FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas 2, Missouri 0, Final
Matt Cronin takes over on the mound in the ninth for the No. 10 Razorbacks. He's been given a 2-0 lead to face the teeth of the Mizzou lineup: Luke Mann, Kameron Misner and Chris Cornelius. He fanned Mann on three pitches clocked at 95, 96 and 95 mph. Misner fanned on five pitches, the final strike a half hearted checked swing. Cornelius walked on a 3-2 pitch. Chad McDaniel fanned on four pitches to end it.
Isaiah Campbell pitched seven innings, Jacob Kostyshock and Matt Cronin one each. They combined to fan 15 Tigers.
Matt Goodheart plated one run with a bases loaded walk and scored the other after a double in a 2-for 3 night plugging the designated hitter hole. The Hogs entered the game hitting just .208 from the DH spot.
Arkansas (15-2, 1-0 SEC) will host Mizzou (11-6, 0-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Arkansas 2, Missouri 0, End 8th Inning
Jacob Kostyshock is pitching in relief of Isaiah Campbell for the Razorbacks, masterful through seven innings. Campbell fanned 11 with one walk. That's his strikeout-to-walk ratio for the season. Kostyshock came into the game with a 97 mph fast ball on his second pitch. He got a called strike three on his second batter with a 96 mph pitch. He issued a two-out walk to Clayton Peterson on two borderline pitches with two strikes. A wild pitch moved Peterson to second. He was stranded when Josh Holt was out on a soft liner to Trevor Ezell at first.
Trevor Ezell bounced out to open the UA eighth. Dominic Fletcher reached on a strikeout, via a wild pitch. Casey Opitz walked, working a 1-2 count for the pass. Matt Goodheart's line out to deep left center moved Fletcher to third. Jack Kenley fanned to end the threat.
Arkansas 2, Missouri 0, End 7th Inning
Mizzou star Kameron Misner entered the game hitting .393, but has done nothing against UA pitcher Isaiah Campbell. He fanned his first two trips, then tapped out to Campbell on the first pitch of the seventh inning. Chad McDaniel got the second hit of the game for the Tigers, a two-out sliced flare to left field. A weak bouncer to first ended the inning. Campbell has thrown 100 pitches in seven innings. Jacob Kostyshock is warming in the UA bullpen.
Jacob Nesbit slammed the first pitch of the Hogs' seventh into left field for a clean single. That ended Jacob Cantleberry's night. Right-hander Jordan Gubelman relieved for the Tigers. Christian Franklin advanced Nesbit to second on a sacrifice bunt. Casey Martin popped out to first in foul territory. Martin is hitless in four at bats with two strikeouts. Heston Kjerstad lined to the center fielder.
Paid attendance is 8,150. The number of scanned tickets is 4,158.
Arkansas 2, Missouri 0, End 6th Inning
The Tigers continue to come up empty against Isaiah Campbell. He whiffed Josh Holt and Luke Mann to end the top of the sixth, running his strikeout total to 11. Campbell has shown command with four pitches, including a nasty split fingered fast ball.
Matt Goodheart hammered a two-out double into the right field corner, but he was stranded at second when Jack Kenley bounced out to pitcher Jacob Cantleberry. Of note, Goodheart has a bases loaded walk and two doubles with a run scored against Cantleberry, his teammate last year at San Jacinto Community College.
Arkansas 2, Missouri 0, End 5th Inning
Isaiah Campbell has his A-game stuff through five innings. He has nine strikeouts, with two in the fifth. He's thrown 75 pitches, 50 for strikes. Missouri has only one hit against Campbell. The Tigers went down 1-2-3 in the fifth.
The Razorbacks went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. Jacob Cantleberry sat down the Hogs on six pitches and has thrown 75 on the night.
Arkansas 2, Missouri 0, End 4th Inning
For the Tigers, Chris Cornelius reached on a two-out error. Jacob Nesbit backed up to field a bouncer, then threw wide of Trevor Ezell at first. Chad McDaniel's pop to center ended the frame. Isaiah Campbell fanned the first two batters of the inning and has serven on the night. He's thrown 63 pitches in four innings.
The Hogs upped the lead to 2-0. Matt Goodheart doubled into the gap in right center. He moved to third when Jack Kenley lifted a fly to the warning track in right field. Jacob Nesbit hit a liner to right field that went for an RBI sacrifice fly when the outfielder air mailed home plate with the throw. Missouri asked for a replay review, something that now originates in the league office in Birmingham. Replays showed Goodheart waiting to leave third and the run stood.
Arkansas 1, Missouri 0, End 3rd Inning
Mark Vierling opened the third with the first hit off Isaiah Campbell, a liner that Christian Franklin tried to snare at his shoe top. It bounced out of his glove. Vierland moved to second on a wild pitch. Peter Zimmerman fanned. Two strikeouts and a pop to center ended that threat.
Heston Kjerstad was hit by pitch and stole second, but he was stranded when Trevor Ezell was called out on strikes, Dominic Fletcher popped to left and Casey Opitz bounced out to shortstop.
Arkansas 1, Missouri 0, End 2nd Inning
The Tigers went down in order in the second. Chris Cornelius fanned to lead off, Isaiah Campbell's third. Campbell has touched 95 on the radar gun, but his out pitch has been a nasty slider.
Jacob Cantleberry needed only seven pitches in the bottom of the first to set the Hogs down 1-2-3. Jacob Nesbit and Casey Martin both fanned. It's Martin's second strike out.
Arkansas 1, Missouri 0, End 1st Inning
Isaiah Campbell didn't walk any batters last week, but he opened the game with a free pass. The big righthander still faced just the minimum in the first. He fanned Luke Mann and Kameron Misner. The last was a strike-em-out-throw-em out with Casey Opitz gunning down would-be base stealer Josh Holt by a full step at second.
Missouri's Jacob Cantleberry fanned Casey Martin and Heston Kjerstad to open the frame, then ran into trouble. Trevor Ezell singled up the middle and Dominic Fletcher sliced a double to right field. The bases were loaded with a Casey Opitz walk. Matt Goodheart drew a bases loaded walk for a 1-0 lead. Then, on 3-2, Jack Kenley flied to deep right to end the inning.
Pregame
Arkansas will start its regular Friday night guy, junior Isaiah Campbell (3-0, 3.09 ERA). Missouri has flipped its rotation around a bit, moving its Saturday regular to pitch the opener. That will be lefty junior Jacob Cantleberry (2-0, 2.91)
Arkansas enters the SEC slate with a 14-2 record. Mizzou's Tigers enter at 11-5.
There aren't a lot of changes to the regular lineup for the Razorbacks. Matt Goodheart gets the start at designated hitter. The sophomore junior college transfer from Magnolia is hitting .241 in seven starts. After trying second base in a recent game, Trevor Ezell is back at first base where he's been the regular for most of the pre-season schedule.
It's going to be a cool night with a northwest wind blowing out. It's 48 degrees just ahead of the first pitch with the wind at 12 mph. Temperatures will drop into the lower 40s by the end of the game, but the good news is that the wind speed is supposed to drop to almost calm conditions once darkness arrrives.