Surging Murphree on fire, roasts Siena with three HRs

BY HEATH ALLEN Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Saturday, March 8, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/62956/

Arkansas’ Aaron Murphree conveyed a powerful message Friday night against Siena.

Murphree clubbed three homers in five plate appearances in a 14-5 win over the Saints at Baum Stadium. Murphree now has 10 homers through 10 games for the Hogs (9-1 ).

Murphree’s third swat cleared the 40-foot wall behind the center-field fence in the bottom of the eighth. Murphree took reliever Maikel Hurtado’s first offering yard for his 10 th of the season.

“ I’ve never seen anything like it — unbelievable, ” Arkansas skipper Dave Van Horn said. “ That last one he hit would have been out against the wind... He’s confident right now and getting good pitches. I hope he can do it for another 50 games. He’s hot and it’s a great time for him to be hot because we have some of our better hitters siting on the bench. ”

Murphree said he didn’t see where the third home run landed but he was greeted by a raucous dugout that watched as the ball jettisoned off his bat and over the towering green wall.

“ I didn’t really see exactly where it went, so I couldn’t tell you, ” Murphree said. “ I guess they were just a little stunned, just like I am. ”

Murphree, a 6-5, 235-pound senior from Weatherford, Texas, has now smashed 8 home runs in the last four games. He’s currently batting. 487 with 24 RBIs, a. 1359 slugging percentage and a. 545 onbase percentage. Murphree has swatted his 10 homers in just 39 at-bats.

He finished Friday night’s game 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs and 4 runs scored.

“ It’s been a little bit surprising, ” Murphree said. “ I’ve been putting some OK swings on it and it’s been working out for the best. ”

Murphree is now on pace to hit 56 homers. The Arkansas record for homers in a single season is 24 by Ryan Lundquist in 1997.

He credited UA hitting coach Todd Butler for his recent streak of good fortune.

“ I’ve worked hard in the cages with Coach Butler and he’s given me a lot of confidence, ” Murphree said. “ I’ve been fortunate to lay off bad pitches and work ahead in counts and I’m getting an opportunity to hit more fastballs. ”

Murphree’s first jack off Siena right-hander Craig Chaput put the cap on a 4-run Arkansas first inning, countering a 2-run Siena (1-7 ) first. Following a 2-run homer by Jeff Wilkins, Casey Coon worked a one-out walk. Murphree smashed a 2-out, 2-run homer near the flagpole in right on a 2-0 count to shove the Hogs ahead 4-2.

Murphree’s second round-tripper off Chaput in the third inning pelted the center of the giant green wall in between the two 400-foot signs in center.

While Murphree’s first homer was aided by a strong wind blowing out to right, his second homer on a 2-2 count required no assistance to clear the center-field wall.

But despite Murphree’s absurd power surge, a sixth inning walk did not go unnoticed by Van Horn. Murphree had already rocked two pitches for homers but managed to lay off a Hurtado offering on a 3-2 count. Murphree’s walk with two outs ignited a 3-spot. He stole second and scored on a Ben Tschepikow single.

“ Everyone’s jumping up and down and going crazy and he takes a walk with two outs and we score three runs, ” Van Horn said. “ I told him, ‘ it’s a long season. If they want to walk you five times a game, score four or five runs a game. ’”