BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Connor Noland and Evan Taylor combined for a brace, but their spectacular effort on the mound was wasted in No. 4 Arkansas’ 2-1 loss to Texas A&M (24-13 , 9-7 SEC) on Friday night at Blue Bell Park.
Arkansas fell to 30-8 overall and 11-5 in SEC play with Friday night’s loss. The setback also snapped the Hogs’ nine-game winning streak in the opener of an SEC road series.
Making his 10th start of the season, Noland made his seventh quality start at the team lead against the Aggies. The veteran right-hander whipped up seven innings in six while allowing two runs (both unearned) on two hits and three walks.
Noland and Texas A&M starter Nathan Dettmer were locked in a pitching duel over the first three innings of Friday’s game. The Aggies struck first, however, taking advantage of a rare error by the Arkansas defense, which entered the game with the second-best roster percentage in the nation.
Texas A&M capitalized on the defensive error by scoring twice late in the fourth to open a 2-0 lead. None of the runs were charged to Noland, who lowered his season earned run average to 2.54 in the effort.
Arkansas fell back in sixth on Michael Turner’s RBI single on the right, cutting their deficit to one. The Hogs put runners in second and third to lead the seventh but failed to capitalize as the Aggies escaped the inning unscathed.
The Razorback offense left seven runners on base Friday night, going 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
Taylor threw two no-hitter frames in relief of Noland to preserve the Razorbacks’ second combined hit of the 2022 season. Arkansas’ pitching staff also accomplished the feat in a win over Grambling on March 15. .
Arkansas and Texas A&M continue their streak tomorrow afternoon. The first pitch of Game 2 between the Hogs and Aggies is scheduled for 2 p.m. on SEC Network+ with Andrew Monaco (play-by-play) and Mark Johnson (color) on the call.
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