FAYETTEVILLE — At the plate and in the field, Arkansas catcher Casey Opitz made key plays during the Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory over Georgia on Friday night.
Opitz doubled in the second inning to score Robert Moore to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead. That score held throughout most of the game, until Moore hit a two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Razorbacks (35-8, 16-6 SEC) some breathing room.
With Arkansas ahead by one run in the top of the seventh inning, Opitz made the game’s most memorable defensive play. Georgia seven-hole hitter Chaney Rogers reached on a one-out single against relief pitcher Kevin Kopps, but on Kopps' 1-1 pitch to the ensuing hitter, Rogers froze between first and second base after initially running on a pitch in the dirt that was smothered by Opitz.
Opitz and Rogers stared one another down for several seconds while Opitz advanced toward the base runner. When Rogers finally committed toward second base, Opitz threw to second baseman Robert Moore. Rogers pivoted back toward first and Moore threw to first baseman Brady Slavens, who applied the tag as Rogers dove for the base.
“Like a veteran, he didn’t go out there and just throw it to one of the fielders where the runner might have an opportunity to run to the other bag,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He made him commit by going after him slowly, under control. Instead of maybe a runner at second, all of a sudden they have nobody on.
“It was a huge play at the time.”
The base-running mistake was magnified one pitch later when Fernando Gonzalez singled against Kopps. Ben Anderson also drew a walk that might have loaded the bases with one out had Rogers not been caught in the rundown.
Moore said Opitz did as he was trained in the situation, which was to run at the base runner and make him make a decision.
“(Rogers) never really made a decision. He just kind of stood there,” Moore said. “It looked kind of awkward for a little bit, but Casey finally made him make a decision and we were able to get an out, and that was a big out for us.”
Opitz went 2 for 4 at the plate Friday. It was his second multi-hit game in the past five games. He also had two hits during the series finale at South Carolina on April 23.
Kopps struggles
The usually dominant Kopps had to labor through a three-inning save against the Bulldogs (27-17, 10-12).
Kopps threw 54 pitches — the most he has needed for nine outs this season. Kopps threw a season-high 72 pitches in a four-inning appearance against Texas A&M on April 17 and 56 pitches in four innings against Mississippi State on March 27.
Kopps typically throws a high number of strikes, but threw strikes on just 67% of his pitches Friday. He recorded three strikeouts and 10 Bulldogs put a ball in play against him.
Georgia recorded three hits against Kopps and he also walked a batter. Kopps stranded two runners in both the seventh and ninth innings.
“Kevin would probably tell you that he didn’t have his best stuff, by far,” Van Horn said. “It was just good enough.”
Despite the struggles, Kopps extended his consecutive scoreless streak to 17 1/3 innings. He lowered his nation-leading ERA to 0.79, and lowered his SEC-only ERA to 0.50.
During his postgame radio show, Georgia coach Scott Stricklin called Kopps “unbelievable” and “the best closer in college baseball.”
Kopps was named April’s national pitcher of the month by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association earlier this week.
Sullivan impresses
Georgia freshman left hander Liam Sullivan made his first career start Friday on the road at the home of college baseball’s No. 1 team.
Sullivan took the loss, but was brilliant in a six-inning start. He struck out 11 Razorbacks and allowed only three hits.
“I’m really happy with the way Liam Sullian threw tonight,” Stricklin said. “We were hoping for three or four (innings) and we were thinking about maybe throwing him out there for the seventh. He was at 82 pitches and that was the longest he’s ever gone. We made the decision, ‘Hey, that’s an unbelievable outing. Let’s just sit him down with a lot of positive vibes.’”
Sullivan dueled Arkansas starter Patrick Wicklander, who was lifted after 5 2/3 innings. After Wicklander worked around a leadoff single in the top of the fifth, Sullivan worked a so-called immaculate inning in the bottom of the fifth by striking out Jalen Battles, Jacob Nesbit and Zack Gregory in nine pitches.
"I noticed it when I was walking off the mound, and I realized I did it,” Sullivan said. “That's something nice to do, but it's really not that big of a deal."
Sullivan made the start because Georgia’s typical No. 1 starter, left hander Ryan Webb, suffered back spasms during the series opener against Auburn last week. Webb was moved to a Sunday start at Arkansas to give him two extra days of rest.
Arkansas had trouble with Sullivan’s 93-96 mph fastball, particularly high in the strike zone.
“He’s a very good pitcher and left handers were batting below .100 against him,” Moore said. “He’s very tough and he’s got some angle. His fastball has some late giddy up. Truthfully, it’s kind of a Wicklander-like fastball with late life, and he got on guys quicker than they expected.”
Big crowd
It seemed most with a ticket stuck through a 90-minute weather delay that pushed the game’s start time to just past 8 p.m.
The announced attendance Friday was 7,645, which was a season high at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Razorbacks made available about 1,100 additional tickets for games during the month of May.
“I actually said to the guys during the rain delay, ‘I love this. The crowd’s going to go home. It’s going to be an empty stadium,’” Stricklin said. “Then (pitching coach Sean Kenny) said right before the game, ‘Coach, nobody went home.’ Everybody stayed and it’s a credit to their fans. They love their team and they come out to support them and tonight this place was packed.”
Friday’s game was Arkansas’ first at home since an 11-10 loss to Texas A&M on April 18. The Razorbacks had midweek games canceled against Grambling State and Missouri State in the final two weeks of April.
Arkansas improved to 21-4 this season at home.
“When you play the No. 1 team in the country at their place in front of a full crowd, you have got to make sure you do the little things right,” Stricklin said, “and we just weren’t good enough.”
SEC race
Arkansas maintained its one-game lead atop the SEC with Friday’s victory.
Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Tennessee also won Friday to keep pace with the Razorbacks. Those three teams are in a tie for second place in the conference with an SEC record of 15-7.
There are eight games remaining during the conference season.
Vanderbilt is hosting Alabama, Mississippi State is at South Carolina, and Tennessee is at Missouri this weekend.