By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said earlier this week he’d like to see his team score some runs in the early innings.
But Van Horn wasn’t complaining after a 2-1 win against No. 2 Vanderbilt on Friday night.
Catcher James McCann delivered a two-out, two-run infield single in the eighth inning to help the Razorbacks (18-4, 2-2 in Southeastern Conference) finally crack the scoreboard against Vanderbilt (20-3, 2-2) and ace Sonny Gray. It wasn’t much, but the clutch hit was just enough to help Arkansas complete another late-inning rally and win the first game of its weekend series in front of a crowd of 7,313 in Baum Stadium.
“Whenever he gives you an opportunity to score you’ve got to take advantage of it,” said Arkansas third baseman Matt Reynolds, who got the winning run off of Gray. “We were lucky we got those two runs in the eighth.”
He’s right. Outside of a bases loaded jam in the first inning, Gray was in control most of the night. The right-hander, who had allowed only five runs and 16 hits in 33 2/3 innings entering Friday’s game, limited the Razorbacks to three hits through seven innings Friday.
Arkansas got consecutive singles by Bo Bigham and Reynolds to regain some life in the eighth inning. But then Gray — who had 12 strikeouts — struck out the next two batters. It set the stage for McCann’s game-winning at-bat.
The junior hit a curveball up the middle deep enough to make Vanderbilt shortstop Anthony Gomez dive his left to field. He couldn’t field and throw cleanly, allowing McCann to reach first and Bigham to score. Reynolds never stopped running from second base and managed to slip into home safely after Gomez’s throw skipped off the mound.
“He kept throwing me curveballs trying to get me to chase,” McCann said. “He left one up and I tried to stay in the middle of the field and thankfully it was able to get through.”
Van Horn, who doesn’t usually coach third base, was the one waving Reynolds home.
He decided to mix things up before game, replacing hitting coach Todd Butler as Friday’s third base coach for the first time this season. The move — for at least one game — worked.
“I wanted to make sure he kept running as hard as he could,” said Van Horn, who raced down the third base line as he was sending Reynolds home. “I can’t outrun Matt or I might’ve beat him to the base. I wanted them to make a play.”
Arkansas never would’ve been in position to rally if not for a solid night on the mound from starter Cade Lynch. The Razorbacks were in desperate need for a strong start after struggling most of the past two weeks and Lynch delivered, allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings.
His only blemish came in the fifth when a wild pitch allowed Jack Lupo to score from third.
Lynch was lifted after walking a batter with two outs in the seventh. He allowed three hits, one walk and struck out six in his start.
“Last weekend we didn’t do a real good job,” Lynch said. “We stretched our bullpen pretty good. So I was looking to eat up a few innings and give our bullpen a chance the rest of the weekend. Playing against this team and pitching against (Gray), you get amped up.”
Baxendale (5-0) threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win for the Razorbacks.
Gray (5-1), who beat Arkansas twice last season, was hit with his first loss of the season.
“It’s disappointing when a pitcher goes out there and pitches as well as he did,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. “Offensively we weren’t a match. You’ve got to give the credit to Lynch. He did a good job. There’s a reason why we had breakdowns and I think you’ve got to credit the pitcher when something like that happens.”
It’s the second straight week Arkansas has earned a series-opening win in SEC play. But the Razorbacks weren’t celebrating wildly Friday.
After winning the opener at Auburn last week, Arkansas dropped its next two games. So Reynolds said the Razorbacks know there’s still work to do in what it has labeled an important series.
“Getting a win against Sonny Gray alone is huge, and the No. 2 team in the nation,” Reynolds said. “That’s going to boost our confidence. But we can’t settle on this because we have a game (today) against them. We have to be prepared.”
