No. 1 Arkansas beats Louisiana Tech, 8-1

RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech’s baseball team struggled to get the bats going in an 8-1 loss to the top-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.

Arkansas (12-0) starting pitcher Zebulon Vermillion worked quickly and efficiently throughout Saturday’s contest, giving up just three hits and one run in eight innings on the mound. The top-ranked Razorbacks scored twice in the first inning behind a two-RBI double from first baseman Brady Slavens and never relinquished the lead.

“I’m very proud of Ryan Jennings coming off the surgery from this past season,” head coach Lane Burroughs said. “He wasn’t sharp, but he competed his tail off.

“He worked through traffic and minimized some innings. Bryson Bales was also a bright spot at the end of the game.”

LA Tech (8-5) scored its sole run of the game in the bottom of the fourth, trimming the Hogs’ advantage to 4-1 when right fielder Steele Netterville reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in leadoff batter Taylor Young from third. Young led off the inning with a four-pitch walk before Hunter Wells tallied a single to advance Young to second base. Parker Bates advanced Young another 90 feet with a flyout to center fiield before Netterville’s RBI.

Arkansas answered Tech’s run in the fourth with another RBI double from Slavens, pushing the visitor’s lead back to four runs at 5-1. The Hogs tacked on three runs late in the ballgame to push the game to its final tally at 8-1.

Starting pitcher Ryan Jennings battled through a talented Arkansas lineup, tossing 5.2 innings on the mound with four strikeouts. The right-hander has made just his fourth appearance for the Bulldogs after missing the 2020 season due to injury.

Redshirt freshman Bryson Bales made his first appearance in a LA Tech uniform with a scoreless ninth inning, tallying his first collegiate strikeout against Arkansas’ Jacob Nesbit. The left-hander is the 15th Bulldog to throw a pitch in a game during the 2021 season.

Shemar Page entered the game for the Bulldogs as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, tallying a two-out single off Vermillion. Logan McLeod and Adarius Myers also entered Saturday’s contest at shortstop and as a pinch hitter, respectively.

LA Tech will close out its series against the top-ranked Razorbacks on Sunday at 11 a.m. The series finale was moved up two hours due to inclement weather projected in Ruston late tomorrow afternoon.