FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Freshman right-hander Connor Noland handcuffed second-ranked Mississippi State for 7 2/3 scoreless innings on Saturday as his performance helped 10th-ranked Arkansas to a 10-2 win and a three-game sweep at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas (30-10, 12-6 SEC) has swept the Bulldogs (32-9, 10-8 SEC) for the second time in three seasons and, with the win, moves ahead of Texas A&M for the overall SEC Western Division lead by a half game. The Hogs are now 21-4 at Baum-Walker Stadium this year and have won 21 or more games at home every year since 2006.
Noland, who had not pitched past the fifth inning in 10 previous starts this year, held the Bulldogs to only four hits in his career-long outing and came away with no walks and five strikeouts on 89 pitches. It was Nolands second win of the week as he pitched two scoreless frames on Tuesday against UAPB and is now 2-2 on the year.
After a slight struggle in the first inning where he left two aboard, but didnt let any runs cross, Noland retired 10 of the next 11 batters he faced, allowing just a single by Gunner Halter in the third inning. He went on to pitch into the eighth inning before Jacob Kostyshock took over with two outs. Noland finished the game with 11 groundball outs and no extra-base hits allowed.
Offensively, seven Razorbacks had at least one hit in Saturdays game. Casey Martin, Jordan McFarland and Jacob Nesbit each came away with two hits. Nesbit took home the top hitting line with a 2-for-4 game and four RBIs, three coming off a home run in the sixth, making it 7-0. It was Nesbits second home run of the year as two of his three hits in the series came in todays game.
Arkansas continues the homestand next Tuesday and Wednesday as it welcomes Northwestern State to Baum-Walker Stadium for a two-game series. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6:30 p.m., followed by game two on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Both games will be televised online on SEC Network+.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI