FAYETTEVILLE -- If the University of Arkansas' three losses in Houston last weekend were frustrating, Tuesday's result was excruciating.
The No. 10 Razorbacks struck out twice with the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth inning and fell 8-7 to Illinois State.
Up next
Arkansas vs. South Alabama
WHEN 3 p.m., Friday
WHERE Baum-Walker Stadium
RECORDS South Alabama 7-7; Arkansas 7-4
STARTING PITCHERS South Alabama RHP Drake Nightengale (0-0, 2.08 ERA); Arkansas RHP Connor Noland (2-0, 2.00)
SHORT HOPS Arkansas’ Heston Kjerstad extended his season-opening hitting streak to 11 games with a fifth-inning single. … Illinois State cut its deficit in the all-time series to 5-2. … The Razorbacks did not post a ground-ball out until Curtis Washington grounded out to third base for the final out of the fourth inning. Ten of their first 11 outs came on fly balls or line outs, and the other was a caught stealing on Christian Franklin. … This was the first midweek loss for Arkansas since a 10-7 setback against Northwestern State on April 24. … The Razorbacks have outscored Illinois State 73-41 in seven meetings, all in Fayetteville.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Off
THURSDAY Off
FRIDAY South Alabama, 3 p.m.
SATURDAY South Alabama, 2 p.m.
SUNDAY South Alabama, 1 p.m.
MONDAY Off
TUESDAY Grand Canyon, 6:30 p.m.
A crowd of 2,208 at Baum-Walker Stadium saw the Razorbacks (7-4) lose four consecutive games for the first time since March 30-April 5 last year.
"There's probably a little frustration, just because we're finding ways to not win," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said when asked about the mindset of the team.
[GALLERY: Arkansas baseball hosts Illinois State » arkansasonline.com/34baseball/]
The Razorbacks last three losses have been by one run after Oklahoma dealt them their first loss by a 6-3 count.
"Recently we've been losing a lot of close games," said Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad, who went 2 for 5 with an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. "We just haven't been coming through, and there's a lot of lessons to be learned. One of those is just learning that the little things add up and the little things can make the difference in a lot of wins in your season."
Arkansas outhit Illinois State (4-7) 15-11 but left 12 runners stranded. The Razorbacks hit .182 with two outs compared to the Redbirds, who were .429 with two outs, including two-run singles by Ryan Cermak in the seventh and Jordan Libman in the eighth to provide just enough of a cushion.
"We're outhitting the other team, but we're leaving too many runners in scoring position," said Arkansas shortstop Casey Martin, who was 4 for 5 with 3 RBI. "Honestly, the lineup's not clicking. We're off to a slow start, and we need to figure some things out."
Illinois State is almost halfway through its 23-game road trip to open the season.
"I know we stumbled out of the gate and the record doesn't quite look pretty," Illinois State Coach Steve Holm said. "But we knocked off OU, and we were able to knock off this squad."
Holm was most proud of his team responding after Arkansas fought back from a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning.
"That was very reminiscent of the team we had last year, where it didn't matter, we just kept fighting for nine innings," Holm said. "Sometimes we've given up three and all of a sudden you look up and they score another run and we're dead."
Illinois State, leading 8-5, brought in its Friday night starter, left-hander Colton Johnson, after Christian Franklin singled to open the ninth for his third hit and Martin bunted for a single.
Johnson struck out Casey Opitz looking, but Jacob Nesbit launched an RBI double into the right-field corner to make it 8-6. Johnson struck out Cole Austin, but his wild pitch allowed Martin to score and put Nesbit on third as the tying run.
One pitch after Braydon Webb took a very close 2-2 pitch for a ball, he watched strike three to end the game, giving Johnson his first save and preserving the win for right-hander Connor Peplow (1-0).
The Redbirds had runners all over the bases in the second and third innings against Arkansas starter Blake Adams, and they made it pay off in the third.
Leadoff man Braedon Blackford and Aidan Huggins led off the frame with singles, bringing reliever Kevin Kopps into the game. Kopps struck out Jordan Libman before right fielder Joe Butler got one into the wind stream and just over the left-field wall for a 3-0 lead.
"I saw a curve ball pop up," Butler said. "I was sitting off speed a little and saw it pop up, and I got my hands in enough to get a good enough barrel.
"This is a big win for us against a top 25 team, and it's always good to pick off some top 25 teams. We got Oklahoma earlier this year and we got this one, so it's big for the RPI."
Arkansas got rolling in the fourth as Matt Goodheart and Franklin reached with one out on a walk and hit by pitch against starter Jack Anderson. Martin greeted Colin Wyman with a ringing double into the left-field corner to bring in both runners. Dominic Tamez followed with an infield single, but both runners were stranded.
The Razorbacks grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Webb walked and Robert Moore singled, then Kjerstad drove in a run with a single. With two outs, Martin delivered his third hit, a single through the left side to score Moore for a 4-3 lead.
Illinois State got the run right back as catcher Tyson Hays singled up the middle, advanced on a sacrifice and a passed ball, and scored on pinch hitter Jake McCaw's sacrifice fly.
The Redbirds conjured some two-out magic in the seventh. Libman was hit by a Caden Monke (1-1) pitch with one out, then Gunner Peterson singled him to third with two outs after Butler's strikeout.
With Elijah Trest on the mound, Peterson stole second, and both runners scored when Cermak smacked a 3-1 pitch into center field for a 6-4 lead.
Arkansas got a run back in the bottom of the seventh, which opened with consecutive singles by Kjerstad, Goodheart and Franklin against Peplow.
Sports on 03/04/2020