FAYETTEVILLE — For the first time this season, Arkansas’ pitchers combined for a shutout Saturday afternoon.

Led by starter Patrick Wicklander, three different Razorbacks silenced Gonzaga’s bats on their way to a 5-0 win at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Bulldogs racked up eight runs on 16 hits in the first two games of the series, but were limited to six base runners in Game 3, with only two reaching on hits.

With the win, Arkansas improves to 6-0 for the first time since 2017, while Gonzaga drops to 2-5.

The Razorbacks will try to complete the four-game sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday. The forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain, but head coach Dave Van Horn said the Bulldogs don’t leave Fayetteville until Monday and they’d make every effort to get the game in Sunday.

Redshirt sophomore Caleb Bolden (0-0, 0.00 ERA) gets the nod for Arkansas after throwing three scoreless innings last Saturday. It will be the right-hander’s first start since April 17, 2018, against Missouri State, as he missed all of last season because of Tommy John surgery. Gonzaga will counter with senior right-hander Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (0-1, 4.50 ERA).

SEC Network-plus will stream the game, meaning it can be watched online on ESPN3.com or on the WatchESPN app.

Wicklander’s Gem

Although he threw five scoreless innings in his first outing of the season, Wicklander was even better against Gonzaga on Saturday.

The left-hander from California allowed half as many base runners in one fewer inning than he did against Eastern Illinois, as he gave up just one hit and two free passes - one walk and one hit by pitch - in six innings. He also struck out seven again, bringing his season total to 14 in 11 innings.

“He had a really good outing, better than last weekend’s by a lot, in my opinion,” Van Horn said. “He gave us six really good innings.

“He got behind a couple of times and battled his way back. What did he give up? One hit? What more could we ask for, it was a great outing.”

The key for Wicklander on Saturday was throwing first-pitch strikes - which he did against 16 of the 20 batters he faced - and getting ahead in counts, which helped keep his pitch count low.

“The whole approach we had today was just to mix pitches, get ahead and stay ahead,” Wicklander said. “With (catcher Casey) Opitz and (pitching coach Matt) Hobbs, we just kind of went with that plan and we just executed it throughout six innings.”

The only time he really struggled came with two outs in the second inning, when he walked Stephen Lund on five pitches and then plunked Josh Bristyan. A mound visit from Hobbs seemed to settle him down, though, and he retired the next eight Bulldogs.

Bristyan notched the only hit against Wicklander when he hit a ball a few feet to shortstop Casey Martin’s left for a single into center, but he was thrown out trying to steal second.

Sitting at 82 pitches, the Razorbacks sent him out for the seventh and he retired Gonzaga in order. He needed only seven pitches to do it, getting preseason All-WCC selections Ernie Yake and Brett Harris to pop a bunt up and strike out looking, respectively.

“We were going to let him get through that inning if he could, but obviously if he got up to 100 pitches we’d have got him,” Van Horn said. “I think he knew that too. He came and peppered the zone.”

Through two starts, Wicklander has yet to allow a run and has given up just four hits and three walks in 11 innings, giving him a 0.00 ERA and 0.64 WHIP.

“He’s getting bigger and stronger,” Van Horn said. “He threw hard the first few innings. He was throwing the ball 92, 94 miles an hour, throwing his change-up a lot. Really didn’t have the breaking ball early, but then the breaking ball got better. He started getting outs with it. Just a good outing.”

Moore Stays Hot

The fans at Baum-Walker Stadium on Saturday will probably remember it as the Robert Moore game.

A 17-year-old who skipped his senior season of high school to join the Razorbacks early, he got off to a slow start against Eastern Illinois. He struggled more than any other starter, going 1 for 12 (.083) with a team-high four strikeouts.

In between Sunday’s finale against the Panthers and Thursday’s series-opener against the Bulldogs, though, he made some adjustments.

“I was watching video of my at bats and I didn’t realize I was breathing so heavily the first weekend,” Moore said. “I just tried to slow it down and just take deep breaths. Casey has really helped me in trying to slow things down. That’s probably been the biggest difference.”

That calm demeanor helped him notch yet another two-out RBI in his first at bat of Game 3, as he hit a line drive to center that drove in Christian Franklin and gave the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead.

After coming around to score following a leadoff single in the fifth, Moore hit what looked like a high fly out to left that would end the sixth inning. Even though he slammed his bat down in frustration, the ball carried over the fence and into the bullpen for a two-run home run.

“We take BP every day and I know if you hit a ball in the air - unless you’re Kjerstad - it’s probably not going to get out to that part of the ballpark,” Moore said. “But I guess we had a different jet stream today and it just went out.”

The opposite-field homer was the complete opposite of what he did on opening weekend, as a hard-hit ball to right was kept in the park because of the wind. It also gave him three two-out RBIs for the game after he also knocked in two with a two-out double Thursday.

Including his two RBI hits Friday, which came with no outs, Moore now has seven RBIs this weekend.

“I think he’s starting to relax at the plate a little bit,” Van Horn said. “He got a ball up in the air today and got it out of the park; the wind helped it out. He hit one last weekend that would have been out of the park but the win pushed it back.”

The play Moore said was most memorable, though, was actually in the field. He turned a smooth double play in the eighth inning and then made a tremendous play to end the inning.

Mason Marenco hit a slow roller toward the hole between Moore and first baseman Cole Austin, forcing the second baseman to run a long way. He got to the ball, scooped it up, flipped it to Austin with his glove for the out and never broke stride as he continued running to the field.