By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas sophomore catcher Grant Koch of Fayetteville doubled, homered, knocked in three runs and joined six Arkansas pitchers in throwing the Razorbacks past the University of New Orleans Privateers 5-2 before 2,262 in Wednesday night’s non-conference game at Baum Stadium.
Koch threw out a would-be base-stealer who would have scored the game’s first run and drove in three Arkansas runs with a double and a two-run home run in the fifth, which came on a full-count reprieve after umpires reviewed Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn’s appeal that UNO catcher John Cable had caught Koch’s foul popup off the netting behind home plate rather than directly in the air.
“That would have been a bad break because I heard it skim off the net,” Koch said. "Coach Van Horn went to bat for me. That was pretty good.”
Both knew the review had it right, and UNO coach Blake Dean didn’t protest when the out call was changed to a foul ball.
“It’s funny how things can change on one pitch,” Van Horn said. “But that ball definitely hit on the way down.”
With the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Koch said he “wasn’t looking” for any particular pitch from reliever William Griffin when he homered into the left-field bullpen.
“He was mixing pitches pretty well that at-bat and throwing me everything he had,” Koch said. “It was a curveball. He just fortunately left one up.”
Shortstop Jax Biggers hit an eighth-inning solo home run for the Razorbacks, who got some big-winning middle relief work by Barrett Loseke and lefty Weston Rogers, bailing the Hogs out of a seventh-inning jam after New Orleans scored its two runs.
“Loseke (just one hit and one walk and four strikeouts for 3 1-3 relieving starter Kacey Murphy during the third) really threw well tonight,” Van Horn said. “He threw harder as the game went on. We would have left him in longer if we didn’t need him this weekend.”
Both Van Horn’s Razorbacks (18-4) and Dean's Privateers (13-9) employed a platoon of pitchers not wanting anyone overworked before this conference weekend.
The Razorbacks visit SEC rival Missouri Friday through Sunday in Columbia, while the Privateers head to Conway for a Southland Conference three-game series with Central Arkansas.
The Privateers ran themselves out of a run off Murphy in the third.
Aaron Palmer smashed a one-out double to left-center, but inexplicably, Palmer tried to steal third, and Koch nailed him easily.
“I guess they didn’t think we were paying attention to him,” Van Horn said. “It was a pitch in the dirt and Grant transferred it from his glove. A tremendous play.”
So after a walk, Dakota Dean’s single only advanced a runner to second before Loeske relieved Murphy and stranded the runners by striking out cleanup hitter Tristan Clarke.
Loeske pitched shutout ball through the sixth.
Koch not only took the Privateers’ potential run away, but knocked in Arkansas’ third-inning run off lefty starter Christopher DeMayo.
Koch’s double to left drove in Jake Arledge, who drew a leadoff walk before Luke Bonfield’s one-out single.
Bonfield doubled to right-center leading off the fifth directly before Koch’s foul-out reprieved and two-run home run.
Arkansas scored one without a hit in the sixth.
Biggers took an unusual four-base tour leading off hit by a pitch then advancing the distance on two passed balls and a wild pitch.
UNO scored two in the seventh with the lone ball hit out of the infield caught in left for the inning’s first out after freshman lefty Matt Cronin walked Cable leading off.
Van Horn immediately relieved with right-hander Jake Reindl.
Reindl got the fly out, but Jay Robinson beat out an infield single to Jared Gates, the debuting third baseman previously sidelined since preseason by a broken hand.
Palmer found Gates with a another “swinging bunt,” Van Horn said, beating it out for a run-scoring single after Orynn Veillon walked to load the bases.
Reindl struck out Sam Capielano, but on a wild pitch that scored Robinson.
Sophomore Rogers ended the inning getting Dean to ground out to Gates.
Rogers pitched a 1-2-3 eighth after which Biggers homered with two out in Arkansas’ eighth before Kevin Kopps pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.
Both teams played errorless ball. Arkansas turned two doubleplays.