All Hogs

Hollan, Smith Combine Powers to Shut Down Auburn

See Slavens hit moon shot and more as Hogs claim SEC opener in frost affair at Baum-Walker

Kent Smith

Hunter Hollan pitches in the SEC opener against Auburn at Baum-Walker Stadium. Hollan got the win off six full innings of work while Hagan Smith got the save pitching the next three in a 7-2 win. (Photo courtesy of Razorback Communications)
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Razorbacks opened SEC play with a win and extended their winning streak by knocking off Auburn 7-2 on a cold afternoon at Baum-Walker.

In a game that was moved back two hours because of cold temperatures, Hunter Holland and Hagan Smith, the No. 2 and No. 1 pitchers respectively after being forced into the role through injuries, combined to pitch all nine innings.

Hollan got the win for his six innings of work and Smith got the save for going the final three with a Brady Slavens high arching home run off the score board sandwich in between to put the Hogs ahead 3-2 after falling behind early.

Here's how it all went down.

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Welcome to Baum-Walker Stadium where today it is a cold one. The Arkansas Razorbacks get set to open SEC play against the Auburn Tigers on a day where the wind chill has been below freezing pretty much all day long.

Fans willing to brave the cold get a special gift. However, it will be surprising to see all 2,000 given away considering the weather.

For those who take an interest in Razorback baseball promotions, here is the schedule or the rest of the season.

Arkansas comes into the game ranked No. 3 to No. 7 depending on which poll you look at with a 15-2 record. The Razorbacks are currently on a 10-game winning streak.

Auburn enters unranked with a 13-3-1 record. The Tigers are coming off a stunning series loss to Southeastern Louisiana that knocked them out of the polls.

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What Auburn is saying about Arkansas

AUBURN TIGERS PREVIEW THE ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

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Taking the mound today

Hunter Hollan's jersey hangs in his locker.
Razorback Communications
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Starting line-ups

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1st INNING (Top)

First pitch of the game and the fans are already laying into the umpire. The first two pitches are balls. Kason Howell hits a high chopper to third and Koll is able to make the play at first even if it was closer than he might like.

It's a bright day in Fayetteville now that the weather moved out. Wind is blowing out to right, which is a huge change from the last game against UNLV.

Cole Foster up for Auburn and he drives a hard grounder that gets through into left field to put a runner on first.

Hollan hits Ike Irish on the back side of the elbow and runners are at first and second. It's hard to tell whether it's the cold or the extra pressure of an SEC opener, but he's struggling a bit with control.

No problems there though as Hollan gets Bryson Ware to ground up the middle and Auburn goes down in 11 pitches as the Hogs roll the double play.

1st INNING (Bottom)

Tommy Vale takes the mound for Auburn. The Tiger pitcher has only given up two hits in his lat 14+ innings of work, which is a concern for these Razorback bats.

Josenberger tries to bunt to lead it off and it doesn't fall where he would like. Pretty easy throw over to first and there's one down.

Stovall comes up and he is looking to take advantage of that wind. Huge swings from Stovall. In a bit of irony, Peyton gives a weak swing, hitting a slow dribbler to first where it's fielded next to the bag for the easiest of unassisted outs.

One of the heroes from last game, Jared Wegner, comes to the plate. He's been scaring every pitcher he's faced and with good reason. The Arkansas Mountain Monster has been killing the ball. 

He provides no intimidation for Vale though. He carves up Wegner on three straight pitches and he watches the last one go by on a nasty pitch. Pitching is a lot different when you get into SEC play.

Arkansas 0, Auburn 0

2nd INNING (Top)

Hunter Hollan is dealing as he gets the first two hitters to ground out on what were difficult plays to make at third and short. Bolton charged a high bouncer and snagged it on a short hop to make the throw for the second out of the inning.

Hollan looks much better with his rhythm and accuracy. He's starting to really paint the edges right now. He gets Caden Green to hit a soft floater to the right side of the infield and Auburn goes down in order.

MID-INNING BREAK

Experience of Devo Davis Key in Arkansas Win Over Illinois

2nd INNING (Bottom)

The Razorback mascot is dancing around by the dugout with an Irish themed beer hat as the Hogs get ready to see if they can do anything with Vail's pitching. 

Slavens hits an easy grounder to third and that's now four straight Razorbacks retired in relatively easy fashion by Vail.

Bohrofen can't connect on a shoulder high fastball and these Razorbacks are just not seeing the ball well. They've yet to generate any solid contact.

Diggs hits a slow chopper up the middle and the Razorback bats have nothing for Vail. The throw beats him by a mile and Vail heads to the dugout with a perfect game through two.

Arkansas 0, Auburn 0

3rd INNING (Top)

Hollan picks up where left off. He gets Josh Hall to ground out to Slavens over first for the unassisted out. 

Nate LaRue hits a routine grounder also, but it squirts through the middle and Auburn has a runner on first.

They won't have a runner for long though. LaRue went on first movement and Hollan made a pick-off move to first. LaRue kept running and Slavens threw it to Bolton who made the tag.

That out on the pick was huge because Howell just extended his arms and unloaded on a line drive to left that ends up in the bleachers. Auburn is now on top 1-0, but it definitely could have been worse. 2-0 with only one out would have been a much different story.

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Hollan is mad at himself, but unphased with is arm. He gets Foster to ground out to short on his first pitch and Auburn is down again, but not without doing a little damage.

3rd INNING (Bottom)

Coll, who had a big series earlier this week, becomes the first Razorback to get on base with a walk and the perfect game is broken.

Rowland follows by striking out on four pitches and Vail is rolling again.

Huge play over at first. Coll didn't get back to the bag quickly and the catcher LaRue guns him down on the snap throw. That keeps the prospect of Vail facing the minimum three batters in play as Bolton comes to the plate.

Bolton lays into this one. It's a hard shot that rides the wind to right-center. Hall looked like he was going to catch it, but it kept moving. He made an uncoordinated leap to try to catch it, but it shoots over him and off the wall.

Bolton is on second with a double and the no-hitter is gone. 

That will be all that happens though as Josenberger hits a lazy fly to right-center for the final out. Howeve, if you're Dave Van Horn, you have to feel better about the Hogs starting to make a little better contact.

Auburn 1, Arkansas 0,

4th INNING (Top)

Hollan gets Irish to fly out to left field, but is fully responsible for a bunt single for Ware. Hollan was way too non-chalant on gathering the ball and making the throw. Perhaps he thought he had a lot more time, but Ware beat it out.

Kirby hits a hard liner to center and what a catch by Josenberger. Is he OK? He was running full speed and made the catch before going top of the head first into the wall and his neck folds over.

Josenberger gets up to make the throw in, but he is visibly hurt. He seems very out of it. He's rubbing his shoulder also. 

They're going to review this. Josenberger clearly caught it. He had it in his glove, took several steps, hit the wall and it didn't come out until he started to push himself up. It will be a shocker if this one gets overturned. 

You've got to be kidding. Josenberger is beside himself in the outfield. He took all that punishment to make the catch and the umpires are going to take it away from him. That would have even been a catch in the NFL. Not sure what they think they saw.

The umpires will put runners at first and second as a result.

Hollan walks Stanfield and the bases are loaded.

Green hops into a high pitch and lifts it deep to right field. Bohrofen makes the catch and issues a perfect throw to the plate that hits the catcher on one hop, but Ware gets in under the tag and it's 2-0.

Hollan responds with a nasty curve ball to strike out Hall with four straight strikes and we're headed to the bottom of the fourth.

4th INNING (Bottom)

Stovall walks on five pitches and there's finally a chink in the armor in regard to Vail's pitching. That brings up Wegner who definitely has the power to tie this game up with a single swing.

Wegner starts off 0-2, but then watches three straight to make it a full count. He then fouls a pair of pitches off before drawing a walk on eight pitches. That will bring the Auburn staff to the mound.

That puts runners on first and second with Slavens at the plate. Vail took Slavens to a 2-2 count. However, I thought I may have jinxed him because before the next pitch could be thrown, I told the person next to me that as hard as the wind is blow, he's going to hit it out if he connects. 

Less than a second later, Slavens put one up in the jet stream and it was scoreboard bound. It's a 3-run shot for Slavens and the Hogs have battled back against a pitcher who seemed to really have their number.

Bohrofen walks on five pitches and a team that was facing be run on a perfect game has now put its first four hitters on base. 

Diggs goes down swinging as Vails tries to get things back under control.

Vail goes 0-2 to Coll and that will be all this Auburn coaching staff is willing to see. They'll go to the pen and bring in John Armstrong, a shorter, but sturdy right hander out of Marietta, Georgia.

Just realized that these green Arkansas hats are essentially Oakland A's hats without the apostrophe and S stitched in. Never noticed the A's for both teams look the same.

Armstrong comes in and finishes walking Coll and that puts runners at first and second. Now he throws an outside pitch to Rowland and he reaches out to lift it into left field. It hits off the bottom of the wall and that's going to bring in Bohrofen as the Hogs extend the lead.

Bolton strikes out swinging, but Josenberger keeps the two-out rally going.

He hits a grounder through the infield gap between second and third, Coll got to third at the same time the left fielder got to the ball, but he kept going. It seems to have startled Stanfield as he spiked his throw into the ground while falling down. 

Coll scores and it's 5-2 Arkansas.

Stovall flies out on the first pitch he sees and the inning is over.

Arkansas 5, Auburn 2

5th INNING (Top)

Hollan comes out with the confidence of a lead and strikes out the first two batters he faced. Both were looking as he is really dealing on the mound.

He walks Foster on five pitches, but gets Irish to pound one into the ground that shoots up in the air and its caught by Slavens halfway down the first baseline in fair territory. Slavens makes the tag, sending Irish crashing to the ground in foul territory.

5th INNING (Bottom)

Wegner leads off the inning with a hit as he rolls a grounder up the middle for a single. It was the most un-Wegnerlike hit ever, but effective nonetheless.

Slavens comes up looking for another homer. Instead, Armstrong strikes him out swinging. It was an ugly hard swing that almost snapped Slavens into. His head looked like it hurt from the rotation. One away.

Bohrofen gets one high up in the air to right. The wind carries it to the fence, but it stops there for a really long out and the Hogs are down to their final out of the inning.

Diggs reaches out and pops a flair that gets just over first base into right field. That moves Wegner to third, but he is stopped from scoring on a strange series of events. The throw goes to third from right field instead of home. It sails wide, but the left fielder Stanfield makes a great play while Ware rolls his ankle on third.

Coll grounds out to second on the first pitch he sees and we move on to the sixth.

Arkansas 5, Auburn 2

6th INNING (Top)

Hollan will come out again with 80 pitches on his ledger. He gets Ware to pop up high and the ball gets caught in the wind. Stovall calls it behind second base, but the ball keeps carrying. Josenberger never calls him off and Slavens has to lean back so far and off balance that he goes crashing onto his back on the catch, but he does secure the first out of the game.

Kirby hits a single to left before Hollan gets Stanfield flies out to the same area for out No. 2.

Hollan then throws four straight balls to walk Green and there are now runners at first and second. That's right. On St. Patrick's Day, the Razorbacks are playing a team with a player named Irish and a player named Green.

Van Horn sticks with Hollan and he gets Hall to line out to Slavens at first base. That was a much harder play than it sounds. Slavens was helping keep the runner close at the bag and the ball was hit hard to his right. He had to make a lunge to stab it and save this from being a tie ball game.

That might be the play that decides this game.

MID-INNING BREAK

Defense Drove Two Big Decisions Against Illinois

6th INNING (Bottom)

Rowland with an infield grounder, but the throw is off the tip of the glove at first base and the Hogs have a lead-off runner. 

Bolton takes an 0-2 pitch on the top of the keister and Arkansas has runners on first and second. That will bring the Auburn coach to the mound. While that is going on, Van Horn is having an extensive discussion with Josenberger, who is the next batter up.

Armstrong throws Josenberger a curve with heavy rotation. He had to move the bat almost to the ground on the bunt down the first baseline. Josenberger beats it out and the bases are loaded.

They are literally putting beer hats on babies here in Baum. Something feels so wrong about that, but the bases are indeed drunk.

Stovall his this one about 390 feet. The problem is it lands in front of the 400-foot sign for a long out. That's still good enough to move all the runners to bring in a run and eliminate the possibility of a double play.

It's now 6-2 Hogs and there's the second visit to the mound. That will be it for Armstrong.

Wegner comes up and hits a short hopper toward third. Ware comes up to try to bare hand this, but he can't grip it and he is limping again. Wegner is safe at first and Bolton scores while Josenberger holds at second. 7-2 Hogs.

Slavens puts a charge in one that has a chance, but it's caught at the wall in left field. Josenberger is unable to advance again.

 Bohrofen then comes up and sends a floater to shallow left that is caught, but not before the Razorbacks extend the lead. Unfortunately for Van Horn, there's no way to go Eric Musselman and start running out the clock.

Arkansas 7, Auburn 2

7th INNING (Top)

Hagan Smith is in on the mound for Arkansas now.

Smith strikes out LaRue swinging as he is bouncing between low 80s and mid-90s. He then walked Howell on a full count to give Auburn hope.

Now he walks Foster and the Tigers are gaining momentum with runners on first and second. 

Looks like Smith is done playing around. He has Irish's head spinning and his feet tangled up as he had no idea what was coming on a four-pitch strikeout.

That's two down now and Ware comes to the plate. Ware is still battling that ankle, so it will be interesting to see if he can get any pop in his bat.

That one as all arms as he sends one just under the foot of Smith to Stovall who makes the throw for the final out.

7th INNING (Bottom)

Drew Nelson is on the mound now for Auburn and boy is his stuff filthy. He makes Diggs look like he's in high school again as he strikes him out with a series of hard breaking pitches that left Diggs looking confused.

Same for Coll and Rowland as Nelson strikes out the side. He got Rowland on a fast ball low and outside and before that Coll watched one sail right down the middle that he expected to break out of the zone. Good thing Arkansas has a big lead because Nelson would be trouble.

Arkansas 7, Auburn 2

8th INNING (Top)

Smith is back in to start the inning as the sun begins to dip behind the hills. That has resulted in the field umpires sliding on ski masks to battle the cold.

But it looks like if they need a little heat, they just need to stand next to Smith because he was on fire against Kirby and Stanfield to open the inning.

Both went down awkwardly swinging at breaking pitches down low. Two away.

He then gets Wortham to pop up to shallow right and the Hogs are three outs away from starting SEC play with a win.

MID-INNING BREAK

What Does Eric Musselman Have in His Bag for Kansas?

8th INNING (Bottom)

Nelson continues his ownership of the Razorbacks as he strikes out Bolton. 

Josenberger walks on four straight pitches as Nelson narrowly misses the corner over and over. Stovall, sporting a red neck warmer while batting, watches a pair of close pitches before a pitch that also looked outside if finally called a strike. 

That was all Nelson needed as he got Stovall to nearly dislodge his trachea chasing a high fastball for the strikeout.

Josenberger steals second despite the pick-off throw to first. That takes away the the force for Wegner at the plate.

Wegner walks on five pitches, setting the table for Slavens. 

Well, the table may have been set, but Nelson had the third out on the menu. Slavens grounds out to second to end the inning.

Arkansas 7, Auburn 2

9th INNING (Top)

Smith is still in and he's bringing the heat. Miller pinch hits and pops it up a mile high, but it stays in the infield for the first out of the inning. Two more to win.

Holy cow what a play by Stovall! Wright comes in and hits a high chopper up the middle. Stovall is running hard to his right behind the bag when he makes the catch. 

Through the power of his neck warmer, he was able to swing the weight of his entire body and make the throw to first in time in a crazy work of contortion.

One more to win.

Smith will take care of this one just for giggles and symmetry as he strikes out Howell and the first one's in the books. 

Hogs win. No need to play the bottom because we're done in Fayetteville. First game of the series goes to Arkansas. Good for all those people who sat out there in the cold. At least they got the warm, fuzzy feeling of victory.

9th INNING (Bottom)

Not needed

Arkansas 7, Auburn 2

Published
Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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