Razorback Baseball Done for Season – Lose Tough Game to KSU

MANHATTAN, Kan. –  The No. 15 Arkansas Razorback baseball team saw its season come to an end on Sunday night as the Hogs dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 17 Kansas State in the regional final of the Manhattan Regional at Tointon Family Stadium.

Arkansas finishes the season with a 39-22 record, while Kansas State improves to 44-17. The Wildcats advance to face Oregon State in the Corvallis Super Regional next weekend.

The Razorbacks ended their season in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th straight year, one of only seven teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament the last 12 years, and won at least two games in the postseason for the fifth straight season and sixth time in the last seven years.

Joe Serrano had two hits and scored a run to lead Arkansas at the plate. Brian Anderson went 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored, while Matt Vinson had a hit and a RBI.

Shane Conlon had two hits to lead Kansas State offensively. Blair DeBord had a hit and a RBI for the Wildcats.

Kansas State reliever Gerardo Esquivel (2-2) picked up the win, striking out one and giving up one hit in 4.1 shutout innings. Jake Matthys picked up his ninth save of the season with two scoreless innings.

Arkansas reliever Michael Gunn (1-1) took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits in two innings.

Neither starter factored into the decision. Arkansas starter Tyler Wright worked two scoreless innings with a strikeout. Kansas State starter Blake McFadden gave up three runs on five hits in 1.2 innings.

Arkansas was the designated home team and began its half of the first with three straight hits. Serrano led off the bottom of the first with a single and after Dominic Ficociello doubled, Anderson singled to right-center field to score both runs. After two outs, Anderson advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when Vinson knocked a single through the right side of the infield to give the Razorbacks a 3-0 advantage after one inning.

Kansas State clawed back in the game with two runs in fourth. Austin Fisher worked a one-out walk and advanced to second on Jon Davis’ single. DeBord then singled down the leftfield line to score Fisher and move Davis to second. With the bases loaded, Mitch Meyer hit a ball deep in the right centerfield gap and Tyler Spoon made a diving, backhand catch near the warning track to save multiple runs that allowed the runner at third to score and leave it a 3-2 Arkansas lead.

The Wildcats scored their other two runs in the top of the seventh inning. After consecutive walks to start the inning, Conlon laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with one out. Both runners scored on wild pitches, and Kansas State took a 4-3 lead that they would hold for the rest of the game.

Earlier on Sunday, the Razorback baseball team throttled Bryant 12-3.  Jacob Mahan and Brett McAfeeeach had three RBI and two hits to lead the Razorback baseball team to the victory over Bryant.

Bryant ends its season with a 45-18-1 record.

Arkansas finished the game with 13 hits, marking its second-straight double-digit hit performance. Joe Serrano reached base all five times he came to

Joe Serrano celebrates as the Arkansas Razorback baseball team beats Bryant

the plate, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and also drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch. Mahan and McAfee each had two hits and drove in three runs, while Tyler Spoon was 2-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored. Eric Fisher also contributed two hits with a RBI and a run scored.

Bryant’s Carl Anderson and Jordan Mountford each had two hits to lead the Bulldogs at the plate. Anderson also added a RBI in the loss. Kevin Brown also added his seventh home run in the game, a solo shot in the second.

Arkansas starter Randall Fant (6-1) earned the victory after allowing two runs on six hits and striking out three in 5.2 innings.

Brandon Moore and Landon Simpson finished the game out of the bullpen. Moore worked 1.1 scoreless innings, while Simpson gave up an unearned run in two innings.

Bryant starter Kevin McAvoy (7-3) took the loss after allowing seven runs, five earned, on seven hits in three innings.

For the second straight game, Arkansas produced offense early courtesy of three runs in the first inning. Serrano led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a Bryant error that allowed Brian Anderson to reach first. Spoon came through with a one-out single that scored Serrano and after an Fisher walk, Michael Gunn had an RBI groundout to shortstop before Mahan singled through the left side of the infield to score Spoon and staked the Razorbacks to a 3-0 lead before taking the field on defense.

Bryant pulled within two runs, which would be the closest the Bulldogs closed the gap in the game, with a two-out solo home run by Brown in the bottom of the first.

The Razorbacks put the game away in the top of the third with four more runs to push the lead to 7-1. After consecutive one-out singles by Fisher and Gunn, Mahan was hit by a pitch to load the bases for McAfee, who doubled down the leftfield line to score Fisher and Gunn. Serrano worked a two-out walk to load the bases again and Dominic Ficociello earned a walk to force in Mahan from third. The next batter was Anderson, and he was hit with an 0-2 pitch to score Jean Ramirez, who had reached earlier on a fielder’s choice.

Arkansas added five runs in the seventh on a RBI single from Spoon, a RBI sacrifice fly from Fisher, a two-RBI single from Mahan and a RBI double from McAfee.

Bryant closed the scoring with a run in the bottom of the eighth, but could get no closer as Arkansas picked up a 12-3 win.

Arkansas had three players on the all-tournament team as Brett McAfee, Ryne Stanek and Spoon were named to the team. McAfee hit .385 (5-for-13) with three doubles, four RBI and a run scored in the regional. Stanek worked 7.1 innings on Saturday vs. Wichita State, allowing a run on two hits and striking out three. Spoon finished the regional going 5-for-17 with four RBI and two runs scored.