LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas outscored Arkansas-Little Rock 16-3 in 14 innings of baseball Friday night at Gary Hogan Field, but that's not really what either coach cared about Friday night when they met with media.
Oh, they did hail the night as a historic happening for college baseball in the state, the first time the University of Arkansas has met another state school in a big three sport in decades. It may have never happened before in baseball.
But what they wanted to talk about is how the event helped their teams improve during a fall period when it is difficult to make young players understand what a mistake can cost in real games. There was lots of talk about the way the Hogs ran the bases afterward, perhaps something that wasn't their strong suit last year.
That's what UALR coach Chris Curry said would be focused in team meetings after the Razorbacks stole six bases and took extra bases on five wild pitches. UALR base runners stole three bases, but were caught stealing three times.
It was just the sort of stuff Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said has been the focus of the first six weeks of his fall workouts.
"We scored 16 runs and we didn't hit the ball out of the park once," Van Horn said. "We are going to hit some home runs, but I liked what I saw with the way we ran tonight."
Curry said it was a clinic on the base paths by the Razorbacks.
“That's a top five program over there,” said Curry, a former assistant under Van Horn. “I can tell you it's obvious they have been working on taking extra bases on dirt ball pitches. They did tonight and that's the sort of stuff I can show our team, the little things that lead to so many runs.
“They played clean and we didn't. We clean some of that stuff up and it will make a big difference in that score and that's what we can use that for with our team as we move forward this fall.”
It was the minute details of baseball that were really the talking points for the coaches to their players, but just that anyone is talking about Arkansas vs. Arkansas-Little Rock is worth plenty of talk.
“Yes, there are a lot of people who won tonight,” Curry said. “Our fans were winners, the fans of both sides. It was a packed house, a great environment. Our players were winners. Our guys have heard of their guys, watched them on TV. They got to measure themselves against a lot of future pros tonight and that's a win for our guys.
“We put a lot of fans of our program from a lot of other sports in our park for the first time. I've heard people say all week that they were coming out for the first time. And, I know a lot of their fans were here, too.”
Attendance was estimated at 1,500. There are bleachers and chair-back seats at Gary Hogan Field for about 600. There is also berm seating for several hundred, too, but tickets were capped well under what the park will hold because of limited parking.
A lot at UALR just over 10 blocks away was used for overflow with shuttle service running until 30 minutes after the game.
It was a surreal atmosphere. There was polite clapping for both sides, with no Hog Calls.
“I think there was effort from both sides to respect each program,” Curry said. “I appreciated that. I know the (Razorback) fans treated our team well.
“I can tell you that it is what I expected because I know their fans and know their coach. He's a great coach, all class and one of the all-time greats.”
Van Horn called it “a great atmosphere.” Of course, the Hogs did not plan to scrimmage UALR until a trip to Oklahoma was canceled because of predicted bad weather last month.
“We just didn't know what we were going to do after that,” Van Horn said. “We wanted a road trip, but not too far. Oklahoma State had their two dates filled. So I called Chris. It's a three-hour road trip for us and perfect.
“And, it's good for college baseball in our state to do this. It was good for our players from this area. They got to play in front of their parents.”
It was treated in a low-key way by both coaches. Key pitchers were held out of the game. Arkansas didn't bring the starters scheduled to pitch Monday in its fall world series. And, right fielder Heston Kjerstad (flu) and Jordan McFarland (mono) didn't make the trip for the Razorbacks.
“We have some guys sick, some guys who made the trip and some we left at home,” Van Horn said. “To be honest, our starting pitcher is battling a little sickness.”
Junior Isaiah Campbell may have been ill, but he still pitched three scoreless innings. The highlight was the final inning when UALR loaded the bases with no outs, but came away empty.
Campbell walked a batter and gave up two hits, one of them when he collided with third baseman Jack Kenley on a bunt. But Campbell recorded two strikeouts and a ground out to get out of the jam. It's just the opposite of what happened to Campbell in similar situations last year.
“I don't think Isaiah felt too good,” Van Horn said. “But he fought through it with not his best stuff.
“I think the last inning, getting out of that trouble should give him some confidence.”
The night was split into what amounted to two games. There was a nine-inning scrimmage to open things that Arkansas won, 11-2. Then, after a 20-minute break to allow reserves to warm up, there was another five-inning scrimmage. Arkansas won that one, 5-1.
The Hogs defeated Wichita State 10-1 in 14 innings of scrimmage time the previous week, meaning their pitching gave up only three runs in the 28 innings.
“That's the kind of pitching they have,” Curry said. “Our guys saw really good stuff tonight from all of their guys. They put a lot of guys out there who were throwing 92 to 94 (mph) and some were above that. All their guys throw like that.
"They can pitch and you can see that they are focused on running the bases better. We can learn watching them and then fixing our mistakes.
"That's an athletic (Arkansas) lineup that can run. They had a phenomenal lineup 1-9 last year, with all that power. It was a one-of-a-kind lineup. You can't duplicate that, but they can pitch, play defense and run the bases maybe a little better this year and be pretty good again.”
Van Horn agreed and said that the focus from the first day of fall practice was to improve on the bases.
"We probably took some chances tonight we won't in the spring," he said, "but that's what we are pushing ourselves to be better at, running the bases."
The Hogs used 10 pitchers. After Campbell, Jacob Kostyshock worked one inning. Cole Ramage went two, then Cody Scroggins, Kevin Kopps and Matt Cronin worked one inning each.
After the break, Van Horn used Caden Monke, Connor McCullough and Angus Denton for one inning each. Evan Taylor pitched two innings.
Kopps did not pitch in the Wichita State scrimmage. He had pitched in one live scrimmage earlier this fall in intra-squad work, coming back from Tommy John surgery last fall.
“He's almost exactly 12 months out from surgery,” Van Horn said. “We didn't pitch him last week. He'd gone live one time before this fall. He's only been spinning the ball for a couple of weeks.”
Kopps always had a good breaking ball, but it was especially good against the Trojans.
“He had a good breaker before, but it may have been better tonight,” Van Horn said. “He was really good.”
The Hogs used 16 different players in the field. There were lots of highlights, but Van Horn was particularly pleased with Casey Optiz. The sophomore switch-hitter played three spots: first base, catcher and second base. He had assists and put outs at all three spots.
Optiz had three hits in six at bats and scored four runs. He threw out three runners at catcher and handled some low throws at first without a hiccup.
“Opitz had a great night,” Van Horn said. “He was great at first base in our first nine innings. He caught three innings and we put him at second at the end.
“He knows how to play about anywhere. You can tell he studies baseball. Some might be playing video games when they aren't around the park, but he's watching baseball. He knows how to play the game. He's a throw back and he's popular with his teammates.”
Casey Martin had three hits and four RBI. Jack Kenley, Christian Franklin, Dominic Fletcher and Trey Harris all had two hits.
Cronin closed the regular part of the scrimmage and struck out the side. He did the same against Wichita State to give him six strikeouts in six batters. That does it for Cronin this fall. He set the Arkansas save record last spring with 14, then pitched this summer for Team USA.
“He's done,” Van Horn said. “So is Campbell. They won't pitch in our fall series.”
Van Horn said Cronin continues to work on his off-speed pitches. He only threw two breakers against UALR, but both were knee wobblers.
“He can spin it,” Van Horn said. “He threw a couple for strikes tonight.”