'Didn't get it done': Timely hit eludes Arkansas in CWS opener

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn (middle) looks on from the dugout during the Razorbacks' 1-0 loss to Florida State on Saturday, June 15, 2019, during the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.

OMAHA, Neb. — Prior to answering a question about Arkansas' lack of timely hitting, Razorbacks designated hitter Matt Goodheart took a deep breath as he sat in his locker.

Saturday evening, in its first game at the College World Series, Arkansas was held down by Florida State left hander Drew Parrish and shut out for just the second time in 2019. With the 1-0 loss, the Razorbacks will face Texas Tech at 1 p.m. on Monday in an elimination game.

Goodheart said Arkansas let one slip away against the Seminoles, who improved to 6-0 this postseason and 5-0 against Southeastern Conference teams.

"Absolutely we did," he added. "That’s baseball sometimes. Sometimes it’s just like that, especially with a good arm on the mound. He matched up well against us, and we just didn’t get it done."

The Razorbacks stranded six baserunners in the loss and, as a team, went hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position and 2-for-11 with runners on. One squandered scoring opportunity, though, stands out above the others.

Left fielder Christian Franklin, hitting just .118 in the NCAA Tournament entering Saturday, led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a double - his eighth of the season - that snuck inside the right-field line. First baseman Trevor Ezell then advanced Franklin to third on a groundout to shortstop, bringing Casey Martin to the plate and Goodheart to the on-deck circle.

Arkansas wound up with nothing to show for the 9-hole's extra-base hit as Martin and Goodheart both struck out swinging.

Parrish, following his 113th and final pitch of the night, which retired Goodheart, pumped his fist and yelled toward the Florida State dugout in celebration.

"That’s frustrating, you know, but that’s baseball for you," said Heston Kjerstad, who went 0-for-4 and left two men on base. "Sometimes you’re going to get a guy on second with no outs and you’re going to get him in every time, but that’s not the way it works.

"As an offense we always want to put up runs to help out our pitching, especially when they go out there and do a heck of a job. That’s just the way it works when you don’t get the job done with runners on base. It’s going to be hard to scratch a few."

Kjerstad said Arkansas, collectively, will have no issues flushing the five-hit offensive performance. The team will learn from the negatives (10 strikeouts), focus on the positives, turn the page and prepare for the Red Raiders, who fell 5-3 to suddenly hot Michigan in Game 1 of the day.

Isaiah Campbell, who threw seven scoreless innings and struck out 10 in a no-decision, said he would have laughed if someone had told him before the game the Razorbacks' offense would be shut out. Ezell, too, said it would have been hard to believe.

Franklin added, "There's no chance."

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said Parrish kept batters off balance by not doubling up on pitches. When the Razorbacks pushed runners into scoring position, Parrish didn't give them the fastball to capitalize on.

"He was really good when we got runners on, especially in scoring position, mixing that changeup, fastball, breaking ball," Van Horn added. "We hit some balls hard early at people, hit a couple balls off the end of the bat that just happened to go right at them as well, but that's kind of the way the game works."

Kjerstad is sure Arkansas - scoreless over its last 22 innings in Omaha - won't press offensively against Texas Tech. Ezell concurred, adding the team has responded to adversity well throughout the season.

"We have a lot of trust and confidence in our lineup top to bottom," the fifth-year senior said. "We’ve answered a lot this year after bad games or a bad weekend and came back and answered big.

"We’re going to go in confident on Monday."