing that slider down and they were swinging and missing,” Van Horn said. “He busted the fastball in and had a really big zone, and he pitched to it.”

Ryan Kellogg earned the victory for Arizona State by pitching 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits.

The Razorbacks will conclude the four-game trip with a game against Pacific at 11 a.m. today.

“This is a competition we needed to see,” Van Horn said. “I’ve got some guys still wide-eyed, some of these young guys. I think there are a lot of plusses, but it’s here and there. We’ve just got to put it all together.

“If this was going to happen, it’s a lot better that it’s happening now. We can get better.”

SHORT HOPS

Arkansas started its third different first baseman in as many games Saturday, giving Jacob Mahan the nod. Eric Fisher and Isaac Hellbusch have also started games there this weekend.... Saturday’s attendance was 1,560. ... The Razorbacks are 0-7 vs. Arizona State in the Phoenix metro area since 2008.

Sports, Pages 27 on 03/03/2013