The last time the Bryant Hornets and Fayetteville Bulldogs baseball teams played against each other, it was the semifinals of the 2012 Class 7A State Tournament. In a wild four-hour, nine-inning game, the Hornets prevailed 8-7 on the way to the program’s second State title in three years.
The two teams appeared to be on a collision course in the State finals in 2013 but the host Rogers Mounties stunned the Hornets in the semifinals and wound up losing 6-3 to the Bulldogs in the title game.
So when the two teams meet again at the University of Arkansas’ Baum Stadium in Fayetteville today at 4:30 p.m., the State champions from the previous two seasons will be tangling. Another game like that 2012 war could very well be the result.
That game (which you can read about here) included some players that will be involved today. Most notable among them is Bryant Trevor Ezell, now a senior, who started the game at shortstop and drove in pair of runs, as well as Fayetteville’s junior pitcher Andy Pagnozzi, who started the contest as a freshman. Pagnozzi is the son of former Arkansas Razorbacks and St. Louis Cardinals star, Tom Pagnozzi. The hurler was the first of seven used by the Bulldogs that night, working into the sixth and leaving with Bryant in them midst of a four-run rally that put the Hornets ahead 5-2. Among those relievers was sophomore lefty Kyle Pate. Now, as a senior, Pate tossed a shutout on Monday against Cabot to get his team back to the finals.
It figures that both Pagnozzi and Pate will be ready to throw today if needed.
Fayetteville got to the final thanks to that win over Cabot plus a dramatic comeback to beat Little Rock Central 6-5. Central’s Joey Abraham hit a homer to give his team the lead going into the bottom of the seventh but then Pate belted a two-run walk-off blast in the bottom of the inning.
Bryant’s junior duo of Blaine Knight and Zach Jackson each tossed complete-game four-hit shutouts to help the Hornets reach the title game. Jackson set down Conway in the semifinal, a 2-0 win. Knight blanked Fort Smith Southside in the quarterfinals, in a 5-0 win.
Fayetteville is 31-3 on the season. Bryant is 32-2.
