Arkansas took the series opener over Tennessee in come from behind fashion as phenomenal defense from the Hogs proved to be the difference.
Arkansas 6 8 1
Tennessee 5 7 0
W — Kevin Kopps, L — Sean Hunley
Notes
Tennessee jumped on Arkansas early, tallying five runs in the opening inning thanks to a multi RBI double from Jake Rucker and a three-run homer from Jordan Beck. The Vols saw the ball great early, and most of the game really, and pushed Arkansas starter Patrick Wicklander from the game in the third inning. Still, the Vols missed chances in the second inning, when Liam Spence opened the frame with a double, and again in the third, stranding the bases loaded, to extend its lead.
Arkansas’ bullpen was the story of the game, in my opinion, and the forgotten man is Caden Monke. He came in and held Tennessee scoreless in the third inning before retiring nine of the next 10 batters he faced. Then Kevin Kopps was Kevin Kopps, locking things down with three scoreless innings to close the game. If you’re looking for silver linings, Tennessee made Kopps throw 66 pitches while facing just 11 batters. Arkansas loves to use Kopps for extended innings on Friday and Sunday. He could potentially go an inning Sunday but it’s hard to think he’ll have much left in the tank the rest of the weekend.
It wasn’t Chad Dallas best night as he surrendered a season high three walks to go with seven hits and five earned runs. The big moment from Dallas came in the third inning, after striking out the first two batters, the redshirt junior surrendered an 0-2 single and then a 1-2 two-run homer.
Credit Sean Hunley for being fantastic in 4.2 innings of relief. Hunley entered in a tie game with one-out and the bases loaded and preserved the tie with a pair of strikeouts against the heart of the Hogs' order. He allowed just one hit and one earned run while striking out three. Tonight was a great example of how small the room for error is against the conference’s best teams. The passed ball that allowed Slavens to reach third with nobody out proved to be massive as Arkansas was able to scratch its lone run off of Hunley. That’s the type of Sean Hunley Tennessee needs in postseason play to make a deep run.
What makes tonight somewhat tough to swallow if you’re Tennessee is that you played a very strong game today. Arkansas just made you pay for a few small mistakes and the Razorbacks were fantastic in the field, Christian Franklin made the play of the game with his diving catch that saved a run in the second inning and then Brayden Webb made an impressive leaping catch at the wall to rob Jake Rucker of an extra-base hit.
Tennessee will look to even the series tomorrow with Will Heflin on the mound. First pitch from Lindsey Nelson Stadium is set for noon ET.
Tony Vitello on the passed ball in the 8th inning that allowed the go-ahead run to reach third with nobody out
“There was some sort of miscommunication and it was silence between me and a couple of our guys in the coach’s locker room but the guys were also finishing up with their position meetings. At that point we mic’d to them (Hunley and Greer) to get on the same page and I kind of moved on— right or wrong— to the next inning offensively when we came in looking to score in the eight inning but some sort of miscommunication led to that deal right there.”
Vitello on Sean Hunley’s fifth inning and outing overall
“It was enormous. If we would have won the game it would have been, not solely because you have to play nine innings and we just got done telling our guys it all counts, but that would have been the game in a nutshell right there. It was huge what he did for us and it really impacts the whole series. That inning could have gotten much hairier for us and impacted the way we use our bullpen, it could have changed the mindset and competitiveness of our guys so it had tremendous value regardless of the loss.”
Vitello on if he saw a change in offensive approach after the first inning
“I think if i’m right the next two innings leadoff guy on again, some good swings, didn’t happen to score and when Caden Monke came in the game he was really good. I don’t know if you can say he was on or whatever, maybe we helped him, but we saw a different look, it took us a while to adjust to it and part of the reason was really good stuff and then we faced one of the best closers in college baseball and put together really strong at-bats.”
Jordan Beck on if he thought either of his fly outs to the warning track were going to get out
“The one to centerfield I thought had a chance. There was a little bit of wind and I knew I got under it just a bit but the last one there was no wind and it got in on my hands a little bit. He made a good pitch and that’s just what happens.”
Beck on if he saw any change in Tennessee’s offensive approach
“No. It may have slowed down on the stat sheet but I feel like we put some good swings on the ball. Give credit to their defense, they played pretty well, had a couple diving catches, maybe a robbed home run— I’m not really sure about that ball— but there were some good swings. Just how it goes.”
Sean Hunley on if this game shows how thin the margin for error is against the nation’s best teams
“Yeah it does. I think that goes for any team, the margin for error is very slim you can’t just look at one thing and think that’s why the result came the way it did but there’s different situations in a game, like leaving runners on bases, not making pitches when you need to and unfortunately they got one more run than we did and that’s how it ended.”
Arkansas 6 8 1
Tennessee 5 7 0
W — Kevin Kopps, L — Sean Hunley
Notes
Tennessee jumped on Arkansas early, tallying five runs in the opening inning thanks to a multi RBI double from Jake Rucker and a three-run homer from Jordan Beck. The Vols saw the ball great early, and most of the game really, and pushed Arkansas starter Patrick Wicklander from the game in the third inning. Still, the Vols missed chances in the second inning, when Liam Spence opened the frame with a double, and again in the third, stranding the bases loaded, to extend its lead.
Arkansas’ bullpen was the story of the game, in my opinion, and the forgotten man is Caden Monke. He came in and held Tennessee scoreless in the third inning before retiring nine of the next 10 batters he faced. Then Kevin Kopps was Kevin Kopps, locking things down with three scoreless innings to close the game. If you’re looking for silver linings, Tennessee made Kopps throw 66 pitches while facing just 11 batters. Arkansas loves to use Kopps for extended innings on Friday and Sunday. He could potentially go an inning Sunday but it’s hard to think he’ll have much left in the tank the rest of the weekend.
It wasn’t Chad Dallas best night as he surrendered a season high three walks to go with seven hits and five earned runs. The big moment from Dallas came in the third inning, after striking out the first two batters, the redshirt junior surrendered an 0-2 single and then a 1-2 two-run homer.
Credit Sean Hunley for being fantastic in 4.2 innings of relief. Hunley entered in a tie game with one-out and the bases loaded and preserved the tie with a pair of strikeouts against the heart of the Hogs' order. He allowed just one hit and one earned run while striking out three. Tonight was a great example of how small the room for error is against the conference’s best teams. The passed ball that allowed Slavens to reach third with nobody out proved to be massive as Arkansas was able to scratch its lone run off of Hunley. That’s the type of Sean Hunley Tennessee needs in postseason play to make a deep run.
What makes tonight somewhat tough to swallow if you’re Tennessee is that you played a very strong game today. Arkansas just made you pay for a few small mistakes and the Razorbacks were fantastic in the field, Christian Franklin made the play of the game with his diving catch that saved a run in the second inning and then Brayden Webb made an impressive leaping catch at the wall to rob Jake Rucker of an extra-base hit.
Tennessee will look to even the series tomorrow with Will Heflin on the mound. First pitch from Lindsey Nelson Stadium is set for noon ET.
Tony Vitello on the passed ball in the 8th inning that allowed the go-ahead run to reach third with nobody out
“There was some sort of miscommunication and it was silence between me and a couple of our guys in the coach’s locker room but the guys were also finishing up with their position meetings. At that point we mic’d to them (Hunley and Greer) to get on the same page and I kind of moved on— right or wrong— to the next inning offensively when we came in looking to score in the eight inning but some sort of miscommunication led to that deal right there.”
Vitello on Sean Hunley’s fifth inning and outing overall
“It was enormous. If we would have won the game it would have been, not solely because you have to play nine innings and we just got done telling our guys it all counts, but that would have been the game in a nutshell right there. It was huge what he did for us and it really impacts the whole series. That inning could have gotten much hairier for us and impacted the way we use our bullpen, it could have changed the mindset and competitiveness of our guys so it had tremendous value regardless of the loss.”
Vitello on if he saw a change in offensive approach after the first inning
“I think if i’m right the next two innings leadoff guy on again, some good swings, didn’t happen to score and when Caden Monke came in the game he was really good. I don’t know if you can say he was on or whatever, maybe we helped him, but we saw a different look, it took us a while to adjust to it and part of the reason was really good stuff and then we faced one of the best closers in college baseball and put together really strong at-bats.”
Jordan Beck on if he thought either of his fly outs to the warning track were going to get out
“The one to centerfield I thought had a chance. There was a little bit of wind and I knew I got under it just a bit but the last one there was no wind and it got in on my hands a little bit. He made a good pitch and that’s just what happens.”
Beck on if he saw any change in Tennessee’s offensive approach
“No. It may have slowed down on the stat sheet but I feel like we put some good swings on the ball. Give credit to their defense, they played pretty well, had a couple diving catches, maybe a robbed home run— I’m not really sure about that ball— but there were some good swings. Just how it goes.”
Sean Hunley on if this game shows how thin the margin for error is against the nation’s best teams
“Yeah it does. I think that goes for any team, the margin for error is very slim you can’t just look at one thing and think that’s why the result came the way it did but there’s different situations in a game, like leaving runners on bases, not making pitches when you need to and unfortunately they got one more run than we did and that’s how it ended.”
