The finish was closer than Texas preferred, but the results were sweeter.
Texas built an 8-0 lead and held on to its hat while Arkansas chipped away, scoring seven runs before falling, 8-7 on Saturday evening at Minute Maid Park in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Baseball Classic.
Fresh off the losing end of a close game the night before to LSU, 4-3. The Longhorns (10-1) came away with a win after closer Andre Duplantier II struck out Casey Martin to end the game.
Duplantier entered the game at the top of the ninth inning and quickly got into trouble after Razorback’s left fielder Zack Gregory grounded out to first base. Center fielder Christian Franklin walked to first base, right fielder Heston Kjerstad singled to right field, and designated hitter Matt Goodheart crushed a 2-RBI double off the wall in right field, trimming the Longhorns lead to one, 8-7.
“Our team never quit, we kept fighting,” Razorbacks’ coach David Van Horn said.
Then Duplantier would record the final two outs by striking out catcher Casey Opitz and shortstop Casey Martin, slamming the door shut on the Razorbacks.
Longhorns quick start chased Arkansas’ lefty Patrick Wicklander, who took the loss, from the game in the second inning. Wicklander (2-1) struggled, surrendering three consecutive hits, a walk, and a pair of unearned runs.
Texas would add six runs in the inning. It also marked the end of its offensive output for the evening. It was enough to get the job done.
“They took advantage of every mistake we made,” said Van Horn.
Reliever Marshall dent proceeded Wicklander.
Arkansas (7-2) worked tirelessly to get back into the contest trailing 8-0 after two innings of play. Gregory’s run-scoring single produced the Razorback’s first run in the top of the fifth inning.
“We got off to a real bad start,” Van Horn replied. “Our starting pitcher has been here two years, and this is the worst outing he’s ever had. Give Texas credit, they came out, swung the bats, and hit the ball hard.”
No. 6 Arkansas picked up two runs in the sixth, a run in the seventh before its final two runs in the eighth.
Ty Madden pitched six complete innings before leaving the game at the beginning of the seventh. He gave up three runs, six hits and struck out seven, improving to (3-0) on the season.
“I felt pretty good out there,” Longhorns’ pitcher Ty Madden explained. “I had a good feeling going into today after the loss last night; the team still had a lot of energy.”
First baseman Zach Zubia gave Texas fans a reason to cheer when he crushed a 2-2 pitch well over 400 feet to left-center field. His second of the season.
“I knew right away when it was off the bat, it was a good swing,” says Texas first baseman Zack Zubia.
“It was a 2-2 slider, it was middle, middle,” Zubia spoke. “I just put a good swing on it. I got beat up by sliders on Friday. So I worked really hard on it today, and it paid off.”
Even with two losses on the first two days of the Classic, Van Horn says it will help prepare the Razorbacks for the SEC.
The 20th Annual Shriners Hospitals for children matched the Big12 against the SEC. It was the second time the two conferences met. The first meeting surfaced in 2017.