Hogs Drop Game Three against Hatters
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 6 Arkansas (12-4) suffered a 4-1 loss against Stetson (6-10) Sunday at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Hogs and Hatters close out their four-game set tomorrow afternoon. First pitch between Arkansas, seeking its 35th consecutive non-conference home weekend series win, and Stetson is set for noon Monday, March 9, on SEC Network+.
After Damian Ruiz led off Sunday’s game with a double, Camden Kozeal gave the Razorbacks an early lead with his one-out RBI double down the right field line in the bottom of the first. One run, however, was all Arkansas would score.
Colin Fisher, making his fourth start of the season on the mound, fired three scoreless frames before Stetson broke through in the top half of the fourth. The Razorback left-hander began his campaign with 22 consecutive scoreless frames before a leadoff home run and three-run homer later in the inning would give the Hatters a 4-1 advantage.
Stetson did not relinquish its three-run lead, as starter Trace Hartman (5.2 IP, 1 R, 4 BB, 3 SO) and reliever Andrew Lepine (2.1 IP, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO) combined for nine innings of one-run ball with six walks and five strikeouts. After a first inning run, the Hatter duo kept the Razorback offense off-balance for the remainder of Sunday afternoon’s ballgame.
Damian Ruiz (2-for-4, 2B) and Maika Niu (2-for-4, SB) were the lone Arkansas batters to record multi-hit games. Ryder Helfrick, meanwhile, drew a pair of walks to extend his team-leading reached base streak to 16 consecutive games.
On the mound, Cole Gibler (3.0 IP, 0 R, 2 SO) and Ethan McElvain (2.0 IP, 0 R, 3 SO) combined for five shutout innings with five strikeouts in relief of Fisher. Gibler owns a team-leading 0.63 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 14.1 innings over four relief appearances, while McElvain has not allowed a run in 7.2 innings with 13 strikeouts over four relief outings.
Arkansas will throw James DeCremer (0-0, 1.17 ERA) in tomorrow’s series finale at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Razorbacks have not lost or tied a non-conference weekend series in the regular season at home since the 2014 campaign, when Arkansas dropped two-of-three games to South Alabama in its final non-conference weekend series.
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