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1. Red Raider of the Game
In a game where no player was free from mistakes, the best player today was pitcher Jonathan Nicholson, who pitched the final 2 innings. With the Red Raider offense struggling, if a comeback was going to happen, the pitching would have to be lights out. Jonathan allowed just 1 hit and no runs.
2. Play That Impacted the Game
After Ty Damron pitched 2 perfect innings, retiring 6 straight batters, he allowed 2 identical singles to left. With 2 on and no outs, it was time to get a ground out, maybe even a double play. He got one ground out that advanced the runners, but then there was a wild pitch and things unraveled from there. He would only record 1 more out, leaving after 2.2 innings and 4 runs allowed (3 earned).
3. Stat of the Game
11. We left 11 runners on base including the bases loaded in the 1st and 7th innings.
4. Forgotten Play of the Game
Forgotten in the game, partially due to the final score, and partially due to it happening very early, was Neslony's 2-out RBI double in the 1st inning. Without the 5-run outburst we had in the 1st, this game could have looked much worse. Neslony continued a hot hand at the plate this weekend, especially when Gute and Smith were relatively quiet.
5. Big Reason Tech Lost the Game
The official scoresheet only shows 1 error, credited to Garcia in the first, but there were too many negative plays on both sides of the ball in addition to the 11 batters left on. We grounded into a double play 3 times (once with the bases loaded), allowed 2 doubles, a triple, and 2 home runs, plunked 2 batters, and walked another 4. Neslony had a ball bounce out of his glove and Gute missed a scoop (both would've been the 3rd out and instead let a run score). Too many free bases and free runs were given out today, but good offenses like Arkansas take advantage of mistakes, and that definitely happened today.