Arkansas baseball routs Grand Canyon to open NCAA Stillwater Regional

STILLWATER, Okla. — The day earlier than Arkansas baseball’s first NCAA Event recreation in opposition to Grand Canyon, third baseman Cayden Wallace stated he was feeling refreshed.

With per week of relaxation between the Razorbacks’ elimination recreation on the SEC Event and their first recreation on the Stillwater Regional, Wallace and his teammates obtained time to loosen up and “get their ft underneath them” earlier than the match.

The remainder did Wallace some good, apparently. He began off postseason play with a pair of solo residence runs in No. 2-seed Arkansas’ 7-1 win over the No. 3-seed Antelopes. It introduced his season complete to 13, tied with Brady Slavens for second-most on the group.

Wallace completed 2-for-4 with the 2 homers and successful by pitch.

Friday’s victory was Arkansas’ seventh consecutive regional-opening win, excluding when the Razorbacks missed the postseason in 2016. Arkansas will meet the winner of No. 1 seed Oklahoma State vs. No. 4-seed Missouri State on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN+) within the winners’ bracket.

POSTSEASON PUSH:How Arkansas baseball coach is making an attempt to snap Razorbacks out of funk for NCAA Event

HIGHLIGHTS:Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Grand Canyon baseball video highlights, rating in NCAA Event

REGIONAL PREDICTIONS:NCAA Baseball Event regional, 2022 Faculty World Sequence predictions

Webb, Turner increase large second inning

The Razorbacks’ offense has incessantly relied on the lengthy ball. Virtually 40% of Arkansas’ runs have come on its 86 homers. Of these residence runs, nearly half have been solo pictures. Arkansas (39-18) raised that residence run complete to 88 with its forty first and forty second solo pictures of the season off Wallace’s bat.

However Arkansas discovered the RBIs it had lacked of late within the second inning, scoring three of its 4 runs within the body on base hits. Braydon Webb began the scoring with an RBI single to drive in Peyton Stovall. With the bases loaded after a stroll and a hit batter that drove in a run, catcher Michael Turner delivered a two-RBI single to make it 5-0.

The second inning featured three hits, two walks and two hit batters, nearly all of which got here with two outs. Turner completed 3-for-4 with a stroll and three RBIs.

Connor Noland, Arkansas protection look sharp

Senior righthander Connor Noland and the Arkansas protection allowed just one run, the fewest the Razorbacks had given up since April 26 in opposition to Central Arkansas.

A pair of defensive lapses within the first inning made it seem like Arkansas might need some struggles within the subject. Grand Canyon’s Jacob Wilson obtained a single after left fielder Zack Gregory fell whereas making an attempt to catch the fly ball. The following batter, Tayler Aguilar, obtained a single off the glove of a diving Stovall. A Noland strikeout ended the menace.

Each Gregory and Stovall made up for it within the fifth with glorious performs. Stovall made a formidable sliding seize to get a popup close to foul territory for the primary out of the inning. Grand Canyon’s Juan Colato managed a single, however a 7-4 outfield help by Gregory obtained Colato on his strategy to second to finish the body.

Noland had his finest begin in weeks and his longest outing since April 29 vs. Ole Miss. He threw seven innings with six hits, one run, three walks and 4 strikeouts.

Christina Lengthy covers the Arkansas Razorbacks. You possibly can e-mail her at clong@swtimes.com or observe her on Twitter @christinalong00.