Moore sparks Arkansas in win over Gonzaga

Arkansas second baseman Robert Moore heads to first Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, after hitting a 2-run double during the second inning against Gonzaga at Baum-Walker Stadium.

— Arkansas freshman second baseman Robert Moore may have been the youngest player on the diamond Thursday, but he had one of the game's biggest hits.

The 17-year-old Moore ripped a two-run, two-out double down the left field line in the second inning to spark the No. 5 Razorbacks’ 7-5 win over Gonzaga before 1,650 fans at Baum-Walker Stadium.

“That was a real big swing there in the second inning,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said of a hit that got his team out to a 2-0 lead. “That whole inning started with two outs, I think. A couple of two-out singles and maybe a walk, and then Robert hit the first-pitch fastball down the line for a two-RBI double.

“I think it’s just helping him relax a little bit. He’s been swinging the bat pretty good. He hit another ball hard today that was caught deep in center field. He plays really good defense. I think he’s hanging in there. He’s doing good.”

Moore, who should be in the second semester of his senior year of high school, has hit the ball hard, but not had much to show for it in the first four games for Arkansas (4-0).

The nine-hole hitter knew he would likely see a good pitch from Gonzaga starter Keaton Knueppel early because the top of the lineup coming up behind him.

“My mindset was batting in the nine-hole with Braydon (Webb) and all those guys coming up I thought they were going to attack me early,” Moore said. “Looking for a pitch over the plate, and I'm starting to figure out talking to (Arkansas hitting) Coach (Nate) Thompson, picking out zones and to zone in on a pitch and not chase early, but especially keep your aggressiveness. I looked for a fastball in and I got one.”

Moore, the son of Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore, was just 1-of-12 through the first three games despite making solid contact in many of his at-bats.

“It is a little frustrating, but it’s baseball,” Moore said. “I am going to have a streak this year where I end cap 10 balls and get all kinds of hits out of that. The good news is coming in here that everyone is so good that I don’t have to be the superstar. I can just do my job and my job is to play defense and let everyone else be great. So, it is what it is.”

Arkansas led 2-0 and 5-2 after Casey Opitz’ wind-aided double scored a pair of runs in the third, but Gonzaga (2-3) rallied with a pair of runs in the third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth to tie the game.

The Zags had won four straight against the Razorbacks, including a sweep of Arkansas in four games in Fayetteville in 2015 and 2016.

Arkansas used five pitchers in the win. Kole Ramage got the starting nod, Kevin Kopps came on in relief, Caden Monke (1-0) earned his first career win, and Elijah Trest and closer Zeb Vermillion also threw.

“It felt great,” Moore said. “They are a very scrappy team. They kept the press on us the whole time. I thought Monke came in and did a nice job when we were in a jam. Ramage threw the ball well to start and obviously it was great to have Zeb come in, and obviously Trest is nails.”

Gonzaga out-hit Arkansas 11-8. Both teams left seven runners on in the first game of the four-game weekend series.

The Razorbacks scored what would turn out to be the game-winning run in the seventh when Christian Franklin barely beat out what would have been a double play.

Arkansas right fielder Heston Kjersatd, who had a double and a walk in five plate appearances, scored as Franklin was hustling down the line, and then Matt Goodheart would later score on a wild pitch.

“On offense, we hit the ball all day, but didn’t get many breaks,” Moore said. “That (the win) was great and we are going to build off of it and come out tomorrow with the same energy. It’s tough to come out here and play with the energy that we did when it is cold like that, but these guys are great and we are prepared for that.”

Moore was also part of a double play that wasn’t in the seventh inning when he and shortstop Casey Martin turned one with two outs.

“I told Casey there's one out before the play. He said, ‘No, no, there's two.’ The scoreboard went off before the play, so I asked the umpire and he said there's one out," Moore said. "So I told Casey there's one out. We got a double-play ball. Luckily it wasn't too far to my left where I would spin and throw because then I would look dumb. But I flipped it to Casey who threw it to first. We looked at each other (and thought), "Was that four outs?'

"We got to the dugout and still didn't know. That's how that went down.”

Moore has started all four games this season at second base.

“His defense has been solid,” Van Horn said. “The scoreboard was broke out there, it wasn’t working, and the umpire told them there was one out. We all knew there were two. They thought there was two, but they were told one. So we got four outs that one inning if you take the double play ball. But he’s been solid.”

One of his better plays on Thursday was racing to catch a looper behind first base.

“I thought he made a really good read on the little ball off the end of the bat,” Van Horn said. “It fooled our first baseman and then the wind kind of pushed it. He caught it awkwardly, underhand, kind of a basket catch. That was the leadoff man and that could have been a little bit of a problem because it was also the 9-hole hitter and the top of their order is really good. It’s the way it works.”

Arkansas and Gonzaga are set to play Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.