FAYETTEVILLE — The focus on the Arkansas baseball team has been the home runs by the offense and the strikeouts by the pitching staff. The numbers have been off the chart.
On a sticky, dead air night when the ball didn't carry, the No. 12 Razorbacks turned to defense in a 3-0 victory over Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Lost in the shuffle all year has been the solid play in the field, most notably by shortstop Jax Biggers. It was a sparkling play by Biggers in the ORU fourth that preserved the shutout and gave the Baum Stadium crowd a chance to roar when big flies died on the warning track.
Both head coaches – and Arkansas pitching ace Trevor Stephan – pointed to the web gem as a key point in the game.
With runners at first and second in a scoreless game, ORU's Sam Grellner stroked a bouncer up the middle that Biggers got to behind the bag close to the outfield grass. He flipped to Carson Shaddy at second for the force and the third out. Shaddy caught the flip with his bare hand with a nice stretch to retire Dylan Snypes racing from first.
“The play Jax made in the middle of the field was really good,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “Off the bat, it looked like he had it under control. But the ball took off. It had some top spin, but he just extended himself and made a nice flip.
“A lot of times, you don't finish that play. I thought Carson made a nice play, too, just bare handing it. They had a runner (rounding) third and so that was a huge play in the game.
“I thought ORU played good defense, too, except for one play they mishandled. It led to a run, a big run, our second. ORU has played good defense all year and they came in fielding .978. That's just really good.”
It's worth mentioning that the Hogs entered the tournament fielding .977.
“Jax has played good defense all year,” Stephan said. “That play was big-time. It could have changed the inning.
“I thought Jax was going to get there and then it kind of took off and picked up speed. He got there.”
ORU coach Ryan Folmer said it was the kind of game that just a play or two on defense proved big.
“We didn't play bad on defense, but we made one mistake and that cost us a big run,” Folmer said. “It's the little things in a game like this that make the difference.
“There was the bouncer up the middle that they made the play on defense. And we had a play we didn't make.”
The Hogs had three infield singles, two of them bouncers up the middle when there was no opportunity for a throw. The Golden Eagles blew a pick-off play with a throw into center field. The Hogs took advantage with a bloop hit into center with a drawn-in infield.
The Hogs did use the strikeout for big outs again. Stephan recorded 12 strikeouts with relievers Kevin Kopps and Matt Cronin recording one each. That gives the Hogs 571 for the season, a school record.
Home plate umpire Carl Coles had a tight strike zone, especially early. It was in stark contrast to what the Hogs saw in the SEC Tournament, including the championship game when Tony Walsh gave both pitchers a wide strike zone.
“We were worried (about the zone) early that it was a little (small),” Van Horn said. “But Trevor told us it was fair. I thought it was fair and the same both times.”
Folmer bemoaned the 14 strikeouts, noting the Gold Eagles stranded 10. It was the first time they had been shutout on the season.
“We hit some balls hard, but we are going to have to make a couple of swings,” Folmer said. “We left guys on. Give (Arkansas) credit. They threw it well, but 14 strikeouts is too many for us to come out with a win.”