FAYETTEVILLE — Ben Bybee showed Tuesday why he was the favorite throughout the offseason to be Arkansas’ fourth starting pitcher.
Bybee, a sophomore right-hander, threw five solid innings and helped the No. 1 Razorbacks to a 5-1 victory over San Jose State at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas (28-3) won its ninth consecutive game and its 22nd in a row at home. The home win streak is the longest in a single season by the Razorbacks, breaking a tie with the 1985 and 1989 teams that won 21 consecutive home games at George Cole Field.
Bybee retired the final 10 batters he faced following a two-out solo home run by Matt Spear in the second inning. Bybee allowed 2 hits and struck out 4 without a walk, and threw 40 of 55 pitches for strikes.
“I felt like every inning I was out there I just kind of got more comfortable and kind of just more dialed in,” Bybee said. “It felt really good to get some innings under my belt.”
It was the longest outing since Bybee returned to game action from mononucleosis on March 26. Bybee had thrown four scoreless innings over two appearances prior to Tuesday.
“That’s kind of what we saw in spring and fall practice,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “Obviously in the spring he got mono and that slowed him down big time, but he’s starting to get his strength…full go now. I thought he threw the ball really well.”
San Jose State two-hole hitter Sebastian Orduno singled against Bybee in the first inning, but he was thrown out at second by catcher Ryder Helfrick to complete a double play when Dalton Bowling struck out looking. Spear’s homer was San Jose State’s last hit and represented the last base runner for the Spartans (12-20) until Theo Hardy led off the eighth inning with a walk against freshman left-hander Hunter Dietz.
“That pitch kind of made me mad,” Bybee said of the home run. “I just didn't execute it and left it over the middle a little bit. I think it definitely made me really focus on executing my pitches and getting them to where they need to be.”
Arkansas answered Spear’s home run with a three-run rally in the bottom of the second. Peyton Stovall’s one-out RBI single scored Jayson Jones (walk), and Will Edmunson (walk) and Stovall scored on Nolan Souza’s double to the right-field wall.
Ben McLaughlin and Wehiwa Aloy added leadoff homers in the third and fifth innings. McLaughlin’s 412-foot shot was to center field and Aloy’s opposite-field homer went 407 feet off the top level of the Hunt Center in right field.
Arkansas’ 5 runs were against starting right-hander Keaton Chase, who allowed 7 hits and 4 walks and struck out 7 in 4 2/3 innings. Chase threw 67 of 103 pitches for strikes.
Left-hander Jesse Gutierrez shut down the Razorbacks for 2 1/3 innings and right-hander Cade Van Allen worked around a single and walk in the eighth when Aloy hit into an inning-ending double play.
Arkansas out-hit San Jose State 9-2.
The Razorbacks held a midweek opponent to two hits or less for the third consecutive week. Arkansas held Arkansas State to one hit last week and Arkansas-Little Rock to two hits the week before. Both of those games ended after seven innings due to run rule.
“I think it's just a testament to how strong our bullpen is,” said Bybee, who has pitched during all three of the midweek games with two hits or less.
“I think it just shows how many dudes we have on the staff,” Bybee added.
Christian Foutch and Gage Wood pitched perfect sixth and seventh innings for the Razorbacks. Pitching for the first time since March 30 and for the second time overall, Dietz struck out Spear for the first out of the eighth, then fell behind Nick Trapani 2-1 before a short mound visit that resulted in him leaving the field with trainer Corey Wood.
Van Horn said Dietz complained of soreness.
Stone Hewlett replaced Dietz and retired all five batters he faced. Hewlett, a left-on-left specialist, has retired 13 consecutive batters over his last seven appearances and has not allowed a base runner since a March 12 game against Oral Roberts.
“Super job by our pitchers,” Van Horn said.
Why Arkansas won
Van Horn summed it up succinctly: “Timely hitting and good pitching will win you a lot of ballgames and that’s kind of what you saw tonight.”
Player of the Game: RHP Ben Bybee
Not only was Bybee effective, but he was efficient. He averaged 11 pitches per inning.
Bybee threw nearly 73% of his pitches for strikes on a night when his fastball and changeup were praised by his head coach.
The only hits against Bybee came in the first two innings and it appeared he got stronger as the game went along.
“It’s kind of something I've noticed my whole life is...the first two innings I might get kind of riled up maybe get a little wild at times, but I feel like as the game goes on I just kind of settle in more,” Bybee said. “I get a little more control of my body. I feel like the longer the game goes on — before I get fatigued — I feel like I can hone in my pitches and body pretty well.”
Dietz update
Van Horn said Dietz, who had an operation on to address stress fractures in his throwing elbow last fall, has experienced soreness after both of his outings.
Dietz debuted during a March 30 game against LSU and threw 20 pitches. He threw 11 pitches before exiting Tuesday's game.
“It’s kind of in a strange area, a different area than where he had surgery,” Van Horn said. “We’ll just let them look at it and figure it out.”
Up Next
Arkansas and San Jose State are scheduled to play the second game of their series Wednesday at 1 p.m.
The game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m., but was moved ahead by two hours after Tuesday's game due to rain in the forecast. According to the National Weather Service, there is a 90% chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm.
“There’s supposedly a window now,” said Van Horn, who added, “We’ll take a shot. We’ll see what we can do.”