COLLEGE STATION, Texas The 16th-ranked Razorback baseball team was firing on all cylinders Saturday, using a great start from Blaine Knight and a strong offensive performance from Chad Spanberger to shutout the 22nd-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 8-0, at Blue Bell Park.
The win is a nice cap on the regular season for Arkansas as it finishes 39-15 overall and 18-11 in conference play with six series wins in Southeastern Conference play. The victory also guarantees Arkansas as the four-seed in next weeks SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
Spanberger hit a career-high two home runs in the game, part of a 2-for-5 day with two runs scored and two RBIs. He finishes the weekend with three home runs against the Aggies and now has 14 for the year, which takes over the team lead and puts him in the top five in the Southeastern Conference.
With the strong offensive output by the Hogs, Knight was able to go out and throw comfortably for six innings, allowing just three hits with no walks and two strikeouts. He earned his seventh win of the year and first since April 13 against Georgia.
Knight was seemingly locked in from the first pitch as he retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced and never let a runner get past first.
Kevin Kopps followed Knight to pitch the final three innings and picked up his second save of the season after allowing just two hits and striking out four. It was the fourth shutout for Razorback pitchers this season and second in conference play, the last coming against Tennessee (May 6) in Trevor Stephans seven-inning shutout.
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