Aloy’s 5-RBI night powers Arkansas to 11-1 win over UAPB in North Little Rock

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

For longest time Tuesday night, it looked like the Arkansas baseball team would stick to the narrative of only playing close games in its lone North Little Rock appearance of the the season.

But then a seven-run sixth inning arrived and the No. 2 Razorbacks ended up with 11-1 run-rule over UAPB before 9,293 fans at Dickey-Stephen Park.

Wehiwa Aloy went 4-for-4 with 5 RBIs in the win for Arkansas (35-6, 14-4 in SEC action), who pushed its mid-week mark to 12-0 this season.

The Razorbacks, who out-hit the Lions 9-7, were playing their seventh game in the last nine away from Baum-Walker Stadium.

“It seems like we have been on the road for two weeks straight, but really we have just played a lot of games,” Van Horn said. “It has been good for our team to travel and play and win.

“It is nice playing in this environment. It is amazing with a lot of fans that can’t get to Northwest Arkansas, at least not very much.

“It kind of made it easier for them to get out here and they really didn’t care how it went. They were loud at the end and it was fun.”

The Razorbacks, who host Florida beginning Friday at 7 p.m. had won or lost by two or few runs in seven of their last nine games in North Little Rock.

Cooper Dossett (3-0), the second of four Razorbacks pitchers on the night, got the win with three scoreless innings while allowing two hits, fanning four and walking no one.

Van Horn said Dossett has earned more high-leverage situations for the rest of the season.

“He’s going to,” Van Horn said. “We were right there to bring him in last week, but didn’t use him. You will probably see him this weekend…It was really good to see him pitch the way he did.”

Pitcher Ben Bybee started for Arkansas and allowed a second-inning run before turning it over to Dossett in the third.

Razorback relievers Christian Foutch and Parker Coil both pitched a scoreless inning to finish up the contest.

“Our pitchers did a good job,” Van Horn said. “They got us back in the dugout and threw a lot of strikes. Turned a double play when we needed to. We put together an inning or two and and then we put together a big inning. It was good to see.”

After Arkansas loaded the bases in sixth without the benefit of a hit, Ryder Helfrick’s walk forced in a run and Peyton Stovall’s sacrifice fly plated another.

The Razorbacks then blew it open when Aloy’s bases-loaded single chased home two, Kendall Diggs singled home another and Nolan Souza’s two-run double pushed it to 10-1.

The run-rule was enforced in the seventh as Ross Lovich and Helfrich walked, Will Edmunson’s fly out moved Lovich to third and Stovall ended it with a sacrifice fly.

Arkansas jumped out 1-0 in the bottom of first when Stovall singled, Ben McLaughlin was hit by the ninth pitch of his at bat and Aloy singled home his first RBI of the night.

UAPB (13-27) tied it on JaKobi Jackson’s double in the top of the second and he moved up to third on a passed ball.

But Bybee left him there by whiffing the next three batters for the Lions, who have lost eight games in a row now and fell to 0-7 in the series between the two.

It stayed that way until Aloy’s two-run, two-out double in the fifth that brought home McLaughlin and Ty Wilmsmeyer and gave Arkansas a 3-1 edge.

“I think he was 4 for 4 and you know things are going your way when you check swing and drive in two runs,” Van Horn said. “That was probably the biggest swing of the game.”

Photo courtesy of Razorbacks Communications

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