FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks' bid for a sweep of Rhode Island ran into a 5-11 pitcher with a crafty fastball on Sunday.
Rams right-hander Matt Murphy held the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, to three singles over seven innings as the Rams shut down the Razorbacks 3-0 before an estimated crowd of 1,352 at Baum Stadium.
"He beat us with his fastball, simple as that," said Arkansas infielder and No. 9 hitter Hunter Wilson, who had two of the Hogs' hits.
"The fastball, I had to locate it, and the changeup was working," said Murphy, a junior transfer who did not allow an earned run in 13 innings to start the season. "It's all about adjustments in the game, and I think I did that pretty well today."
The Razorbacks (12-4) appeared to dodge a major injury when infielder Carson Shaddy crumpled to the dirt after rounding second base on the final out in the fourth inning. Shaddy was diagnosed with a sprained right ankle, though he is scheduled to undergo an X-ray to confirm that, Coach Dave Van Horn said.
Murphy, bolstered by three-run lead after two innings, escaped mild jams in the third and fifth innings, with Wilson and leadoff man Jake Arledge on base with one out each time. He got Chad Spanberger on fly balls both times and retired Luke Bonfield on a popup and a fielder's choice ground ball.
"I think we had guys trying to do too much," Van Horn said. "Instead of getting a base hit and getting the next guy up, they were trying to hit three-run homers and pulling off and hitting balls off the end of the bat."
Murphy (2-1) retired 14 batters via fly ball or pop up, struck out 3 and got 4 groundball outs.
"He was the story of the game, really," Van Horn said. "We just could not get on top of the baseball. Credit to him. ... We knew what he was all about. He was a strike thrower and he was going to attack us.
"He figured out after about three innings that he didn't need to throw that breaking ball too much. He just threw that fastball away and some changeups to the lefties."
Said Murphy, "My mindset was to try to get guys out in less than three pitches. If you can do that, keep the pitch count low and kind of get into a rhythm that would be good."
Right-handers Blaise Whitman and Tyler Barrs held the Hogs hitless while posting the last six outs, with Barrs picking up his third save in support.
"I thought Murphy was awesome today," Rhode Island Coach Raphael Cerrato said. "He was getting ahead. He's got a good fastball. He was able to throw some really good changeups in there. Today he was showing that changeup, which makes his fastball so much better."
Arkansas outscored the Rams 8-7 over the three-game series, though Rhode Island outhit the Razorbacks 20-16.
Arkansas pitchers struck out 30 batters in the three-game series. Reliever Kevin Kopps yielded three walks Sunday, the only walks given up by Razorbacks in three games.
The Rams got all the runs they'd need in the first inning before Arkansas right-hander Josh Alberius (0-3) could record his first out.
Chris Hess, who went 4 for 4, led off with a single. Martin Figueroa's double to the wall in right-center field sent Hess to third base, then Jordan Powell brought home both runners with a single down the right-field line.
Rhode Island's Justin Jewell broke an 0-for-12 start to his season with a no-doubt-about-it home run over the right-field wall to lead off the second inning and the Rams' 3-0 lead would stand up the rest of the way.
"We shut down a really, really good lineup," Cerrato said. "These guys were putting up a lot of runs this year."
Sports on 03/13/2017