Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn wasn’t mincing words when he talked about what Northwestern State’s pitching staff threw at his team Wednesday afternoon.
He was impressed and that made what his own bullpen did even more meaningful.
The No. 22 Razorbacks (30-16) got a master class performance from their relief corps in a 5-2 win over Northwestern State at Baum-Walker Stadium, closing out the nonconference portion of the regular season with a win they’ll want to carry into SEC play.
The scheduled series opener Tuesday was rained out, leaving just a single game between the two programs.
“Their numbers are good,” Van Horn said of Northwestern State’s pitching staff. “They don’t leave anybody in too long, which probably helps keep the numbers down. They go to the next guy.
“They have a little bit of everything out there, some lefties and righties and different arm slots.”
The Arkansas coach added that the Demons didn’t give his hitters much time to get comfortable against any one arm.
“They don’t give you a long look at their guys, so to speak and have done a good job with their pitching staff,” he said.
Despite that, Van Horn’s offense found its way through and his bullpen made sure the early trouble didn’t define the afternoon.
Early hole didn’t rattle Hogs
Arkansas starter Tate McGuire ran into trouble right away.
Northwestern State struck in the first inning when Thomas Marsala lined a 1-out double and Ethan Menard followed with a 391-foot home run to left field, giving the Demons a quick 2-0 edge.
McGuire lasted two innings, allowing both runs on four hits with one strikeout across 33 pitches.
“They came out swinging it pretty good,” Van Horn said. “Tate got out of a little bit of a jam there… and then it just seemed like to us that everybody we brought in after that just did a tremendous job.”
Colin Fisher stepped in during the third inning and gave the Hogs exactly what they needed, tossing four innings of scoreless work with two hits and three strikeouts.
Steele Eaves, Parker Coil and Ethan McElvain each contributed an inning of relief. McElvain closed it out and earned his fifth save of the season.
The Arkansas bullpen collectively held Northwestern State to three hits, struck out five and walked nobody. It was the Razorbacks’ first walk-free outing since an April 3 victory at Auburn.
“I think going into games like that, no matter who it is and just staying hooked up and doing your job is a huge deal,” McElvain said.
Northwestern State coach Steve Bertrand acknowledged the difficulty of the task his team faced.
“They posted eight zeroes after we got off to a fast start,” Bertrand said.
Aloy, Rutenbar fuel comeback
The Razorbacks chipped away methodically.
Kuhio Aloy started a rally in the second inning by drawing a leadoff walk, then scored when Carter Rutenbar lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to cut the deficit to 2-1.
That same combination clicked again in the fourth. Aloy singled to lead off the inning and scored when Rutenbar roped an RBI single, tying the game at 2-2.
Aloy finished the afternoon 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored. Rutenbar went 2 for 3 with a walk and two RBI.
“I was just looking for something I can hit the other way, put a barrel on it and get the job done for my team,” Rutenbar said. “We say, ‘First available, get the job done,’ and that’s what I did.”
Arkansas shortstop Camden Kozeal cracked a single and scored on Maika Niu’s sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to push the Hogs ahead for good at 3-2.
Aloy followed with an RBI single through the left side to score Damian Ruiz and make it 4-2.
Ryder Helfrick added insurance with an RBI single in the eighth inning to score TJ Pompey after a leadoff single, capping the scoring at 5-2.
Ole Miss series up next
The focus now turns to a critical three-game SEC series as the Hogs prepare to host No. 18 Ole Miss (31-15, 11-10 SEC) beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas sits at 11-10 in conference play, tied with Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Florida for sixth place in the league standings with three weekends left in the regular season.
After the Rebels series, Oklahoma comes to Fayetteville, meaning the next few weeks will go a long way toward shaping Arkansas’s postseason positioning.
