By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
TEMPE, Ariz. — Arkansas was taking a calculated risk when it reversed course Thursday and named sophomore Randall Fant the starting pitcher for its NCAA Tournament opener against Charlotte.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said the decision was all about matchups. He wanted to throw the team’s most rested starter (Fant) with a chance to hold its ace (DJ Baxendale) for a potential outing against Arizona State.
So it’s no surprise Van Horn was “disappointed” with Fant’s efforts after he lasted only two innings in Arkansas’ 3-2 loss to Charlotte in Packard Stadium on Friday. But the disappointment didn’t match Van Horn’s frustration with the Razorbacks’ offense, which struggled even more.
Arkansas fell into an early hole and couldn’t muster the offensive firepower to claw out of it, resulting in a loss to the region’s third seed. It was a performance that pushed the Razorbacks (38-21) into the loser’s bracket in the four-team regional, where they’ll play an elimination game against New Mexico (20-40) today at 4. Arizona State got a three-run home run from Joey DeMichele in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Lobos 4-2 on Friday night.
The Razorbacks will start Baxendale (9-4, 1.75 ERA) today. But Van Horn said it won’t matter who is on the mound if Arkansas doesn’t find a way to cure its offensive woes.
“Hindsight I guess I wish we would’ve started (Baxendale),” Van Horn said. “But I wish we would’ve scored more runs is what I really wish. … That was the problem.”
Charlotte starter Andrew Smith (10-4) was largely to blame for those issues.
Smith — who entered the game with a 1.85 earned run average — dominated Arkansas in his 7 1/3 innings. He allowed five hits, struck out four batters and kept the Razorbacks guessing throughout the game.
The senior is the ace of a Charlotte staff that has been impressive all season. The 49ers entered the regional ranked third in the nation in ERA (2.43) and had hurled 11 shutouts.
Arkansas knew it was facing a difficult challenge, but had no answers.
“I can’t say enough about this guy,” Charlotte coach Loren Hibbs said of Smith. “Unbelievable. Tremendous pain tolerance. He’s a guy that missed all year last year with Tommy John. It’s great to have him back. He has thrown the front end of the rotation all year and pitched against a lot of good teams.”
It was evident Friday when the top four hitters in Arkansas’ batting order — Bo Bigham, Collin Kuhn, Dominic Ficociello and James McCann — were a combined 0-for-13.
“You have to tip your cap to him,” McCann said. “I felt like early in the game we kind of pressed a little bit. … By the time we got settled down and felt where we were at it was too late. He had already found his groove and we couldn’t come up with anything.”
The 49ers didn’t need much offense with Smith cruising, but got just enough in the second when they collected three runs off Fant.
Designated hitter Corbin Shive got Charlotte on the board when he hit a two-run home run over the left field wall. The 49ers tacked on another run when shortstop Justin Roland grounded out to second, scoring Corey Shaylor.
Shive’s home run was his first of the season and it was a rarity for Charlotte. The 49ers (43-14) have hit 19 home runs in 57 games.
“(Fant) left the ball up and in to me and it kind of surprised me,” Shive said. “I guess I put a pretty good swing on it. That was a big time to hit it. It felt good.”
Fant (3-5) left after allowing a leadoff single in the third and Arkansas’ bullpen regained control, getting seven scoreless innings from freshmen Brandon Moore and Barrett Astin. The Razorbacks tacked on a run in the bottom of the third when Tim Carver led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Collin Kuhn to cut the deficit to 3-1.
But Arkansas couldn’t break through again until Kyle Robinson hit a solo home run with two outs in the ninth. Charlotte wrapped up the win when Corey Roberts got Arkansas third baseman Matt Reynolds to strike out looking.
The Razorbacks put its leadoff hitter on base in four innings Friday, but only got one run out of the opportunities. Arkansas hit into two double plays and struck out seven times.
“I felt like that we tried to umpire too much instead of just swing,” Van Horn said. “I don’t know how many backwards Ks we had, but it was disappointing.”
It leaves Arkansas with the daunting task of trying to claw out of the loser’s bracket.
The Razorbacks now must win four games in three days to advance to a super regional for the third straight year.
Van Horn said he doesn’t want his team looking at the big picture, though. The only thing they should be concerned about is finding a way to score runs today.
“It’s not trying to think about Sunday or a possibility of a Monday (game),” Van Horn said. “It’s trying to survive inning to inning and pitch to pitch. If you start looking that far down the road you’ll never get there.”
Tempe Regional Schedule
Friday, June 3
Game 1 – Charlotte 3, Arkansas 2
Game 2 – Arizona State 4, New Mexico 2
Saturday, June 4
Game 3 – Arkansas (38-21) vs. New Mexico (20-40), 4 p.m.
Game 4 – Charlotte (43-14) vs. Arizona State (40-16), 9 p.m.
Sunday, June 5
Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3 p.m.
Game 6 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 8 p.m.
Monday, June 6
Game 7 (if necessary) – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 8:30 p.m.
