Coil, Kozeal Lead Arkansas to Regional-Opening Win against North Dakota State

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Powered by Parker Coil’s shutout work in relief and Cam Kozeal’s four-RBI performance at the plate, Arkansas (44-13) cruised past North Dakota State (20-33), 6-2, Friday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Hogs, the No. 3 national seed, won their 10th consecutive regional opener and will play No. 3 seed Creighton (42-14) at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 31, in the winners bracket of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional. Creighton defeated Kansas (43-16), 11-4, in Friday’s second regional game.

North Dakota State threw the game’s first punch in the top of the first inning by jumping out to a 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI against Arkansas starter Aiden Jimenez, who twirled 3.2 innings of two-run ball with three strikeouts in the opener.

The Razorbacks, however, would respond with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first, evening the game at one apiece on Logan Maxwell’s sacrifice fly to left before Kozeal’s go-ahead two-out RBI single through the right side. When the Bison tied the game at two on a solo shot in the top of the second, Arkansas immediately answered back.

Wehiwa Aloy tallied his 59th RBI of the year on his go-ahead sacrifice fly to left in the bottom of the second, putting the Hogs back in front, 3-2. From there, Jimenez and the Razorback bullpen would post seven consecutive shutout frames.

Coil, who earned the win to improve to 3-0 on the year, took over on the mound for Jimenez with two outs in the fourth and fired 3.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts in relief. Fellow left-hander Landon Beidelschies would close out the ballgame, punching out four over his two scoreless frames to seal Arkansas’ regional-opening victory.

With the pitching staff in cruise control, the Hogs extended their lead on Kozeal’s RBI double in the third before his two-out, two-run blast in the fifth. The Razorback second baseman finished with a game-high three hits, raising his season slash line to .343/.391/.632 with 14 home runs, second most on the team, and 60 RBI, also second most on the team.

Charles Davalan (2-for-4) and Ryder Helfrick (2-for-4) added multi-hit efforts in Friday’s regional-opening win. Aloy, meanwhile, picked up his team-leading 18th double of the year to move his season slash line to .353/.434/.668.

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