Live Blog: Arkansas vs. TCU, Fayetteville Regional

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –Welcome to Baum-Walker Stadium on the campus of the University of Arkansas where the Razorbacks and Santa Clara Broncos are getting set to face off in the opening game of the Fayetteville Regional.

Weather

Partly cloudy with winds blowing out in Fayetteville today. Not a good sign for the Razorbacks as keeping the ball in the yard against TCU has been a major problem.

How's it gone against TCU so far?

• The Horned Frogs posted 38 runs in the first two games against the Razorbacks, including five home runs. The TCU football team would have had to play Georgia in the national championship game eight times to put up that many runs.   

• Arkansas has hit eight home runs against TCU, but has struggled to hit well enough otherwise to generate any offense. Despite all those home runs, Arkansas only scored 11 runs. That was barely enough over two games to take down Tre Richardson and his eight runs three outs into Sunday's game. Factor in his third home run and the Razorbacks' two games end up in a tie with Richardson's Sunday production.

• TCU has won 14 out of its last 15 games. Arkansas is 4-4 over the past eight games.

STARTING PITCHER

Cody Adcock, LHP
6-4, 210
Texarkana, Texas

Cam Brown, RHP
6-3, 225
Flower Mound, Texas

Arkansas Starting Line-Up

TCU Starting Line-Up

1st inning (Top)

First pitch at 2:07 p.m.

The one thing providing hope for this afternoon's game is that Arkansas is the visiting team. Getting to hit first and put a few runs on the board does wonders for Arkansas. Yesterday's game was over before the Razorbacks even got up to bat. Not starting out behind today will avoid the huge emotional strain the Hogs faced yesterday.

Arkansas desperately needs to get off to a good start. The good news is the Hogs hit a lot of long balls against TCU and the wind is blowing out. The question is can the Razorbacks put runners on the bases.

Josenberger fouls off the opening pitch and watches the second and we're off in what is the most important game of the season against difficult odds in front of a rather solid crowd for a Monday game.

Josenberger blisters one down the line past a diving first baseman, but it's called foul. If it was, it wasn't by much. And now Josenburger gets plunked square in the right hind cheek and the Hogs have a runner on for Bohrofen.

Josenberger is running on the first pitch and we've got a good idea as to where Van Horn's mind is today. He's going to leave it all on the field as Arkansas is going to be aggressive. The 11th pitch from Cam Brown is nowhere close as it's in the dirt and Bohrofen walks to put the first two runners on and this Arkansas crowd is showing the most energy it's shown since early Friday. This already has a much different feel. 

First two pitches to Jared Wegner aren't even close and it looks like half the roster is sprinting out to the bull pen. The TCU hitting coach will make a visit to the mound as the Hog calls fire up. He's going to take as much time as possible to let his guys find a ball out there in the pen. 

Wegner watches a ball sail way outside. TCU is lucky that didn't hit the backstop and bounce halfway to first base it was so far away and the bases are loaded as fans choose to put cold drinks on their heads instead of the hats. Don't blame them. It's a little warmer today and those clouds aren't blocking out a lot of the sun in the stands.

McGlaughlin gets a ball in the air to left-center. This is going to be close as to whether it's deep enough. Here's the throw in. It goes to third and the Razorbacks are on the board as Josenberger scores.

That brings up Diggs who pops one up. It looks like it will be way foul, but the wind gets it and carries it into fair territory for the second out of the inning. However, the Razorbacks catch a break with Cali at the plate as Brown throws one way inside that gets away from the catcher and the Hogs have runners at second and third with two outs.

Brown gets Cali swinging hard at a high breaking ball to escape the inning. If he would have made contact on that one there wouldn't have been much ball left to clear the fence, but alas, he misses and Arkansas misses a much needed opportunity.

Mid-Inning break

VAN HORN NEEDS CRAZY THINGS TO HAPPEN
IF ARKANSAS IS TO MAKE SUPER REGIONALS

1st inning (Bottom)

Genuinely surprised to not see Hunter Hollan or Hagan Smith starting this game, but there was discussion about how TCU does against right handers and it might be better to get those two a change in perspective by coming off the bench like Hollan did last night. Neither seemed to hold up well as starters this week.

As for Adcock, he has looked uncomfortable on the mound his last several outings, but getting the start might give him a little bit of a clean slate also without the pressure of coming into a bad situation as a reliever. 

The first four pitches of the game aren't much of a sample, but Adcock is really pounding the zone. When he misses, it's in good places to do so. He seems to be really locked in to start. Adcock throws eight pitches to Elijah Nunez and four were strikes. Unfortunately for Arkansas, Nunez fouled four off and fought his way to a walk. 

Soft grounder up the middle by Bowen. Adcock fields it, throws it to second for the force, but the Hogs come up way short on the double play. Nunez wants it to be reviewed and from the replay being shown, this is going to be close. It won't be surprising if they all him safe. 

Now Arkansas is asking for a review because Nunez immediately popped up and began signaling that he was safe, which obstructed the throw to first. I'm not going to be surprised if interference ends up being the call. 

The umpires come out and they are calling everyone safe. There was no doubt that Nunez interfered with the play, so not understanding that call if that aspect of the play was reviewable. So, a bad break for the Razorbacks and Adcock now has to be careful not to load the bases for Richardson who is due up in a few because that's a nightmare Van Horn doesn't want to relive. 

Adcock goes 3-2 to Taylor and the goal has to be getting three outs between Taylor and Fontanelle. It is the the Hogs' best interest to have the bases empty for Richardson. Three fouls later, Taylor is still at the plate. Adcock has really had to battle. And he gets him on the high fastball. That was ball four and it wasn't even close, but for some reason Taylor went after it. Huge break for Arkansas. First out of the game.

Adcock strikes out Fontanelle swinging and Rowland fires down to third to try to get the runner on the double steal. The ball is bobbled and Adcock will face Richardson. 

Richardson is 8-for-10 this regional, so facing him with a runner at third is dangerous. Adcock forces a hard grounder to third. McLaughlin scoops it up, fires to first and the threat is over. Arkansas has gotten over that first huge hump.

,ARKANSAS 1, TCU 0

2nd inning (Top)

Can't really explain it, but the energy is just different in Baum-Walker today. There are way fewer fans than we've seen all year because of the rain delays, but the ones who are here are having a lot of fun. It's not the intimidating or heartbroken vibe usually seen in Fayetteville. It's just loose and jovial, which is odd for a game that carries so much weight.

Slavens strikes out swinging after an extended at-bat, then Rowland rolls a grounder up the middle back to Brown and that's out No. 2 of the inning. 

Bolton fights his way to a full count and he takes a hard shot high between the shoulder blades and that looked painful. He's able to walk to first and will still run, but that was scary. That brings up Josenberger with a runner on and the first pitch nearly sails to the backstop as that was a wild one. Brown is really working his catcher. 

Next pitch is in the dirt. Perhaps a crack the Hogs can slip through here? And the next pitch nearly hits Josenberger. Brown is losing it again. The fourth pitch misses down low and Bohrofen comes up with a legitimate shot at a two-out rally.

Bohrofen swings at the first pitch he sees and it touches the bottom of the clouds. This is going to take a long time to come in. There's a little confusion as to who's going to catch it. However, Nunez runs all the way from center field and makes the catch on the edge of the grass behind short stop. Still 1-0.

Mid-Inning break

WHAT WILL SCHEDULES LOOK LIKE FOR ARKANSAS, TEXAS
AND OKLAHOMA UNDER NEW SEC FOOTBALL FORMAT

2nd inning (Bottom)

Adcock gives up a hard single that was lined into left field by Byrne. Now he hits Silva to put the first two on and Hagan Smith is up in the bullpen. Adcock goes 2-0 to Maxwell and he's looking a little in his head. The confident young man who was pounding the strike zone looks like he's doubting himself a little.

Hobbs is out to the mound now for a long conversation and the question now is whether that was an actual coaching moment of whether that was for the sake of letting Smith get a few more pitches in. Maxwell really wants to bunt and he drops it perfectly down the first base line. Adcock does a good job making the play quickly and getting the throw to first, but that puts runners at second and third with only one out.

That will be it for Adcock. Van Horn doesn't want to see whether the junior can handle the pressure. Smith is on his way out. 

Smith goes 0-2 to Austin Davis, but Davis rips the third pitch right up the middle. Two runs will score. To make matters worse, the Hogs threw the ball to the plate even though there wasn't a play instead of second and now the speedy Davis is standing on second looking to add to this TCU 2-1 lead.

Smith throws three straight sliders to Nunez to strike him out and opens on Bowen with two strikes. Literally every pitch Smith has thrown this inning has been a strike. Davis just hit one of them. And Davis steals third. the Horned Frogs are 90 feet away from stretching this lead.

Smith throw a fastball that looked slightly outside, but the ump says it hit the corner and the Hogs are out of the inning.

TCU 2, ARKANSAS 1

3rd inning (Top)

Wegner reaches outside on what would have been Ball 2 and grounds out to start the inning. Brown is all over the place on his pitches and Arkansas keeps letting this guy off the hook.

McLaughlin rips a liner to the gap in left. It's slicing down and Nunez makes a diving catch to rob what should have been a double. It's just so hard to get runs against these Horned Frogs. Diggs gets jammed in and pops one up and a pitcher who can't get near the strike zone blows through that inning with little effort.

Mid-Inning break

IF CHOICE WAS INVESTING IN RON HOLLAND OR DEVO DAVIS
THEN THERE WAS NO CHOICE TO BE MADE

3rd inning (Bottom)

Smith is still killing the strike zone as he sends the lead-off back to the bench rather quickly and is throwing nasty stuff to Fontanelle. Smith has TCU guessing and he's really in the zone. Down goes Fontanelle on the slider and that's four consecutive strikeouts, which brings Richardson to the plate who has been working hard on an IHOP NIL deal when he's had a microphone put in his face.

Richardson gets twisted into a pretzel on a slider and then flies out to right on his next pitch. He's now 0-for-2 today. Coming into the game, he only had two at-bats without a hit, so the Hogs are really doing a great job on him.

TCU 2, ARKANSAS 1

4th inning (Top)

Cali pops up the first pitch he sees and this Arkansas team refuses to work counts on an inaccurate pitcher who almost never hits the strike zone. Slavens strikes out swinging at one in the first and one of the most befuddling no-hitters of all time is taking place. Brown finally throws an actual strike for what may be the first time all game to get Rowland and he's out of the inning without barely breaking a sweat.

Mid-Inning break

VAN HORN SAYS WOOD'S PITCHING ISSUES STRICTLY IN FRESHMAN'S HEAD

4th inning (Bottom)

Byrne gets the barrel around on a fast ball over the middle of the plate and hits a hard line drive off the top of the yellow pad in left. It ricocheted so hard off the fence that it shot past Wegner and looked like it might have enough momentum to come more than halfway back to the infield. That was a hard shot and Byrne is standing at second with a double.

Smith gets Silva swinging and the K's are really starting to pile up. If he could just get some sort of patience at the plate by his own hitters, Arkansas could get the win. Smith gets Maxwell to ground out on a 3-2 count to get the second out and keep Byrne at second.

Smith may be drenched in sweat from the heat, but he's not sweating the TCU hitters. Three straight sliders for strikes, the last one freezing Nunez and Arkansas heads into the fifth with a chance to break this thing open.

TCU 2, ARKANSAS 1

5th inning (Top)

Bolton is up and he looks like he's setting the tone at being a little more patient against the routinely wild Brown. He lifts a 2-1 pitch to the track in right-center and Brown has thrown 70 pitches without giving up a hit.

Josenberger rips a hard shot down the right field line, but it is ruled foul. He then puts a second pitch in the stands just off the right field foul like to keep the at-bat alive and then draws Ball 4 as the Razorbacks are starting to have much better at-bats. Josenberger then steals on the first pitch and is able to beat a great throw.

Bohrofen works a 3-0 count and he's got a chance right here to definitely see a fast ball right down the middle if he gets the green light because Brown realizes Arkansas is starting to hold off. Brown does exactly that and Bohrofen watches. But he doesn't watch the next one. That's deep to center. It looks like it's got the distance. That ball is gone. Two-run shot off the batter's eye in center and Arkansas is up 3-2. 

That brings up Wegner who has shown he's got a little of his power back, but he's just not been seeing the ball as well as he was to start the season. But Wegner sees this one. What a monster shot. That one is on the roof of the home run landing in right and it comes down against the back of the landing where people thought it was safe to stand. Razorbacks lead 4-2. 

And that will do it for Brown. The no-hitter is gone and so is Brown. Meanwhile, Eric Musselman is in the Hog Pen signing flags.

Abeldt comes in to strike out McLaughlin and gets Diggs to ground out to end the inning.      

Mid-Inning break

SHOULD SEC CONTRACTION COME, FACTS STRONGLY SAY HOGS SHOULDN'T BE ON CHOPPING BLOCK

5th inning (Bottom)

Bowen hits a hard grounder down the line that gets stuck in the left field corner, allowing Bowen to cruise into second with a double.

Smith is going to get a visit to the mound. This is probably about his pitch count. Between yesterday and today, he's sitting around 105 pitches, so you would think that no matter what, this is his last inning.

After giving up a tough walk to place runners at first and second, Smith gets Fontenelle to drive one into the dirt in front of the plate to get the first out, but that moves the runners to second and third for Richardson. He hits a hard grounder to second that will score Bowen to make it 4-3, but the Razorbacks get a much needed second out. He then gets Byrne to ground to Bolton at short to end the inning, allowing Arkansas to hold onto the lead.

ARKANSAS 4, TCU 2

6th inning (Top)

Cali will start things off for the Razorbacks. He pops up a 2-2 pitch into foul territory just behind first base and there's one down in the sixth. 

Slavens, who has been having a tough day, gets a hard grounder up the middle that coasts through for a single and Arkansas is in business once again. Slavens gets caught by Abeldt trying to take off on the pick-off move. However, Slavens keeps running, Fontenelle struggles to get the ball out of his glove and overthrows second base. Slavens is somehow safe at second and the Razorbacks have a man in scoring position for Bolton with two outs. 

Bolton drives a bouncer back to the pitcher who makes a great catch on an act of self preservation to get the final out of the inning.

Mid-Inning break

WHY SEC, ESPN LOSES IF DECISION ISN'T TO GO
WITH EIGHT CONFERENCE GAMES

6th inning (Bottom)

So that is indeed it for Smith. He goes 3^2/3 innings, recording six strikeouts and giving up only one earned run with two walks. He probably went a few pitches longer than the staff would have liked, but Arkansas needed every one of them.

That puts the game on the shoulders of Zach Morris. His first pitch is a line drive single to lands in shallow right to start TCU off with a runner. Maxwell comes up and drops a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to second. Morris fields it cleanly and gets the first out of the inning. 

That brings up a very dangerous Austin Davis. Davis turns on a 1-2 pitch and this one's got a chance. Wegner's back to the fence and he watches that curve ball drift into the bullpen, giving the Horned Frogs the lead once again, 5-4.

Gage Wood is up in the pen and Morris walks the next hitter, bringing Bowen to the plate with a chance to extend the lead. Davis now takes second.

Bowen grounds to second and there are now two outs. Van Horn is hoping to avoid putting Wood into a difficult situation with the season on the line. Morris forces Taylor into a grounder, but Cali misplays the high chopper and can't get the throw to first in time and everyone' safe. 

Fontenelle wastes not time making the Razorbacks pay. He slides a grounder past a diving Cali at second and that will be it for Morris as TCU now leads 6-4. That will bring in Gage Wood.

Wood quickly gets Richardson to fly out to right field and the Razorbacks are down to nine outs to generate at least two runs or their season comes to an end.

TCU 6, ARKANSAS 4      

7th inning (Top)

Josenberger with a hard line drive to center to lead off the inning, but Nunez is able to sprint up and make the catch. Eight outs remaining. That brings up Bohrofen who ended the no-hitter with a home run last time he was up.

Bohrofen misses on a pitch low and outside and the Hogs are down to seven outs. Remember that fun, carefree dancing energy in Baum-Walker, ignoring the weight of the game? Well, that's gone. There's a heavy, dead feeling now as if Razorback fans have resigned themselves to a loss.

Wegner watches strike three, and with six outs left, those fans might be right.

Mid-Inning break

BIGGEST CHANGE TO COME FROM SEC MEETINGS
MIGHT NOT BE ON FOOTBALL SIDE

7th inning (Bottom)

Well, if the fans were hanging onto any hope, it's gone now. Wood gives up a home run to the first batter he faces this inning as Byrne drops one over just in front of the scoreboard to pretty much put this one out of reach at 7-4. 

Wood gets Silva to ground out and Boyers to fly out to center. That brings up Davis, who put TCU in the lead with a home run the last time he came up and it looks like Wood isn't going to throw anything anywhere near Davis. He's thrown in the dirt off the plate. The's thrown to the backstop. He's thrown one over the head of Davis, but somehow manages to work a full count and gets Davis swinging at a pitch up by his eyes to get out of the inning.

On a side note, McEntire was out in the bullpen warming up.

TCU 7, ARKANSAS 4 

8th inning (Top)

McLaughlin hits a high chopper up the middle, but Silva makes a great play and the Razorbacks are now five outs away from football season with Diggs at the plate. He's struggled quite a bit today, so it will be interesting to see if he can continue his knack for pulling dramatic moments out of nowhere to get Arkansas back in this.

Diggs draws a walk on five pitches and there's a glimmer of hope as Abeldt looks like he's running out of gas and you can tell the crowd senses it. Cali grounds into a double play, taking the crowd out of it and we are now three outs away from swinging the spotlight over to Sam Pittman and trying to learn the excessively long list of players he's brought in to join the Razorback football roster.

Mid-Inning break

RANDOM NOTES: NCAA BASEBALL REGIONALS

8th inning (Bottom)

Wood gets Nunez to fly out, then Bowen rips a line drive off the bottom of the fence in the left field corner to give TCU a chance to make this score look a little closer to how things have been all year long between these teams. He is in with a double. Now Wood throws it to the backstop and Bowen cruises over to third. Arkansas will now intentionally walk Taylor to allow for the double play to face Fontenelle. 

Nunez steals second right away, so that strategy was a waste. All that did was make it where two runs can score when Fontenelle gives up a double to the same corner in left that Bowen hit it and it's now 9-4. 

Wood is done and so are the Razorbacks. It will take a miracle to come back from this one. As Christian Foutch comes in for Wood, I can't help but think that this game is missing something. That's right. Richardson hasn't hit a home run. Well, at least there's solace in that.

Nevermind.

Richardson with a moon shot on Foutch's first pitch that goes deep to center and it's 11-4. Now Byrne is up next and that will be a home run to right field as TCU goes back-to-back and it's now 12-4. Despite this offensive burst, Arkansas is still in line to have its best game against TCU from a defensive standpoint if these pitchers manage to not give up more than five more runs. 

There's a few pop-ups and Arkansas has done it. They have managed to hold TCU under 18 runs for the first time this season.

TCU 12, ARKANSAS 4

9th inning (Top)

Side note, it looks like Richardson may have pulled a hamstring while hugging a teammate in the dugout. 

So, with three outs, we'll just keep this simple.

Out 1.

Walk.

Out 2.

Out 3. 

TCU gets two wins in Fayetteville to win the regional after only winning two in its entire history. Welcome to football season everyone.

Mid-Inning break

RAZORBACK FOOTBALL'S TIMES, NETWORK SET FOR FIRST THREE GAMES

9th inning (Bottom)

TCU 12, ARKANSAS 4