Arkansas Downs Northern Colorado 9-2

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Chase Leavitt had three hits and three RBI to lead the Arkansas Razorback baseball team to a 9-2 win over Northern Colorado on Tuesday night at Baum Stadium.

Leavitt was perfect at the plate as he got three hits, all singles, and walked twice in five plate appearances. The three-hit performance matches his career best which he set on March 8 against Siena.

Arkansas (23-17) took the lead in the contest in the fourth inning and never looked back as it poured on seven runs in the fourth and fifth inning to take a commanding lead in the contest. Northern Colorado (14-25) struggled to get the Razorbacks out as they allowed nine hits and walked eight batters between five different pitchers.

Andrew Darr put Arkansas on the scoreboard first in the second inning when he took a 1-0 pitch to the opposite field over the right field wall to make the score 1-0. Northern Colorado would take the lead in the top of the third by pushing two runs across the plate on just one hit as they capitalized on an Arkansas error.

The Razorback fourth opened with a walk to Casey Coon which was followed by a single up the middle by Brett Eibner which scored Coon from second. A sacrifice bunt later and Leavitt singled to center for another run and a Ben Tschepikow double to right center field scored Arkansas’ third run of the inning.

Arkansas would tack on four more in the fifth to blow the game open as it took advantage of two Northern Colorado errors in the inning, both on bunt plays. Jeff Nutt singled to left-center field to extend his hitting streak to nine games and moved all the way to third when a sacrifice bunt by Jacob House was thrown away by the pitcher. Nutt would score on a wild pitch and Coon earned another walk. An Eibner bunt was also thrown away, this time by the third baseman, and another Razorback run would score. With two outs, Leavitt came through again with a single through the right side scoring two runs and giving the Hogs a six-run lead.

Arkansas’ final run came on a Coon single between first and second which scored Nutt who had walked earlier in the inning.

On the mound, Arkansas started Sam Murphy who went four innings of solid work allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits and striking out a career high four batters. Leaving with the lead, he would be replaced by Evan Cox who secured his first win of the season with three strong innings of no run, one-hit ball. Mike Bolsinger wrapped up the contest with two innings of splendid relief, his first since March 30, and struck out four.

The Razorbacks conclude their two-game set with the Bears on Wednesday afternoon at 12:05 p.m. The Wednesday game time is a change from the original schedule to accommodate Northern Colorado’s travel plans.

For more information regarding Razorback baseball or University of Arkansas athletics please visit www.hogwired.com.