ARLINGTON, Texas — Arkansas baseball had their 2020 season cut short after a March 11th win over Grand Canyon, but finally, after over 11 months, the Diamond Hogs are back, taking on # Texas Tech at Globe Life Field in Arlington. Arkansas won the opener 13-9, but the road to 1-0 was a wild one.
The game got off to a late start, first pitch coming around 8:30pm. Zebulon Vermillion got the start for the Razorbacks, and got through four scoreless frames. In the fifth, Arkansas loaded the bases with one out, but cold only plate one, coming off a walk. The long wait may have thrown off Vermillion, who was pulled after giving up a hit and a walk.
That opened the floodgates for the Red Raiders, who took a 5-1 lead in the fifth. Arkansas immediately roared back to tie things at 5-5 in the top of the sixth, before Texas Tech re-took the lead in the bottom of the frame.
Back and forth the teams went, until Arkansas found themselves down to their final three outs, trailing 9-8 in the top of the ninth. But the Diamond Hogs would not go gentle into that good ninth. Back to back singles from Opitz and Wallace opened the inning, then a one out knock from Battle tied the game at nine. Two Texas Tech wild pitches and a Webb single did the rest of the damage, and Arkansas went to the bottom of the ninth on top by four. That was plenty for Elijah Trest to work with, and he locked down the final three outs and the win. A game that was supposed to be played Friday night ended early Sunday morning, and the Arkansas Razorbacks start their season at 1-0.
Arkansas gets #9 Texas Sunday at 7:00pm, that game also only available on FloBaseball.