2008 Woodie Awards
Hogs hold on for pivotal win
Richards works out of bases loaded jam in ninth
Matt Jones
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Sports
Arkansas sophomore Stephen Richards made easy work early in the Razorbacks' series opener with Tennessee Friday night at Baum Stadium. The southpaw struck out the first five Volunteer batters he faced, but found outs six, seven and eight hard to come by in the Hogs' 5-4 win.
"I kind of scared myself a little at the end," Richards said. "I got into some trouble I didn't really need to get into. Luckily I was able to get out of it and make some pitches."
Richards' trouble escalated quickly after taking a 5-3 lead into the top of the ninth inning.
Tennessee hit three straight singles off the unofficial Razorback closer, the third of which from Danny Lima plated Daniel Beasley to pull the Vols within 5-4.
Richards quickly redeemed himself with a great defensive play, forcing out Jeff Lockwood at third base on an Andy Simunic bunt, but failed to clean Kentrall Davis' bunt one batter later to load the bases with one out for the Vols.
Richards said a visit to the mound from Razorback pitching coach Dave Jorn after the slip helped calm his nerves.
"He gave me a lot of confidence," Richards said. "He said, 'You have the stuff. You can do what you have to do. You just have to believe.' After that I got some confidence back and started to bear down and make some pitches."
Richards returned to his dominant form against Tennessee standout freshman Yan Gomes, who had helped chase Arkansas starter Dallas Keuchel with a home run to left field in the top of the sixth inning.
Richards (2-3) struck out Gomes and got Cody Brown to fly out to center field to earn the win for the Hogs (21-16, 6-9 Southeastern Conference).
"He made some quality pitches to Gomes," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said, "and ended up getting us a big out there with Brown popping up to end the ball game."
Arkansas took a 5-3 lead off the bat of catcher Ryan Cisterna in the bottom of the seventh to break out of a 3-3 deadlock.
Cisterna improved his hitting streak to six games with the homer, a streak in which he is hitting .375.
"I kind of scared myself a little at the end," Richards said. "I got into some trouble I didn't really need to get into. Luckily I was able to get out of it and make some pitches."
Richards' trouble escalated quickly after taking a 5-3 lead into the top of the ninth inning.
Tennessee hit three straight singles off the unofficial Razorback closer, the third of which from Danny Lima plated Daniel Beasley to pull the Vols within 5-4.
Richards quickly redeemed himself with a great defensive play, forcing out Jeff Lockwood at third base on an Andy Simunic bunt, but failed to clean Kentrall Davis' bunt one batter later to load the bases with one out for the Vols.
Richards said a visit to the mound from Razorback pitching coach Dave Jorn after the slip helped calm his nerves.
"He gave me a lot of confidence," Richards said. "He said, 'You have the stuff. You can do what you have to do. You just have to believe.' After that I got some confidence back and started to bear down and make some pitches."
Richards returned to his dominant form against Tennessee standout freshman Yan Gomes, who had helped chase Arkansas starter Dallas Keuchel with a home run to left field in the top of the sixth inning.
Richards (2-3) struck out Gomes and got Cody Brown to fly out to center field to earn the win for the Hogs (21-16, 6-9 Southeastern Conference).
"He made some quality pitches to Gomes," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said, "and ended up getting us a big out there with Brown popping up to end the ball game."
Arkansas took a 5-3 lead off the bat of catcher Ryan Cisterna in the bottom of the seventh to break out of a 3-3 deadlock.
Cisterna improved his hitting streak to six games with the homer, a streak in which he is hitting .375.
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