LSU Gold

Arkansas's Todd Shuts Out Baseball, 5-0,

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
Box Score +0
Arkansas's Todd Shuts Out Baseball, 5-0,

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Junior right-hander Jess Todd blanked LSU through 8.2 innings Saturday to lead third-ranked Arkansas to a 5-0 win over the Tigers in Baum Stadium.

The game was played before a stadium-record crowd of 10,581, breaking the previous mark of 10,147 set on Friday night in the opening game of the series.

Arkansas (36-13, 16-7 SEC) evened the series Saturday at one game apiece after LSU (27-21-1, 10-12-1 SEC) won Friday night’s game, 6-5. The teams meet in the series finale at 12:35 p.m. Sunday.

Junior right-hander Jared Bradford (9-2) will start Sunday’s game on the mound for LSU while Arkansas will counter with junior right-hander Duke Welker (5-2).

Arkansas took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against LSU starter Charlie Furbush as rightfielder Sean Jones led off with a walk and later scored when third baseman Logan Forsythe grounded into a double play.

Furbush and Todd engaged in a pitcher’s duel through the sixth inning as the Hogs held on to the 1-0 advantage.

In the seventh inning, Furbush walked shortstop Matt Willard and surrendered a single to catcher Brian Walker before yielding the mound to reliever Nolan Cain.

Jones sacrificed the runners to second and third before Cain retired second baseman Ben Tschepikow on a grounder to second. Cain intentionally walked Forsythe to load the bases before pinch hitter Jacob Julius hit a ground ball to first base, where Jordan Mayer misplayed it and allowed a run to score.

Cain struck out leftfielder Casey Coon to end the inning as Arkansas to a 2-0 lead into the eighth.

Furbush (3-7) was charged with two runs ? one earned ? on seven hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.

“I thought Charlie Furbush gave us a very solid outing today,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “He certainly pitched well enough to give us a chance to win. We just couldn’t give him any run support. Their pitcher did a very nice job in not allowing us to gain any momentum.”

Todd (7-2) scattered seven hits ? including six singles — through 8.2 innings, recording three walks and a season-high 10 strikeouts.

Arkansas added three runs in the eighth against LSU reliever Louis Coleman. Walker delivered a two-run double and Tschepikow added an RBI triple to increase the Hogs’ lead to 5-0.

Todd, seeking his third straight complete game, allowed a double to catcher Sean Ochinko to start the ninth inning before fanning Mayer for the first out. Todd retired rightfielder Steven Broschofsky on a ground ball; however, he left the game after walking designated hitter Nicholas Pontiff with his 132nd pitch of the contest.

Arkansas reliever Travis Hill walked pinch hitter Ryan Schimpf to load the bases, but third baseman Chris Jackson flied to center to end the game.

Arkansas 5, LSU 0 (May 05, 2007 at Fayetteville, Ark.)
———————————————————————-
LSU……………….. 000 000 000  –  0  7  2      (27-21-1, 10-12-1 SEC)
Arkansas………… 100 000 13X  –  5 11  0      (36-13, 16-7 SEC)
———————————————————————-
Pitchers: LSU – Charlie Furbush; Nolan Cain(7); Louis Coleman(8).
Arkansas – Jess Todd; Travis Hill(9).
Win-Jess Todd(7-2)  Loss-Charlie Furbush(3-7)  T-3:08  A-10727
Furbush faced 2 batters in the 7th.