By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
TEMPE, Ariz. — Arkansas pitcher DJ Baxendale didn’t feel like he was at his best Saturday.
It was hard to find much fault in his performance with the team’s season on the line against New Mexico in Packard Stadium, though.
Baxendale, with temperatures sitting above 100 degrees throughout the game, helped the Razorbacks stay alive by throwing eight scoreless innings in Arkansas’ 3-0 win in the Tempe Regional’s first elimination game.
The sophomore tossed a career-high 131 pitches, allowed four hits, walked three and struck out seven to push Arkansas (39-21) into another must-win game against Charlotte at 3 p.m.
The winner will advance to play Arizona State at 8 p.m.
“The difference was our pitching,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “DJ gutted it up.”
Baxendale, who was originally scheduled to pitch in Friday’s opener before Arkansas made a late switch to Randall Fant, combined with reliever Trent Daniel to throw the sixth NCAA Tournament shutout in school history. It was the first postseason shutout since Drew Smyly and Stephen Richards combined for an 11-0 win against Oklahoma in the 2009 Normal Regional.
It also added to his success in Arizona State’s ballpark. Baxendale (10-2) enjoyed the best night of his freshman season last June, holding the Sun Devils to one run in 6 1/3 innings of relief during the 2010 Tempe Super Regional.
So Baxendale now has allowed one run and eight hits in 14 1/3 innings pitched in Tempe.
“I was real comfortable on the mound,” said Baxendale, who has thrown 13 scoreless innings against New Mexico as well. “Throwing here last year and playing in the heat even though it was a night game, that was big for me. I knew what it was going to take energy wise and preparing for the game and drinking lots of fluids.”
He got some help from Arkansas’ offense in the early innings. The Hogs rebounded from their struggles against Charlotte to score twice in the second off New Mexico starter Richard Olson (3-8). Collin Kuhn led off the inning with a double and was driven home by Jarrod McKinney, who also doubled down the third base line.
McKinney would score two batters later when third baseman Matt Reynolds laid down a squeeze bunt. There was a close play at the plate, but McKinney slid under the tag to make it 2-0.
“(Friday) we fell behind pretty early and couldn’t climb out of that hole,” said McKinney, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored. “So it felt good to get on top of them. I’m sure it felt good for DJ to pitch with a little lead. It helped us out a lot.”
Baxendale did have to work to keep New Mexico (20-41), which led top-seed Arizona State until a game-winning three-run home run in the ninth inning Friday night, off the scoreboard.
The Lobos had runners on the corners with one out in the second inning, before Baxendale fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt and held the runner at third. He retired the last batter in the inning on a popout to first base.
New Mexico had two more runners on base with one out in the fourth, but Baxendale recorded a strikeout and a flyout to end the threat.
“I thought there were some times I had accuracy problems,” Baxendale said. “I wasn’t just pounding the zone as well as I needed to.”
Said New Mexico coach Ray Birmingham: “We’ve probably seen some of the best arms in the country. His pitching performance (Saturday) was outstanding. He did a great job.”
Arkansas picked up an insurance run in the ninth inning when McKinney led off with a single. Bo Bigham followed with a two-out base hit that scored McKinney from second.
Baxendale’s work was done after that, turning the game over to Daniel. The closer had no trouble wrapping up the win, striking out the side in the ninth inning for his fourth save.
Baxendale became the first Arkansas pitcher to record double-digit victories in a season since Nick Schmidt won 11 games in 2007. The Razorbacks also collected the program’s first win in Tempe after losing their previous five.
They’ll need two more victories today if they plan to extend the season a little longer.
“All in all we won, so it’s a good feeling,” Baxendale said. “But we’ve just got to push it away and get ready for (Sunday).”
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 3, New Mexico 0
Game 4 – Charlotte (43-14) vs. Arizona State (40-16), 9 p.m.
Sunday, June 5
Game 5 – Arkansas vs. ASU/Charlotte loser, 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.
