Tag: Arkansas South Carolina

A two-run home run from Cole Messina in the top of the ninth inning lifted 10th-seeded South Carolina to a 6-5 victory over second-seeded Arkansas in the Razorbacks’ SEC Baseball Tournament opener at the Hoover Met Thursday.

Messina’s home run to straightaway centerfield was his second blast of the day — as well as the first home run allowed by SEC Freshman of the Year Gabe Gaeckle all year — and gave the Gamecocks a 6-4 lead.

Arkansas (43-13 overall) threatened in the bottom of the ninth with three consecutive singles from Peyton Stovall, Hudson White and Ben McLaughlin with one away off South Carolina (35-21) reliever Garrett Gainey. McLaughlin’s single made it a one-run game.

Wehiwa Aloy got ahead 2-0 in the count before grounding out for the second out. Jared Sprague-Lott then flied to left-center to end the game and preserve the Gamecocks’ comeback.

Arkansas will play third-seeded Kentucky in a single-elimination game Thursday in Hoover at 9:30 a.m. CDT. The game can be seen on SEC Network. The Wildcats were clubbed 11-0 by LSU in eight innings Thursday.

Ben Bybee started for Arkansas and quickly found himself in trouble. After allowing back-to-back walks to Blake Jackson and Messina with two outs, Parker Noland smoked a single to left-center to give South Carolina an early 1-0 lead.

The Diamond Hogs tied it in the second inning off Gamecocks starter Eli Jones when McLaughlin singled and later scored on an RBI single from Sprague-Lott.

South Carolina went right back to work in the third off Bybee when Ethan Petry singled following a walk to Austin Brinling. Messina followed with a single up the middle to put the Gamecocks back on top at 2-1.

That was all for Bybee, who parted after 2 1/3 innings. Christian Foutch took over and escaped a bases-loaded jam to end the inning.

Arkansas caught a break in the fourth on a would-be double play ball sent back up the middle. Jones snagged a comebacker but airmailed a throw into centerfield to give the Razorbacks runners at the corners. After Sprague-Lott flied out, South Carolina coach Mark Kingston went to his bullpen and summoned right-hander Ty Good.

Dave Van Horn countered with his own move and removed Nolan Souza for pinch-hitter Ryder Helfrick. The move paid off for Van Horn when Helfrick sent a well-hit sacrifice fly to left to score McLaughlin and tie the game.

Good struck out Ross Lovich with the bases loaded to end the threat and get the Gamecocks out of further trouble. It would be one of several missed opportunities for Arkansas in the game.

South Carolina struck again in the fifth against Parker Coil. Jackson was hit by a pitch before Messina took Coil deep on a pitch up and out over the plate for a two-run home run that traveled 420 feet to dead center for a 4-2 Gamecocks lead.

Will Edmundson led off the seventh with a pinch-hit single for Arkansas. Kendall Diggs followed with a sharp single to right on a 1-2 pitch to put the tying run aboard for the Hogs.

That was all for Good, who departed with the lead after 2 2/3 innings in relief. Gainey came in to face Stovall in a lefty-lefty matchup. Stovall drove an 0-1 pitch over the head of Brinling in center for a double to score Edmundson with Diggs right on his heels and holding at third.

White drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases with no one out. But the Hogs never got the big hit that might have carried them to a victory on this day.

McLaughlin was retired on a fly to right when Petry made a diving catch on a ball that would have landed fair for a bases-clearing double. Diggs scored from third on the play to tie the game, but Petry’s gem to rob McLaughlin of extra bases turned the inning around for South Carolina.

Aloy struck out on four pitches for the second out. Gainey then got out of the inning by retiring Sprague-Lott on a hard-hit fly ball to left to keep it a 4-4 game before Messina’s ninth-inning heroics.

Arkansas outhit South Carolina, 9-8, and left 10 runners on base. Gaeckle (3-3) suffered the loss with Gainey picking up the victory (1-3). Messina’s three-hit, five-RBI day included his 18th and 19th home runs of the year.

Stovall (3-for-5) led the Razorbacks at the plate with three hits, including two doubles.

No. 21 South Carolina used two big innings at the plate, including a four-run sixth, to take down No. 2 Arkansas, 6-3, in Game 1 of a doubleheader in SEC play Saturday at Founders Park.

South Carolina struck first with a sharp two-run single from Talmadge LeCroy off Arkansas starter Mason Molina in the second inning for an early 2-0 lead.

In the sixth, the Gamecocks got run-scoring hits from Austin Brinling and Parker Noland to help build a 6-1 lead. All four sixth-inning runs came against Arkansas relievers Parker Coil and Koty Frank.

The Razorbacks threatened a half-inning later by loading the bases with one away against South Carolina reliever Matthew Becker. But the Hogs could only settle for one run, an RBI fielder’s choice from Kendall Diggs. Left-hander Garrett Gainey got Jack Wagner on a routine fly to right to avoid further damage, keeping the score at 6-2.

Arkansas attempted a ninth inning rally with a leadoff home run from Peyton Stovall. Three singles later, the Razorbacks had the bases loaded with one away for Peyton Holt, who already had two hits in the game.

Holt tapped a pitch back to the mound, allowing Connor McCreery to go home for a force play for the second out. Jayson Jones then struck out chasing a pitch out of the strike zone for the final out to give South Carolina the victory.

Arkansas finished with 12 hits but stranded 13 runners on base. Stovall (3-for-5) had three hits, and Holt (2-5) and Ross Lovich (2-2) each had two hits apiece.

Molina (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season for Arkansas. He left in the fourth after walking two batters that inning and throwing 70 pitches in just 3 1/3 innings — his shortest start of the season. Molina issued seven walks and surrendered two runs.

Becker (5-2) earned the win in relief for South Carolina, holding Arkansas to one run in 2 1/3 innings.

No. 2 Arkansas scratched across two runs in the sixth inning, and Razorbacks pitchers totaled 16 strikeouts in a 2-1 series-opening victory over No. 21 South Carolina Friday night at Founders Park.

Arkansas (33-5 overall, 13-3 SEC) and South Carolina (26-12, 8-8) had just four hits apiece in Friday’s pitcher’s duel. The two teams combined to strand 24 runners on base.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when South Carolina loaded the bases without a ball leaving the infield on two walks and an infield single.

Parker Noland then drove in the game’s first run with an RBI groundout to score Talmadge LeCroy for a brief 1-0 Gamecocks lead.

A half-inning later, it was Arkansas’ turn to load the bases without a ball leaving the diamond. With one away, Gamecocks reliever Chris Veach uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Ben McLaughlin to score the Razorbacks’ first run and tie the game at 1-1.

Jack Wagner then put the Hogs in front with an RBI sac fly to left-center that scored Nolan Souza for a 2-1 lead that would last the rest of the way thanks to clutch pitching from Arkansas ace Hagen Smith and two key Razorbacks relievers.

Freshman Gabe Gaeckle tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. Gaeckle retired eight batters in a row, finishing with five strikeouts and allowing one hit.

With South Carolina threatening in the ninth following a two-out Blake Jackson double off Gaeckle, left-hander Stone Hewlett came on to close out the game by retiring Noland on a grounder to first. Hewlett notched his fourth save of the season and his second in as many games after previously closing out Wednesday’s 5-4 Razorbacks victory over Texas Tech.

South Carolina had just two hits over the final four innings.

Smith earned the win to run his record to 8-0 in 10 starts. Despite allowing a season-high five walks, he yielded just two hits and struck out 11 in six complete innings. Arkansas has won all 10 games that Smith has started.

Ty Good (4-1) suffered the loss for South Carolina. Good took over for Gamecocks starter Roman Kimball, who faced 10 batters and threw just 48 pitches in 2 1/3 innings. Kimball exited the game after surrendering back to back walks in the third inning.

SCHEDULING CHANGE

Before Friday’s game, South Carolina announced that the series would conclude with a doubleheader Saturday due to inclement weather forecast in the region for Sunday.

First pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 12 p.m. CDT with an hour break in the action before the start of Game 2. Both games can be seen on SEC Network+.

With just one regular-season SEC series left, eyes now head toward to the postseason for the Arkansas baseball team.

Well, probably not the team itself, but its fans and collected media.

The Razorbacks beat South Carolina on Sunday, 5-1, to take the series two games to one. In doing so, Arkansas put itself into first-place in conference. Not just the Western Division, but the SEC as a whole. A sweep against Vanderbilt in the final series would lock things up.

Of course, a sweep against a perennial national powerhouse on the road is a tough ask. And even if the Diamond Hogs don’t finish as the regular-season champions, they won’t finish worse than fourth in the SEC. That designation will almost certainly be enough to earn a national seed when the NCAA Tournament is announced in a few weeks.

What’s scariest for opposing teams is that the Razorbacks are getting healthier.

Tavian Josenberger returned for the series against South Carolina and hit lead-off all weekend. Brady Tygart, a preseason All-American, pitched three innings and struck out four while only allowing one base-runner in the second game of the weekend.

Second baseman Peyton Stovall and outfielder Jared Wegner are still out, but coach Dave Van Horn anticipated the two should be good to go for the SEC Tournament barring any setbacks. Wegner was the team’s best hitter, alongside Jace Bohrofen, until he was hurt. Stovall provides Arkansas’ most significant experience at the high levels come tournament time.

So while a sweep would be dynamite for the Razorbacks, it isn’t necessary when it comes to projecting how the postseason will turn. The Diamond Hogs are looking scary, regardless.

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