Arkansas catcher James McCann had a message for outfielder Kyle Robinson after the 6-2 win against Tennessee-Martin in Baum Stadium on Tuesday night.
“I told him after the game thank you for bringing your bat,” McCann said. “He brought his bat. Sometimes it only takes one guy and fortunately we had guys on base ahead of him.”
The Razorbacks needed the senior during its final midweek game of the season. Robinson went 2-for-3 from the plate with a home run, single and 5 RBIs, helping the Razorbacks score three runs in the first inning with and three more in the seventh to walk away with a victory.
It wasn’t pretty offensively. The Razorbacks struggled against a team allowing roughly eight runs a game and a pitcher making his first start of the season. Arkansas finished with eight hits, but managed only four of them after the second inning.
“I wasn’t thinking about what they were doing,” Van Horn said about UT-Martin. “I was thinking about what we were doing. We weren’t having very good at-bats. It looked like guys were trying to hit the ball out of the park instead of staying through the middle. We had a lot of balls off the end of the bat, then we made some adjustments there late.
“It was just one of those ho-hum games. I feel fortunate to win.”
Robinson hit a three-run home run in the first inning to help the Razorbacks take an early lead. But the Razorbacks were scoreless until the seventh, when Dominic Ficociello was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs to bring in another run to make it 4-2. Then Robinson delivered his second hit of the night, a single, to drive in two more runs.
Van Horn, who wasn’t happy after the game, said in the end his team won and that’s what mattered, wrapping up the nonconference portion of the schedule at 21-4. But it certainly wasn’t the type of offensive tuneup the Razorbacks were hoping for as they prepare for their final regular season series against Ole Miss, which begins Thursday. Or one Arkansas wanted after being limited to a ninth-inning solo home run in Sunday’s 7-1 loss at South Carolina.
But McCann said the Razorbacks will be ready for the Ole Miss series.
“It’s tough when you’ve got midweek games in the grind of the SEC,” McCann said. “You’re looking forward to that SEC weekend. Because you’re always going to be preparing for that next weekend. Sometimes the midweek games can be a trap game. No matter how good or not that midweek team is they’re always going to give us their best.”
