Bats Come Alive In Frisco
FRISCO, Texas – Fans were treated to an offensive display Saturday at the Frisco Classic presented by Baylor Scott & White Sports Therapy and Research at the STAR. Arizona walked off for a 10-9 win over Oklahoma State in the bottom of the ninth in the opening game, while Arkansas followed with a resounding 15-5 victory over Nebraska.
In the bottom of the ninth, Arizona right fielder Cal Stevenson delivered a double to centerfield, knocking in pinch runner Matt Fraizer for the winning run. It was Stevenson’s third hit of the game and his only RBI of the game.
Early on, it looked like offense would be just as much a premium in this game as it was in the first two games of the tournament on Friday. Arizona led off the game with a hit by Mitchell Morimoto, who finished 2-for-4, but that was its only hit in the first three innings.
Arizona finally got on board in the bottom of the fourth, erupting for four runs before adding two in the fifth for the early 6-0 lead. Wildcat starting pitcher Michael Flynn didn’t allow a hit until the first batter of the sixth inning. That sparked a three-run sixth for Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys exploded for four more runs in the top of the seventh, getting solo home runs from Jon Littell and Ryan Sluder and a two-run blast from Garrett McCain, who led the Cowboys with three hits and three RBI.
The Cowboys, who hit four home runs in the game, including back-to-back bombs in the seventh by McCain and Sluder, scored twice more in the eighth, before the Wildcats came roaring back to tie the game at 9 in the bottom half of the inning.
Nick Quintana and Cory Voss joined Stevenson with three hits to pace Arizona. Quintana drove in two runs in the Wildcats’ four-run fourth inning and another in the eighth. The teams combined for 25 hits, including 15 from Arizona.
In the nightcap, the offensive trend continued. Despite a Nebraska run in the top of the first, Arkansas scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, all with two outs. The Cornhuskers managed another run in the second, but the Razorbacks began to distance themselves in the third with three more runs.
Arkansas added a run in the fourth, before Arkansas catcher Grant Koch blew the game open with a grand slam, a mammoth of a shot over the fence in left field, to give his team an 11-2 lead. The Razorbacks went on to score two runs more in the sixth and another two in the seventh. Second baseman Carson Shaddy was 3-for-3 with three doubles and drove in five runs. His replacement Jaxon Williams tripled in a run in the seventh. Shaddy and Koch drove in nine of the Razorbacks’ 15 runs. Luke Bonfield also had three hits.
Nebraska scored three runs in the eighth inning to pull within the 10-run final magin. Right fielder Mojo Hagge knocked in his second run of the night with a two-out single to right field. The other two runs were walked in with the bases loaded. Five different Cornhuskers accounted for the team’s five hits. Arkansas totaled 15 runs.
The two games in the Frisco Classic Saturday accounted for 39 runs on 40 hits, whereas in Friday’s two games batters struck out 40 times and produced only four runs.
