FAYETTEVILLE -- Dominic Fletcher just kept swinging Tuesday.
The freshman center fielder had key hits in three big innings as the No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks beat Memphis 16-7 in front of 3,155 at Baum Stadium. The teams are scheduled to play again today at 6:30 p.m. at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
Fletcher went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored and finished a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. He gave the Razorbacks (30-8) the lead in two separate innings, and he had the hit that sparked a three-run second that tied the game.
"Any time you're in the box with runners in scoring position, you're just trying to get the job done for the team," Fletcher said. "I just happened to be lucky enough to get those hits in."
Fletcher's RBI single in the fifth inning gave the Razorbacks an 8-7 lead. It scored Carson Shaddy, who hit a leadoff triple in the inning.
The hit was part of a four-run fifth for Arkansas that answered Memphis' four runs off sophomore reliever Jake Reindl in the top of the inning. The Tigers (21-16) tied the game 7-7 on a leadoff home run from Tyler Webb and Zach Schritenthal's three-run double.
"We basically just erased the inning they had," University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We swung the momentum back over to us, and then it seemed like after that our pitchers settled in and did a nice job."
Arkansas had five consecutive batters reach with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, including RBI hits from Chad Spanberger and Luke Bonfield. The inning ended when Bonfield tried to score from second on a single by Jared Gates, but he was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Colton Neel.
"I feel like our team does a really good job responding to big innings," Bonfield said. "You can take a look at a lot of our games ... where our team is saying, 'All right, they scored on us first but we can relax, do our job and get to work.' "
Fletcher also had a three-run triple in the third inning to give the Razorbacks a 6-3 lead, and his double in the second helped Arkansas overcome a 3-0 deficit. All of Fletcher's hits came with one out in the inning.
The triple came during a seven-pitch at-bat in which Fletcher fouled off the first six pitches from Memphis starter Jonathan Bowlan.
The Razorbacks had 15 hits against Memphis. Arkansas has at least 11 hits in its past five games.
"I just think some guys are feeling it pretty good," Van Horn said. "They just feed off each other confidence-wise.
"We have a good lineup that complements each other. They know that probably to stay in the lineup they've got to produce, and they've been doing a great job."
Arkansas freshman relievers Matt Cronin, Evan Lee and Angus Denton threw 4⅓ scoreless innings to end the game. Cronin earned his second victory with a 1⅓-inning performance.
Memphis took a 3-0 lead against Arkansas starter Barrett Loseke in the first inning. Alec Trela's two-out single extended the inning, and Andy Bowman followed with a three-run home run.
Van Horn said earlier in the week that Loseke was auditioning for the No. 3 weekend starter role, but he allowed 3 hits and walked 3 in 3-plus innings.
"He was just OK," Van Horn said. "It was a command thing, and he just had trouble getting ahead of hitters. It seemed like he was always working from behind.
"[Sunday] will probably be TBA the rest of the year, unfortunately. Maybe somebody will step up and be the guy, but as of right now I think that's what we're going to do."
Up next
NO. 14 ARKANSAS VS. MEMPHIS
WHEN 6:30 p.m. today WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock RADIO Razorback Sports Network. Not all games will be carried by all affiliates. Check local listings. TELEVISION None INTERNET None RECORDS Arkansas 30-8; Memphis 21-16
Sports on 04/19/2017