Hogs make most of sloppy game

By Rick Fires (Contact)

FAYETTEVILLE - Missouri State couldn’t sustain its good fortune after grabbing an early four-run lead Wednesday against Arkansas.

The Bears let Arkansas back in the game with some poor pitching, and the Razorbacks took advantage for a 14-6 victory at Baum Stadium. Casey Coon hit a tworun home run in the fourth inning as Arkansas scored five runs to take the lead for good.

Scott Lyons had four hits for Arkansas (27-18), while Josh Mazzola hit a three-run home run to stake Missouri State (30-14) to a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Arkansas won both regular-season games against Missouri State this season, beating the Bears 7-6 in 10 innings April 1.

“I thought the game might be sloppy with the wind and both teams focused in on the weekend,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “They have a chance to win their league and we’re battling in ours. We got it turned in the middle of the game and did a good job of working the plate and making them throw a lot of pitches.

The pitching was poor as the teams combined to use 12 pitchers, and Missouri State starter Aaron Meade turned in the worst performance. Arkansas scored three runs without a hit in the third inning after Meade hit three batters and walked one.

Missouri State’s sloppiness extended to the field when Mazzola, the first baseman, threw wildly past home to let two more Arkansas runners score in the fifth. The Bears were officially charged with two errors on the night, but the total could have been four or five. Arkansas was charged with three errors.

Evan Cox (2-0) earned the victory for Arkansas, and Sean Toler (1-3) took the loss for Missouri State.

Kendall Korbal started a parade of 10 relievers from the bullpen after Arkansas starter Sam Murphy gave up the three-run home run to Mazzola in the third. Mazzola hit his second home run of the season after Matt Welch led off with a double and Ryan Mantle reached on a bunt single. The Bears added another run off Korbal in the third for a 4-0 lead.

“The plan was for Murphy to go three innings, maybe four,” Van Horn said. “Our starting pitching did such a good job last weekend that we didn’t use a lot of guys. We wanted to use some pitchers an inning or two and get them some work.”

Lyons led Arkansas with four hits while batting in the No. 9 position. He improved his average to .253 and started at shortstop for the 11th time in Arkansas’ past 12games.

“Lyons had four hits and a really nice hit-and-run [single] to open it up for us,” Van Horn said. “He came back with a double with the bases loaded, and it’s nice to get some production at the end of the order there.”

Arkansas scored eight consecutive runs in the middle innings to take the lead. The Razorbacks continued to pull away and built their lead to 14-6 after Ryan Cisterna hit a home run in the eighth inning.

“We got down early, but it’s like it really doesn’t matter anymore,” Cisterna said. “We’re confident right now, and we’ve got some momentum going with Alabama coming up.”

Arkansas will return to SEC action Friday night when it opens a three-game series with Alabama at Baum Stadium. Alabama will start the weekend in second place in the SEC-West, one-half game ahead of Arkansas.

Sports, Pages 25 on 05/01/2008