Nothing comes back to bite a pitcher like walking a leadoff hitter. Nobody knows that better now than Wally Marciel.

After pitching five scoreless innings yesterday, Marciel, Kansas’ sophomore left-hander, committed the ultimate pitcher no-no by walking Arkansas catcher Ryan Cisterna to lead off the sixth. Five batters later, third baseman Logan Forsythe and left fielder Casey Coon crossed the plate for the Razorbacks’ only two runs.

These runs were enough to send Kansas (2-4) home with a 2-1 loss.

“I was very pleased with the way we played today,” coach Ritch Price said. “We pitched absolutely fabulous today. We just struggled with the bats.”

Offense was sparse for both squads as Marciel (1-1) and Arkansas (4-0) right-hander James Mahler gave up only one hit each through the first three innings.

During the top of the fourth, Kansas senior left fielder John Allman nearly turned a leadoff walk into offense. Allman then stole second and advanced to third on a Cisterna throwing error. However, Allman was stranded on third as the next three batters behind him struck out.

Marciel too ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth after allowing a leadoff double to Coon. But the next batter, first baseman Andy Wilkins, made a double play to neutralize the threat.

Following Kansas’ one-man rally in the fourth, Arkansas right-hander Mike Bolsinger (1-0) took the mound and dominated Kansas in the next two innings with five strikeouts. Bolsinger and Mahler combined for 11 of Arkansas’ 16 strikeouts on the afternoon.

“It’s a byproduct of not being able to get outside and there’s no doubt we’re behind right now,” Price said.

With little momentum on their side after Bolsinger entered the game, the Razorbacks took advantage of the last good chance Marciel gave them to score.

Two batters after Cisterna’s leadoff walk in the sixth, the rally began. No sooner than Cisterna advanced to second on a wild pitch, Forsythe moved him to third with a single and Cisterna then stole second to move himself into scoring position. Ultimately, Cisterna was nabbed by a fielder’s choice at home on a ball hit by Coon, but Forsythe and Coon were able to move into scoring position on the play.

With two outs, Marciel walked Wilkins to set up a force play at every base. However, the plan fell short when center fielder Brett Eibner singled to left field, sending Forsythe and Coon home for the deciding runs.

Marciel’s afternoon was done after 5.2 innings pitched, two runs allowed, three walks given up and two strikeouts.

“He’s an outstanding competitor,” Price said. “That was a tremendous performance he turned in today. They’re a legitimate, perennial top 25 program. If he can pitch that good against them today, he’s got a chance to win 10-11 games for us before the season’s over.”

Marciel’s replacements, former Razorback sophomore right-hander Brett Bollman and junior right-hander Paul Smyth, pitched 2.1 perfect relief innings, but their pitching wasn’t enough to ignite the Kansas bats.

With Bolsinger in line for the victory, Arkansas dug deeper into its bullpen to keep Kansas on the ropes. Only because of Allman’s runout of a double play in the eighth was Kansas able to score as Arkansas closer Travis Hill earned his second save of the season.

While Price was disappointed, his offense wasn’t more productive. He wasn’t surprised either, considering how rarely Kansas has been able to play at game speed this season.

“Literally, we’re only in spring training is where we’re at,” Price said.

—Edited by Nick Mangiaracina