Arkansas 1, Murray State 0 — Middle 5th Inning
The missed opportunities are racking up for the Razorbacks.
Two were stranded in scoring position for the second time today when Logan Maxwell grounded out in the fifth.
Justin Thomas had a 1-out single and stole second base before Charles Davalan followed with a walk. Wehiwa Aloy hit into a fielder’s choice at second base for the second out to put runners at the corners, and he stole second base without a throw.
Arkansas has stranded 5 base runners today.
Arkansas 1, Murray State 0 — End 4th Inning
Gage Wood has 6 consecutive strikeouts 9 total through 4 innings. This is as good as we’ve seen him.
But for as well as he’s thrown, the Razorbacks only have a 1-0 lead. The lineup will turn over in the fifth and we’ll see if Arkansas can do damage against Isaac Silva.
Arkansas 1, Murray State 0 — Middle 4th Inning
Isaac Silva has rebounded from a stretch of hard hits with 6 consecutive outs.
Cam Kozeal, Kuhio Aloy and Brent Iredale all flied out during Silva’s 12-pitch fourth inning. He has thrown 52 pitches.
Arkansas’ lineup only has 2 runs through 13 innings. The Razorbacks obviously need to pick it up at the plate.
Arkansas 1, Murray State 0 — End 3rd Inning
Gage Wood struck out the side in the third, blending a 96 mph fastball with an 83 mph curveball.
Conner Cunningham, who like Wood is from Batesville, swung through a 3-2 fastball to end the inning.
Wood has thrown 28 of 38 pitches for strikes today. It is hitting his spots at a great rate.
Arkansas 1, Murray State 0 — Middle 3rd Inning
Reese Robinett led off the third with a double and scored with no outs, but what had the potential to be a big inning only resulted in a single run.
After he could not get down a bunt, Justin Thomas hit a 2-strike single off the pitcher to move Robinett to third, and Thomas went first to third on Charles Davalan’s first-pitch RBI single to left.
Davalan stole second base with Wehiwa Aloy at the plate. Aloy hit a 2-strike rocket but right at shortstop for the first out. Logan Maxwell followed with a weak fly to right and Thomas could not tag up at third.
Ryder Helfrick struck out to end the half inning, swinging through a slider 3 times.
Arkansas 0, Murray State 0 — End 2nd Inning
Gage Wood looks good today. He threw 8 of 10 pitches for strikes in the second inning, including his third strikeout when Dominic Decker went down swinging to begin the inning.
Will Vierling put a good swing on a 2-out pitch but into the teeth of the wind and it was a long fly out.
Arkansas 0, Murray State 0 — Middle 2nd Inning
Isaac Silva sat down the Razorbacks in 6 pitches in the second inning.
Cam Kozeal grounded out to second base on the second pitch of his at-bat, Kuhio Aloy had a 3-pitch strikeout and Brent Iredale flied out to right on the first pitch he saw.
Arkansas 0, Murray State 0 — End 1st Inning
Gage Wood was dominant in the first with a pair of quick strikeouts swinging after a leadoff fly out.
The pitch count through the first: Isaac Silva 15, Wood 13.
Arkansas 0, Murray State 0 — Middle 1st Inning
Wehiwa Aloy’s 1-out infield single was all for the Razorbacks in the top of the first inning. Murray State shortstop Conner Cunningham slipped on wet dirt as he fielded the ball and could not make a timely throw to first base.
Charles Davalan struck out for the first out of the inning and Ryder Helfrick struck out for the last out against Isaac Silva. Aloy got a good break on a hit and run with Logan Maxwell at the plate, but Maxwell flied out to left.
Pregame
Arkansas faces what it hopes is the first of many elimination games at the College World Series today. First pitch between the Razorbacks and Murray State is scheduled for 1 p.m.
The winner today will advance to play tomorrow night against the loser of tonight’s game against UCLA and LSU. The loser of the Arkansas-Murray State game will go home.
The Razorbacks’ road to the national championship series is difficult. Arkansas needs 4 wins in 4 days, and no team has done that here since Oregon State in 2006.
Murray State lost 6-4 to UCLA on Saturday in the Racers’ first College World Series game. They face the same challenge as the Razorbacks as they try to fight through the losers bracket.
Murray State won a regional at Ole Miss and a super regional at Duke to become the fourth No. 4 seed to make it to Omaha. The Racers are led by Dan Skirka, the national coach of the year who had a pit stop at Ouachita Baptist early in his coaching career.
Arkansas will throw right-hander Gage Wood today against Murray State right-hander Isaac Silva. Wood was great at the regional and struggled a bit against Tennessee’s great lineup last week.
Silva was an All-Missouri Valley Conference pitcher but his numbers have not been strong this postseason. The Racers are 3-0 when he pitches, though, because their offense has been superb.
There is an interesting side story today as Wood and Murray State freshman shortstop Conner Cunningham, the MVC freshman of the year, play in the same game. Both are graduates of Batesville High School in Arkansas.
It is going to be another hot day here in Omaha. The temperature is expected to reach 93 degrees and it will feel hotter with humidity.
The Razorbacks will be the designated visiting team today and will bat in the top of the innings.
Here is Arkansas’ starting lineup:
LF Charles Davalan
SS Wehiwa Aloy
RF Logan Maxwell
C Ryder Helfrick
2B Cam Kozeal
DH Kuhio Aloy
3B Brent Iredale
1B Reese Robinett
CF Justin Thomas
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