Fayetteville, Ark. -- Right-hander Duke Welker threw six shutout innings to lead Arkansas to a 9-0 victory over UAlbany in the first round of the NCAA Baseball Championship's Fayetteville Regional on Friday, June 1 before 8,372 fans at Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks, ranked 11th in the national polls, advanced to meet Oklahoma State, who won 6-4 earlier in the day, in the second round.
UAlbany (29-28) will face Creighton, the Missouri Valley Conference champion, in the loser's bracket of this double-elimination regional on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Great Danes are making their first-ever NCAA appearance as the champions of the America East Conference.
Arkansas (42-19) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when designated hitter Jacob Julius singled through the right side with two outs to score Logan Forsythe. However, the at bat ended when UAlbany right fielder Leo Corvino gunned down Casey Coon at the plate. After the Razorbacks had another player thrown out trying to score in the second, rain and lightning caused a 53-minute delay in the top of the third.
Following the suspension of play, Julius delivered again in the bottom of the frame when he lined a 1-2 pitch into the right-field corner for a two-run double. The Razorbacks, who are in the NCAA field for the 20th time, including six straight trips, pulled away in the fourth. In the top half, UAlbany had runners on second and third following Tom Hill's sacrifice, but Welker retired the next two batters to get out of trouble. Arkansas then chased starter John Naples, who hit a batter and gave up a walk with one out. Ben Tschepikow greeted reliever Josh Willimott with a RBI single through the box. Forsythe then belted his ninth home run of the season, when his three-run blast went off the glove of left fielder Mike Konstanty at the top of the fence.
Meanwhile, Welker, a 6-foot-7, 221-pound junior, allowed just two hits in his 18th start of the season. Steve Wyland and Corvino singled in the fourth and sixth, respectively. He recorded seven strikeouts and three walks in his six innings on the hill to improve to 7-5 overall. Reliever Evan Cox threw three scoreless frames and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, as shortstop Tim Smalling collected Corvino's ground ball to get the force at third base to end the threat.
“We were unable to make the plays when we need and got behind the eight-ball,” said UAlbany coach Jon Mueller, whose team had nine of its previous 11 outings heading into the NCAA contest. “Their pitcher did a tremendous job of turning us back when we had opportunities. The (rain) delay hurt (John) Naples. He didn't have as good as stuff after that.”
Wayne Hrozek and Jake Dugger each had two hits, including a pair of RBI singles in the fifth, for the Razorbacks, who won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) West Division and lost to top-ranked Vanderbilt in the conference championship last Sunday.
-agate-
UAlbany (29-28) 000 000 000 - 0 3 3
#11 Arkansas (42-19) 102 420 000 - 9 11 0
John Naples, Josh Willimott (4), Jeff Kaier (6), Matthew Herrick (8) and Chris Wood.
Duke Welker, Evan Cox (7) and Brian Walker, Jeff Nutt.
NCAA Fayetteville Regional Tournament Schedule (All Times Eastern)
Friday, June 1
Game 1 -- #3 Oklahoma State 6, #2 Creighton 4
Game 2 -- #1 Arkansas 9, #4 UAlbany 0
Saturday, June 2
Game 3 ? Creighton (44-15) vs. UAlbany (29-28), 3:30 p.m.
Game 4 ? Oklahoma State (39-19) vs. Arkansas (42-19), 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 3
Game 5 ? Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6 ? Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7:30 pm.
Monday, June 4
Game 7 ? Game 6 opponents (if necessary), 8:30 p.m.
The Automated ScoreBook
Albany at Arkansas
Jun 01, 2007 at Fayetteville, Ark. (Baum Stadium)
Albany 0 (29-28)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Barbato, Al 2b........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 0
Corvino, Leo rf.......... 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 3
Wyland, Steve 3b......... 2 0 1 0 2 0 3 4 0
Hill, Tom dh............. 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Donovan, Sean ss......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2
Sayre, Steve 1b.......... 4 0 0 0 0 3 8 0 2
Konstanty, Mike lf....... 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
West, Dave cf............ 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0
Doyle, Sean ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wood, Chris c............ 2 0 0 0 1 1 8 1 0
Naples, John p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Willimott, Josh p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kaier, Jeff p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Herrick, Matthew p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 29 0 3 0 4 9 24 14 8
Arkansas 9 (42-19)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Tschepikow 2b............ 5 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 2
Forsythe 3b.............. 4 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 0
Coon lf.................. 5 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 1
Walker c................. 4 0 0 0 0 1 8 1 0
Nutt c.................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hamblin 1b............... 2 1 0 0 2 1 11 0 1
Julius dh................ 4 1 2 3 0 1 0 0 0
Hrozek rf................ 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Smalling ss.............. 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 6 0
Dugger cf................ 3 1 2 1 1 0 2 0 0
Welker p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Cox p................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 32 9 11 9 4 6 27 13 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Albany.............. 000 000 000 - 0 3 3
Arkansas............ 102 420 00X - 9 11 0
-------------------------------------------
E - Donovan, S.(18); Sayre, S.(6); West, D.(4). DP - ALBANY 1. LOB - ALBANY
8; AR 6. 2B - Julius(4); Dugger(14). 3B - Konstanty, M(1). HR - Forsythe(9).
HBP - Barbato, A.; Hrozek; Smalling. SH - Hill, T.(4); Smalling(5).
Albany IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Naples, John........ 3.1 7 5 5 3 0 13 18
Willimott, Josh..... 1.2 4 4 2 0 3 10 10
Kaier, Jeff......... 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 6 7
Herrick, Matthew.... 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 3 4
Arkansas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Welker.............. 6.0 2 0 0 3 7 19 23
Cox................. 3.0 1 0 0 1 2 10 12
Win - Welker (7-5). Loss - Naples, J. (8-3). Save - Cox (2).
WP - Willimott, J(3); Welker(10). HB - Naples, J.; Kaier, J.; Cox.
Umpires - Home:Ray Belfiore 1st:Don Novak 2nd:Bruce Ravan 3rd:Steve Mattingly
Start: 6:38 pm Time: 2:48 Attendance: 8372
Game: GAME57
Game notes:
ID-550502
51-minute rain delay in top of the third inning
