Breaking: Hogs are shut out for the first time since 2022

An Alabama freshman pitcher with a 7.88 ERA in three SEC games shut out the top-ranked University of Arkansas baseball club.

Zane Adams, a left-hander who played for Porter (Texas) High School last season, tossed eight innings and led the No. 17 Crimson Tide to a 5-0 victory over the Razorbacks on Sunday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Adams (3-2) matched the eight innings he pitched in three SEC games against Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky, allowing seven runs, ten hits, and a.313 opponents’ batting average.

“What an effort Zane Adams gave us,” Alabama Coach Rob Vaughn said. “He had good stuff and varied pitches. What amazing effort by the young pooch.”

Adams was a mid-week starter until joining the SEC rotation two weeks ago after junior Hagan Banks suffered a season-ending arm injury.

Before Sunday, Adams’ longest outing was 4 1/3 innings against Troy on March 6.

“He threw a lot of strikes and kept some guys off balance,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn stated. “We missed some good pitches and whacked at terrible ones. We got out a lot.

“But, give him credit. He was ahead in the count, but we didn’t get him right away. We hit several hard balls early on, and they flew at everyone. I think our hitters got upset and pressed a little bit.”

Arkansas (30-5, 12-3 SEC) lost their first shutout in 96 games.

Ole Miss was the last club to shut out the Razorbacks, winning 2-0 at the College World Series on June 6, 2022, to conclude Arkansas’ season.

Adams threw 97 pitches, including 63 strikes. He limited the Razorbacks to four hits, one walk, and five strikeouts.

“It felt like nothing could go wrong,” Adams explained. “I didn’t think about where I was tossing the ball. I was not thinking about anything.

“I was just letting it go, and it went where it was supposed to. I simply sort of got into a rhythm.”

Alton Davis, Alabama’s closer, pitched the ninth inning. He walked Wehiwa Aloy with two outs before striking out Nolan Souza swinging to close the game.

“They didn’t give us anything,” Van Horn explained. “And we didn’t hit very well obviously.”

The Razorbacks, who defeated the Crimson Tide 5-3 on Friday night before losing 4-3 in 10 innings on Saturday night, have lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

“I’m proud of these men. “They played hard,” Van Horn stated. “You understand that not every weekend will be your lucky day.

“This game can eat you up a little. We just have to move forward and get better.”

Alabama (24-12, 6-9) took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on Ian Petrutz’ RBI single against Arkansas starter Brady Tygart (3-1).

In the eighth inning, Bryce Eblin blasted a two-run home run against Koty Frank, extending the Crimson Tide advantage to 3-0.

Alabama scored two runs in the eighth inning against Will McEntire, with one coming on a throwing error by catcher Ryder Helfrick.

Tygart pitched five innings, his most since an 11-1 win over Murray State on March 2. He allowed one run, five hits, and two walks while striking out three. He pitched 87 pitches and 54 strikeouts.

“I thought he battled, competed,” Van Horn added. “He didn’t have his breaking ball for the first three innings.” We were anxious since he was unable to land it. Perhaps once every three innings.

“Then, in the last few innings, he started throwing it a little more around the plate, and he got a couple of strikeouts.

“He managed to bring us through five barely down a run. Hey, that is all you can ask. “He did his job.”

Arkansas’ first extra-base hit came in the sixth inning, when Jared Sprague-Lott doubled off the left-field wall with two outs.

Ben McLaughlin followed with a single through the left side, but Sprague-Lott hesitated and barely advanced to third base with Arkansas losing 1-0.

“The ball was hit to the left of the third baseman [Gabe Miller] from a left-handed hitter, so it was kind of sliced on the ground,” Van Horn told ESPN. “[Sprague-Lott] paused because he expected [Miller] to field it and sprint into an out.

“But even if he fields it, he’ll throw out [McLaughlin] at first. Just run. If he fields it, we’ll see what happens. But he had little chance of scoring when he paused and then attempted to restart.

“Yeah, that was a little mistake there in my opinion.”

Adams stranded the potential tying and go-ahead runs by getting Aloy to fly out to center fielder TJ McCants.

Arkansas had a chance to score in the second inning when McLaughlin singled, but McCants made a diving catch on Peyton Holt’s line ball to end the inning.

In 104 Arkansas-Alabama meetings since 1992, the Crimson Tide has won four shutouts, defeating the Razorbacks 10-0 in 2007, 5-0 in 2013, and 10-0 in 2019.

Alabama had dropped five straight games before winning their last two versus Arkansas.

“They’ve got a good team,” Van Horn explained. I believed they had a good team three weeks ago.

“Conference play began, and they got off to a rough start. But they swing the bat as well as anyone we’ve faced in conference play. “They are going to win some games.”

In their victories over Arkansas, the Crimson Tide went 9 for 31 with runners on base. The Razorbacks went 1 for 13.

“This weekend was more about timely hitting,” Van Horn added. “We didn’t acquire too many of them, and it cost us. Alabama had some big two-out hits that did us in and put us away for a little while.

“You’re worried about it, but I think we’ll be alright. We need to return home, relax, and play some terrific baseball.”