Razorbacks 2, Lions 1: Pitching Duel

The long anticipated return of Trey Killian was well worth the wait as his strong performance kept the Hogs in the game until the offense could catch up.

While Killian was on a 40-60 pitch count, he threw an efficient 3 2/3 innings. He gave up four hits and one earned run on 59 pitches. His control was there and his pitch count should increase as the season goes on.

Loyola Marymount did strike first in the top of the fourth. A RBI sacrifice fly to center by David Edwards scored David Fletcher from third. After giving up two more hits, three total for the inning, Killian handed the ball of to Zach Jackson. After streaking out the final batter of the fourth, Jackson took the Hogs the rest of the way to earn the victory.

Jackson move to 2-0 on the season after his 5 1/3 inning performance out of the bullpen. He only allowed two base runners. That kind of pitching duo will shut down a lot of teams going forward. Once Killian gets some stamina back, Jackson could get moved to Sunday, or another spot on staff where they need the experience.

The Razorback bats had the task to take on Loyola Marymount's ace, Colin Welmon. He was the 34th round pick to the Pirates last year, but came back for his senior season. The Razorbacks didn't necessarily rough him up, but the guy came in with a 0.87 era and the Hogs squeezed two runs out of him.

The sixth was the magical inning for the Razorback offense. Andrew Benintendi lead off with a walk and advanced to second on a Chad Spanberger ground out. Tyler Spoon followed that up with a walk to put runners on the corners. Welmon threw a pitch in the dirt, that was blocked, but then thrown out into left field by Loyola Marymount catcher Cassidy Brown. It was a throw he didn't need to make, but it evened up the score at 1-1. Bobby Wernes then picked up RBI number seven on the year with a single, scoring Spoon.

Really the most concerning stat from the game was that Arkansas had three runners picked off on the base paths. Clark Eagan, Carson Shaddy, and Benintendi all got picked off. It could be a product of not getting much field time or playing many games because of the weather. Shaddy is a freshman and gets a pass, but Eagan and Benintendi have a full season under their belt.

These teams will do it all again tomorrow at 3:05 p.m. and is on SEC Network+.