Arkansas baseball beats UNC in NCAA Tournament Chapel Hill Super Regional Game 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Arkansas baseball is one win away from its 11th trip to the College World Series.
A big third inning and a solid effort from senior pitcher Connor Noland helped the Razorbacks earn a 4-1 win against North Carolina in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional on Saturday.
Arkansas (42-19), which beat No. 7-seed Oklahoma State in the Stillwater Regional, will try to wrap up the super regional series Sunday at noon CT.
The 10th-seeded Tar Heels (42-21) will try to force a winner-take-all game Monday.
Here are three takeaways from Arkansas’ win in the opening game of the super regional.
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Peyton Stovall gets offense going
In the No. 8 spot in the lineup, freshman Peyton Stovall got the Razorbacks going at the plate in a three-run fifth inning.
Stovall, who entered Saturday with four home runs on the season, crushed his fifth homer into the top of the net beyond the right-field wall at Boshamer Stadium to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead.
“(UNC starting pitcher Max Carlson) was challenging in my first at-bat with some fastballs," Stovall said.
". … He challenged me and I knew in my second at-bat he was gonna go right back to it. I just wanted to put a good swing on it and make solid contact. That’s what I did.”
It was Stovall’s first home run since May 19 against Alabama.
After a walk and a single, Brady Slavens roped a single to center field and Cayden Wallace followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Slavens added another run-scoring single in the seventh.
Connor Noland shakes off start
Senior right-handed pitcher Connor Noland got the start and picked up a win with a solid effort after a shaky first inning.
The Tar Heels opened the game with a single and loaded the bases with one out before Noland got out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.
The veteran said he picked up "a lot of confidence" after that momentum swing.
"I think they threw a good punch there in the first," Noland said.
"I think you kind of think that might be their best one of the day. For me, that’s how I thought about it. I just went out there and executed.”
Noland, who pitched 6 ⅔ scoreless innings to pick up his seventh win of the season, retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. He allowed six hits, a walk and finished with six strikeouts.
“I thought he was great,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “I thought he started mixing (pitches) a lot better. … I just thought he did a great job.”
Carolina’s offense sputters
After averaging just under 11 runs in their last three games, the Tar Heels managed just one run against the Razorbacks.
Vance Honeycutt put UNC on the board with a solo home run in the eighth inning for the Tar Heels. It was the fewest runs the Tar Heels have scored in game since a 12-1 loss to Virginia Tech on April 1 in Chapel Hill.
“You gotta give Connor Noland credit," UNC coach Scott Forbes said.
"He was able to locate that breaker, pretty much any count. … Our guys fought, they played hard. You have to give credit to Arkansas. They just beat us today.”
UNC had eight hits and left eight runners on base.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or on Twitter @RoddBaxley.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas baseball beats UNC in NCAA Tournament Super Regional Game 1
