Razorbacks 7, #2 Gamecocks 0: Series Upset

The Razorbacks were carried by starting pitching once again, as they defeated #2 South Carolina in the series rubber match on Saturday.

It was easily the biggest series upset in college baseball this season, as South Carolina began this week ranked number one in the RPI and Arkansas was ranked 112.

Chris Oliver went ham. The guy was slaying Gamecock hitters left and right. He had a career high 10 strikeouts in eight shutout innings of work. His final inning was his strongest when he struck out the side.

The Diamond Hogs batted around in the 2nd inning and scored FIVE runs. Five. Runs. Granted it was only on three hits and South Carolina committed two errors on one play and walked three batters in the innings. The Hogs still had to put the ball in play to make every thing happen. With the bases loaded and two outs, Joe Serrano singled down the right field line and the ball was then mishandled by the right fielder, allowing Serrano to get to second. The throw to second from right field was dropped by the shortstop allowing Benintendi to score all the way from first, clearing the bases. Then, Brian Anderson blasted a RBI double into the right-center field gap. South Carolina was melting down in a way that you'd never think the #2 ranked team would.

The Hogs added another run in the 5th and 6th innings. In the 5th, the bases were loaded with one out and a .120 hitter in Jake Wise stepped up the the plate. So, Dave Van Horn did the most Dave Van Horn thing possible, a suicide squeeze. Wise laid down a perfect bunt down the first base line and Anderson scored before the pitcher scooped up the ball.

In the 6th, Benintendi scored from second on a two-out RBI single by Eric Fisher. It felt like the Hogs were running up the score at this point. It was hard to believe that this Arkansas team lost a home series to South Alabama earlier this season.

Offensively, Serrano lead the way going 2-4 with two RBIs. Benintendi, Anderson, Fisher, and Wise each all had an RBI.

For the first time this season, they sold over 10,000 tickets to a game. There were 7,023 in attendance with 10,103 tickets sold. That blows my mind that over 3,000 people sat on their tickets and didn't come watch the Diamond Hogs win a series against the #2 team in the country.

The Hogs start a two game midweek home series with UNLV on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.