McEntire paces UA in first start

FAYETTEVILLE -- Freshman Will McEntire made a statement in his first college start during the University of Arkansas' first midweek night game Tuesday.

The fast-working right-hander threw an efficient 68 pitches in six innings to propel the Razorbacks to a 6-1 victory over Grand Canyon before an announced crowd of 2,759 on a pleasant evening at Baum-Walker Stadium.

McEntire (1-0) gave up a titanic home run to David Avita among his seven hits allowed, but the Razorbacks erased three of the Antelopes' other batters who reached against him on the base paths. The Bryant High School product struck out three and did not walk anyone, and he said any nerves he felt before the game were gone after the first inning.

"I just kind of like working fast because it gets me in a pace to keep me going through the entire game," McEntire said. "Pacing to me is a very important key to keep the same rhythm the whole game."

No. 15 Arkansas (10-5) won its third consecutive game since snapping a five-game losing streak as Coach Dave Van Horn posted his 699th victory with the Razorbacks. The Hogs and Antelopes (9-8) wrap up their two-game set today at 3 p.m.

[GALLERY: Arkansas baseball hosts Grand Canyon University » arkansasonline.com/311baseball/]

Hogs slugger Heston Kjerstad went 3 for 3 with a walk and a hit by pitch. He increased his team RBI lead to 20 by driving in the Hogs' last run in the fifth inning. Kjerstad didn't waste any time pushing his hitting streak to all 15 games, lacing a comebacker off the glove of pitcher Cal Lambert (0-2), who could not pick it up cleanly, for a first-inning single.

Kjerstad was pulled in the eighth inning after being hit on the left wrist by a pitch.

"They never feel too good, especially when they catch you in an area like your wrist," said Kjerstad, who felt well enough to sign autographs after the game. "It'll probably be bruised just a little bit, but that's just baseball."

McEntire said he kept it simple by mainly sticking to his cut fastball and curveball.

"He threw a lot of strikes and pitched backwards a little bit and threw his fastball when he needed to, a lot of cutters and mixed in a few breaking balls," Van Horn said. "I thought he did a great job -- first start ever at this level and facing a team that's starting to get their offense going."

McEntire worked quickly, held runners on effectively and allowed only two other runners to reach second base beyond Avita's home run.

"He's got that little cutter, a ball that's got good movement on it, and he stays down in the zone," said Grand Canyon Coach Andy Stankiewicz, a former major leaguer. "He made one mistake and we got him, but other than that man, the kid works fast, is quick to the plate. You can't really try to run. He just stymied us. We couldn't put good at-bats together to create any kind of pressure."

Robert Moore went 3 for 4 with a run and RBI, and Matt Goodheart and Braydon Webb had two hits each for the Hogs.

The Razorbacks racked up 12 hits but stranded 11 base runners, including nine through the first five innings. They also had 13 strikeouts, which Van Horn called a concern, including four by shortstop Casey Martin and three by center fielder Christian Franklin.

"We let some at-bats slip away and some really big opportunities slip away that, you know we're fortunate that they didn't make a run at us because we would've been in trouble," Van Horn said. "Any time you leave as many runners as we left on base the first five innings. We scored six runs but there were a lot more out there."

The Arkansas defense was up to the challenge behind McEntire, turning a double play in the fourth inning after Cuba Bess' leadoff single. Catcher Casey Opitz gunned out Juan Colato on an attempted steal in the first inning, and Franklin threw out Dominic Grissom trying to go from first to third on a single for the final out of the second inning.

Franklin later made a strong running catch in the right-center gap on a drive by Nate Gawelko in the eighth inning behind Caden Monke, who picked up a three-inning save for his first of the year.

"Christian made another great catch in the alley," Van Horn said. "I didn't think he was going to get to that ball, and he just ran through it."

McEntire and Monke combined for six strikeouts and no walks on 106 pitches.

"That was great to see for him and great to see for our pitching staff," Kjerstad said of McEntire. "Monke came out of the pen too, and threw very well. Then, we put up some runs, played great defensively behind him, and it was just a good all-around game."

Arkansas roughed up the lefty Lambert in the second inning, starting with singles by Webb and Opitz. Jacob Nesbit's chopper single over the first-base bag made it 1-0, then Moore's shot up the middle caromed off Lambert's lower body and just beyond second base to make it 2-0. Cole Austin followed with an RBI force play, and Goodheart completed the rally with an opposite-field shot to left to score Austin for a 4-0 lead.

The Antelopes got on the board in the third inning on catcher Avita's first home run, a solo shot well into the bleachers beyond the left-field fence.

Kjerstad reached base in all five plate appearances, including singles in the first, fourth and fifth innings.

"He's got great balance, great approach, uses the middle of the field really well," Stankiewicz said. "He's no question by far the best hitter we've seen all year. He's simple. He's easy. He uses the middle of the diamond real well. Got great hands. So you've got to hand it to him."

Sports on 03/11/2020