FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas left fielder Braydon Webb shed his early-season plate struggles Tuesday against Memphis.
Hitting leadoff, Webb reached base in all six plate appearances during the No. 2 Razorbacks’ 14-1 victory over the Tigers at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Webb reached base twice during Arkansas’ nine-run eighth inning. He led off the inning with a first-pitch solo home run to left field. After coming back to the plate with two outs, Webb walked and scored on an RBI double by Christian Franklin.
Webb scored three runs and also had a stolen base during the game.
“What I appreciate about his game today was that I had him leadoff and he wasn’t up there trying to get five hits,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He was up there playing baseball and taking what they gave him.
"He wasn’t pressing, and that was really good to see.”
Webb is one of Arkansas’ best defenders, but his playing time has been limited this year due to a prolonged hitting slump. He was 1 for 27 prior to a leadoff double during the eighth inning of the Razorbacks’ 9-1 victory over Alabama last Saturday.
His home run Tuesday improved his batting average to .094 in 32 at-bats, but he is 2 for 5 over the past 3 games.
“I just try to take that perspective and not let the past define me and just play for the team,” Webb said. “It’s a ‘we over me’ mentality with this team and everybody’s pulling for each other and we’ve got something special going.”
Webb improved his on-base percentage by 95 points to .370 during Game 1 of the Memphis series.
“He can be electric at the plate sometimes,” Van Horn said. “You saw that ball jump off his bat. He can run. He scored on that flare double there in the last inning from first base.
“He brings a lot to our offense, and hopefully he can keep it going.”
Different lineup produces
Arkansas sat four of its every-day starters Tuesday — catcher Casey Opitz, second baseman Robert Moore, third baseman Cullen Smith and designated hitter Matt Goodheart.
Without them, the Razorbacks scored a season-high 14 runs, and neared season highs with 13 hits and 10 walks.
Arkansas had 15 hits during a Feb. 27 game against Southeast Missouri State, and walked 11 times during a 13-9 victory over Texas Tech on Feb. 20. The 13 runs against Texas Tech were the Razorbacks' previous season high.
The replacements were a key in Tuesday’s big offensive output. Designated hitter Charlie Welch was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and 1 walk before he was taken out for a pinch runner in the eighth inning; catcher Dylan Leach was 1 for 2, walked 3 times and scored 2 runs; and second baseman Jacob Nesbit was 2 for 5 with a grand slam and 5 RBI.
Zac White, who started in right field because Cayden Wallace got the start at third base, was hit by a pitch and scored a run.
“I was a little bit on edge, honestly,” Van Horn said of sitting so many starters. “You’ve got to try to win every game, and we were, but I just felt like for team morale and really for the guys that hadn’t played much, it was time to get those guys in the game. They’ve been good teammates and they’ve continued to work. They had just watched.
“I just hoped it would go well, and I’m glad that it did. It was good to see. Charlie Welch got a couple of hits and we got (Ethan) Bates in there as a pinch hitter. I’m planning on playing (Bates) tomorrow. Jacob Nesbit has been a starter here and he got an infield single, and then obviously hit a grand slam.”
Like Webb, Nesbit struggled offensively early in the season and was replaced as the team’s starting third baseman during the SEMO series in Week 2. He was 2 for 13 entering Tuesday’s game.
“His teammates were really excited for him,” Van Horn said of Nesbit’s eighth-inning grand slam that gave the Razorbacks a 12-1 lead, “so it was just fun watching the dugout and the way they reacted.”
Franklin hits after injury
Van Horn said he was unsure how severe a wrist injury was to center fielder Christian Franklin.
Franklin suffered during an at-bat early in the eighth inning when he grounded out. He came back later in the inning to hit a two-run double that scored Webb from first base.
“He’s sore,” Van Horn said. “I don’t think it’s a major issue, but we’ll find out tonight or tomorrow morning. I think he tweaked a little bit. He tried to foul off a pitch that was low and away.
“He’s been getting rung out on some pitches that honestly are a ball or two off the plate, and so you know he’s making a conscious effort to fight those pitches off with two strikes, and that’s what he was doing there.”
Van Horn said he planned to give Franklin the game off Wednesday.
Franklin got a hit after suffering an injury for the second time this year. He hit a home run three pitches after fouling a ball off his foot during the eighth inning of a game against against SEMO on Feb. 26. He was taken out of that game following the home run but played the next day.
Pallette pitches
Arkansas has not announced its rotation for its series against Mississippi State this weekend, but Peyton Pallette might not be part of it.
Pallette, whose five starts this season include the last three series openers, pitched the top of the eighth inning against Memphis. He worked around a one-out single and threw 19 pitches.
Following the Alabama series last weekend, Van Horn said he might not start Pallette at Mississippi State. Pallette has struggled to go deep into games, and against Alabama was pulled when the Crimson Tide put four consecutive hitters on base against him to begin a 10-run second inning.
“We just wanted to get him back out there, maybe just to kind of get him over the hump,” Van Horn said, “get that last game behind him and he can move forward.”
Free passes
Arkansas starter Caleb Bolden walked three batters and hit a batter in 4 2/3 innings, but the rest of the Razorbacks’ staff did not allow any free passes against Memphis.
Arkansas’ walk numbers through 17 games prior to Tuesday’s game were much higher than a year ago when the season was suspended after 16 games.
The Razorbacks walked 51 batters and hit 12 during 142 innings last season, but had walked 75 and hit 15 prior to the series opener against Memphis.
Arkansas is averaging 4.3 walks per game. By comparison the Razorbacks averaged between 3.2 and 3.6 walks in the previous four seasons, including last year’s abbreviated season.
Happy 1,300
Counting his time as a junior college and Division II head coach, Van Horn earned his 1,300th career victory Tuesday.
Van Horn was 214-72 at Texarkana College from 1989-93, and went 51-11 and won a national championship in his only season at Division II Central Missouri State in 1994.
Van Horn has coached Division I since 1995 and has a 1,035-551 career record at that level, including a 715-392 record in 19 seasons at Arkansas.
Happy 800
Arkansas played its 800th game at Baum-Walker Stadium on Tuesday, according to an analysis of the Razorbacks’ home records, which mistakenly list some games played in North Little Rock as being games played in Fayetteville.
The Razorbacks have a 582-218 all-time record at Baum-Walker Stadium, which opened in April 1996.
Arkansas has been especially hard to beat at home since the beginning of the 2017 season, with a record of 118-23. The Razorbacks are 10-2 at home this year.