College Roundup: Razorbacks' Pitching Preens

No. 16 Arkansas completed a midweek sweep of Memphis with two very different performances Tuesday and Wednesday. After winning a 16-7 slugfest Tuesday at Baum Stadium, the Razorbacks (31-8) showed off their pitching prowess in a 2-0 victory Wednesday at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, Ark.

How the Top 25 Fared

(1) Oregon State: off

(2) Louisville: off

(3) North Carolina: off

(4) Texas Tech: off

(5) Clemson: won, 9-7, vs. Georgia

(6) Arizona: off

(7) Texas Christian: off

(8) Cal State Fullerton: off

(9) Louisiana State: off

(10) Auburn: off

(11) Mississippi State: off

(12) Long Beach State: off

(13) Virginia: won, 7-2, vs. James Madison

(14) Kentucky: off

(15) Florida: off

(16) Arkansas: won, 2-0, vs. Memphis in North Little Rock, Ark.

(17) Wake Forest: off

(18) Michigan: off

(19) Oklahoma: off

(20) Southern Mississippi: lost, 10-8, at Tulane

(21) West Virginia: off

(22) St. John’s: off

(23) Texas A&M: off

(24) Houston: off

(25) Oregon: cancelled at Portland

Lefthander Kacey Murphy and righthander Josh Alberius combined for a one-hitter. Murphy (4-0, 2.51) started the game by retiring the first 11 batters before issuing his lone walk of the night. He followed that up by retiring the next eight batters before Chris Carrier dropped a bunt single in the seventh. Murphy got the next batter to line out and then picked Carrier off first to end his night. He struck out seven batters and threw 90 pitches. Alberius followed with two perfect innings out of the bullpen to earn his second save of the season. He struck out one and threw just 15 pitches.

Arkansas scored the game’s lone runs on Chad Spanberger’s two-run home run in the fifth inning. It was his ninth home run of the season, matching Grant Koch for the team lead.

With the sweep of Memphis (21-17), Arkansas improved to 11-1 in midweek games this season. The Razorbacks have won 11 straight midweek games since losing 4-3 to Louisiana Tech on Feb. 28. Arkansas will now travel this weekend to No. 10 Auburn for a key Southeastern Conference West Division series.

Tulane also continued its surge Wednesday with a 10-8 victory against No. 20 Southern Mississippi. The Green Wave (19-19) scored seven runs in the fifth inning to open a 10-3 lead and held on for their seventh win in their last nine games.

Tulane’s offense was led by Lex Kaplan, Hunter Williams, Jarret DeHart and Grant Brown, who hit two through five in its lineup. The quartet combined to go 9-for-17 with four doubles and six runs. Hunter Hope also delivered for the Green Wave, crushing a grand slam in the seven-run fifth.

Since starting the year 3-12, Tulane has gotten back to .500 under first-year coach Travis Jewett and is in first place in the American Athletic Conference going into this weekend’s series at No. 23 Houston. Wednesday’s victory against Southern Miss (29-10) pushed Tulane up to No. 87 in the RPI as it continues to climb back into the mix for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament.

There was no wilder finish Wednesday than Seton Hall’s 10-9 victory in 12 innings against Rutgers. The Pirates (18-16) scored twice in the ninth to force extra innings and then won in the 12th inning on a two-out, walk-off, inside-the-park home run from Rob Dadona.

Dadona went 2-for-6 and scored three runs. His home run was his first of the season. Mike Carter went 4-for-6 with a home run and two runs to lead Rutgers (13-21).