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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The fourth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks kicked off their NCAA Regional game Friday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium, beating Central Connecticut State 11-5 with four performances and four-time launcher performances. first year, Connor Noland.
Noland, who took his third win of the year, got the green light to start the first regional game and did not feel like he was going wild during his first playoff appearance. He worked 5.1 innings and only allowed two hits with a deserved point, while not hitting with a batter. This is the third time this year that he has not allowed a walk in five or more runs. In the second consecutive game, he allowed two hits or less.
With Noland in Central Connecticut, the Hogs' offense scored 11 points on 13 shots. Trevor Ezell, Heston Kjerstad, Jack Kenley and Christian Franklin both recorded two or more hits. Both Ezell and Kjerstad had three games, with Ezell qualifying for the best three-on-five line with three RBIs, including a home run in the eighth inning to top the score.
Arkansas (42-17) has won its fifth consecutive regional opening since 2014. The 11 points scored are also the biggest in a regional game since an 11-10 win over the Missouri State in 2017. Razorbacks will now wait for the winner of California and TCU and will play his next game at 18 hours. the Saturday.
The offense bomb out
After scoring only 15 hits in three games at the SEC Tournament last week, Razorback's offense hit the Connecticut's central pitchers' stick to get 13 hits, the maximum in a single match since the victory of 15 against LSU (May 9). . The 11 points were also the strongest since May 11, scoring 11 points on LSU. Arkansas has scored 10 points or more in 20 games this season and 20-0 for these games.
Ezell and Kjerstad go further
Much of the strong offensive was achieved by Trevor Ezell and Heston Kjerstad strikes in Friday's game. Leading just 2-1 at the end of the fourth inning, Kjerstad unloaded his 15th Home race of the year just to the right of the batting eye in the center of the field, giving 3-1 Razorbacks. Kjerstad is now tied with Casey Martin, scorer of the team, and has a goal more than last year. Kjerstad finished the match 3-for-4, adding a double RBI in the bottom of the fifth.
Arkansas started to put the game aside in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring three points in each frame, but Ezell added two more in the eighth with a two-point home run in the Hog Pen in the field left. It was the ninth of the year of Ezell and 25th of her career. The nine home runs are also a personal best for just one season of his career.
Noland shines while Kopps puts an end to its momentum
Make her 17th Earlier this year, Connor Noland was strong on the mound, recording five or more heats for the second week in a row. A native of Greenwood, Arkansas, he pulled out the first nine batters he faced before Central Connecticut recorded its first success. The CSCU was on the board later in the fourth inning with a sacrificial volley, but Noland was able to recover and withdraw his last five batters.
Redshirt junior Kevin Kopps followed Noland out of the midfielder in the middle of the sixth and eliminated four shots on 1.2 runs without a hit, requiring only 28 shots. The four strikeouts tied a career high and this is the sixth time in seven appearances that he has one inning or more.
Razorback Quotables
"I thought it all started with Connor's coming and his many strikes. He managed the first two runs on probably less than 20 shots. He had a lot of balls on the ground. When he has balls on the ground, the two seamen sinks and runs. He seeks to contact and that's what we wanted him to do. Just a good job of our offensive, two big hits and punches here and there. I think Central Connecticut did a very good job beating the bats. They clashed with us and hit the bullets very hard. The game has never really been in hand. We felt compelled to continue scoring and doing a good job on the part of the team, in order to improve offensive things. We only left four riders on base today, so we had some big hits and we did a good job getting them and scoring them. "- Head Coach Dave Van Horn on Team Connecticut's 11-5 win
"I hoped we were going out. Sometimes, just think of the other seasons of this time of year and how they ended. If you think about this 2009 season, we could not get out by the end of the year, and we finally came out late at the end of this first game of the regional. Then we did not stop hitting. I hoped that would happen. We have shown signs of bursting today. We put up good swings. I was just happy to see us driving in some races because it had been a bit of a problem. "- Head Coach Dave Van Horn on offense scored 11 points and 15 hits
"I thought that he had done a very good job in eliminating the low ground early. The striker where he played, is with two shots and he put a shot aside then he threw him a brittle ball and he hit through the 1st base player and the 2nd player base and this gave a little boost. (Kjerstad) was just a little more selective and did not leave the area after a lot of shots when he lost. It was really good to see. "- Head Coach Dave Van Horn on Heston Kjerstad
"I have just attacked the area today. Launch strikes, fill them, keep them in imbalance with reduced speeds. I think this has really been the key to making my exit successful. Just keep them in balance and guess them all the way out. "- Connor Noland on her way out
"It was really good that our team came here. Many people said that we had a hard time getting on the road at A & M and the SEC tournament, but at the end of the day, baseball is right for you. Your attack will not be hot at every game of the year. Each series comes and goes. But I just saw that we stayed true to our approach and that we maintained our approaches. Today, it has borne fruit and we have managed races as we have been almost all season. It was really good for all of us. "- Heston Kjerstad on the offensive
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Arkansas will advance to the Fayetteville Regional winners and face the winner of the TCU and California on Saturday at 6pm. A win on Saturday will put the Pigs in the regional final. All tomorrow's games will be broadcast on the ESPN network family.
For more information on Razorback Baseball, follow @RazorbackBSB on Twitter.
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