LEXINGTON, KY (KFSM) – Dominic Taccolini had gone just eight combined innings in his three previous starts and gave up eight runs. His start at Kentucky Friday night was much, much better.
The Arkansas right-hander struck out 10 and threw a complete game, 10-inning shutout as the Razorbacks snapped an eight game SEC losing streak by taking down Kentucky, 1-0.
“Just a great job by Dominic Taccolini,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He gave us 10 innings of shutout ball and we would’ve taken five innings of shutout ball. He kept his pitch count way down. Obviously, that 10th inning was going to be his last inning, but it was his game to win or lose. We felt like he was throwing good stuff. He had a lot of sink on his fastball and hung one breaking ball to lead off the 10th, but other than that, he was pretty good.”
Taccolini had not made it past the fourth inning in a start against SEC opponents this season but was dominant on the mound as he allowed just five hits and did not walk a batter. The biggest jam Taccolini faced came in the 10th as Kentucky has runners on the corners with one out but his final strikeout of the game and then a ground ball to short ended the threat and the Razorbacks’ skid.
Arkansas and Kentucky will play a doubleheader on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m. CDT.
