FAYETTEVILLE — The first game of Arkansas' Cardinal and Gray fall baseball series was highlighted by home runs and errors.
Freshman Evan Lee drew a bases loaded walk to score the go-ahead run and sophomore Jack Benninghoff followed with a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning to give the Gray team a 6-3 win Monday at Baum Stadium. All of the runs came against freshman left-hander Harrison Heffley.
The Cardinal team loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th, but Chad Spanberger popped up to shortstop Jax Biggers in foul ground for the final out.
Barrett Loseke, a weekend starter last season who has worked mostly as a reliever this fall, earned the win after throwing two-plus scoreless innings. Nate Alberius issued a walk, but earned the save with three strikeouts.
"This is going to be a good series," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "It was tight and (the Cardinal) kind of gave it to (the Gray). You can tell there is a lot of competition out here - night and day from what you saw in this series last year.
"We're taking this serious and we want to see what we're going to get come springtime."
The Razorbacks flashed some power early in the scrimmage. Jake Arledge had a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning for the Cardinal. The Gray tied the game in the top of the second on a throwing error by second baseman Jaxon Williams, which allowed Carson Shaddy to score from second base.
Williams had two of the Cardinal's four errors. The Gray had two errors.
"They kicked it around a little and made some mistakes," Van Horn said. "There is some inexperience (in the infield) and we kind of took advantage of it."
It appeared the Gray had taken a 2-1 lead when catcher Zach Plunkett - a transfer from TCU - homered off Isaiah Campbell to leadoff the third inning. But Plunkett failed to touch home plate and was called out on appeal.
Cardinal catcher Grant Koch, Arkansas' projected starter next season, called for the challenge. The Cardinal bench erupted in cheers when Plunkett was called out.
"The only time you're going to miss home plate on a home run ball is if you're distracted," Van Horn said. "He was looking into the dugout when he was coming around second and third, and probably talking a little bit.
"He missed home plate. I don't think he missed it by much, but just enough that the umpire did see it. Grant Koch, who was catching, felt like he missed it by an inch or two. It's just something that happens and you learn from it."
In an ironic twist, Koch homered off Gray starter Blaine Knight in the bottom of the fourth to give the Cardinal a 2-1 lead. Koch emphasized his step on the plate in front of Plunkett, drawing another round of cheers from his dugout, as well as from about 100 spectators at Baum Stadium.
Koch added an RBI double in the sixth inning to give the Cardinal a 3-1 lead, and he also drew a walk in the 10th. Koch has gained weight since the end of last season and has shown some added power at the plate.
"It was big for me this summer to get stronger, and it's been a point of mine this fall," Koch said. "I've trusted my swing this fall and I'm getting better results."
The Gray team tied the game in the top of the eighth. Eric Cole and Jax Biggers had back-to-back singles off freshman reliever Angus Denton to leadoff the inning. Cole scored on a throwing error by Williams, and Biggers scored on a fielding error by Keaton McKinney, a pitcher who was filling in at first base.
"Keaton's a pretty good first baseman, but it didn't work out too well for him today," Van Horn said.
Both starting pitchers went five innings. Knight gave up two runs on four hits and struck out three batters for the Gray, while Campbell allowed one run on four hits and struck out six for the Cardinal. Plunkett's home run off Campbell was ruled a triple.
"They are probably our top two guys out of the chute, who have good stuff to get us off to a good start," Van Horn said. "If we started next week, those would be the two guys you would see on Friday and Saturday, although I don't know in what order."
The Gray relievers gave the team a chance to come back and send the game to extra innings. Lee, the designated hitter, needed one pitch to work around a runner in scoring position and end the sixth inning. The left-handed Bryant native is expected to be a two-way player in the spring.
Cannon Chadwick worked around a hit in the seventh inning and struck out two. Chadwick had a strong fall last year, but struggled with injuries and only pitched eight times during the regular season. He finished the year with a 1.76 ERA, which was the lowest on the team.
The teams are scheduled to play the second game of the series Tuesday at 5 p.m. McKinney is scheduled to start on the mound for the Cardinal, while the Gray will throw junior right-hander Trevor Stephan, a junior college transfer who turned down an 18th round offer from the Boston Red Sox over the summer.
The scrimmage is open to the public and admission is free.