FAYETTEVILLE — Everyone figured it would be a pitching duel between Arkansas' Blaine Knight and Vanderbilt's Kyle Wright, a pair of Friday night suds sliding to Saturday night. There were over one dozen scouts with radar guns positioned behind home plate.
The first pitches thrown by the two strikeout kings hit 96 and 95 respectively. In the end, the Commodores had the Wright stuff.
Wright made it seven innings, Knight just five. That may have been the difference as the Commodores didn't leave their bullpen so much of a challenge.
The Arkansas bullpen was outscored 5-2, the key in a 6-2 victory as the two teams head for a rubber match finale on Sunday.
Wright (3-5) blanked the Hogs on two hits through seven innings. The Hogs were down 6-0 before plating two with two outs in the ninth off of reliever Drake Fellows.
Knight (6-4) allowed only a solo homer in the fifth, a no-doubt shot by Will Toffey on an 0-2 breaking ball left up and in the middle of the plate. He touched 97 early in the game but didn't have his best breaking ball.
Both Wright and Knight are considered high draft prospects and entered with 82 strikeouts on the season. Wright fanned the first five Razorbacks, with hardly a pitch out of the strike zone until Alex Gosser worked an 11-pitch walk to leadoff the third.
Wright was terrific. Jax Biggers stroked a one-out single in the sixth and Luke Bonfield reached on a bloop hit in the seventh.
“He was awfully good,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “We had a couple of shots at him. Gosser had a great at bat and we had one other chance, twice just down one run. We didn't get him.”
Van Horn thought Knight battled hard, but the Commodores fouled off his best pitches and worked three walks.
“They had runners on in every inning,” Van Horn said. “Blaine was pitching out of the stretch all night. They got his pitch count up.
“He really made just one mistake. The 0-2 pitch to Toffey was supposed to be wasted, a foot outside. It was in the middle of the plate, elevated. Give Toffey credit, he got a mistake and he didn't miss it.”
The only whimper came against Vandy freshman Drake Fellows in the ninth. Jake Arledge singled, moved up on a wild pitch and then scored after two consecutive ground outs. Grant Koch added a solo homer, his 12th of the year. Most in the crowd of 8,021 had already left, subdued by Wright's assortment of 95 mph fast balls and hard breakers.
“It was too late,” Koch said of his opposite-field smash. “But maybe that will spark us.”
Koch said the Hogs had just left the outfield meeting with Van Horn and a challenge about Sundays in the SEC.
“Sunday is a big day,” Koch said. “Whether we won tonight or not, Sunday is the biggest day of the weekend. You try not to dwell too much about this one. It's all about tomorrow.”
The No. 16 Razorbacks turn to senior Dominic Taccolini, out the last three weekends with an injury to his pitching forearm. Taccolini is 3-0 with a 4.99 ERA, but does not have an SEC decision.
“He's been hurt, the muscle in the front of his arm,” Van Horn said. “He's thrown long toss a few times and a couple of bullpens. He feels 100 percent. He should be ready to go. We'll see.”
Koch said Taccolini wants the ball.
“He's fired up to pitch,” Koch said. “He has good stuff. We know he's going to give it everything.”
The Hogs probably have Jake Reindl and Kevin Kopps ready in the bullpen, too. Both pitched on Friday night when the Hogs earned a 4-3 victory on Bonfield's walk-off single.
They burned possible starter Kacey Murphy on Saturday night. Murphy gave up a three-run homer to Julian Infante. Murphy threw 42 pitches, including 23 to two batters on walks with 3-2 counts.
“He couldn't get that last pitch,” Van Horn said. “The pitch to Infante was a change-up that he left up. It was crushed and we didn't even watch it.”
About Wright, Arledge said, “He painted the corners. He was throwing everything for strikes. He was getting his off-speed in for strikes. He mixed his pitches and pitched really well.”
Game time Sunday is 1 p.m.