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After losing consecutive series, including one at home against Auburn last week, there's a lot of chatter about where Arkansas stands regarding the NCAA Tournament. We'll have updated projections later this week, but it seems safe to say that Arkansas' two remaining SEC series, at home this weekend vs Texas A&M and on the road at Missouri are huge.
Once again, it all starts with a Friday night, one-run loss:
From Sunday:
The Arkansas baseball team (30-20, 11-13 SEC) erased an early deficit Sunday afternoon and scored 11 unanswered runs to race past No. 10 Ole Miss (35-14, 15-9) 11-1 at Swayze Field.
Trailing by a run after an inning of play, Arkansas broke out the bats and quickly erased that deficit with a two-out rally in the second inning. After Tyler Spoon reached on a hit by pitch and Baxendale singled up the middle, Bobby Wernes and Michael Bernal delivered back-to-back RBI hits to give Arkansas its first lead of the day at 2-1.
The offense kept coming in the third inning as Eric Fisher extended his hitting streak to eight games with a two-run single to right field and Clark Eagan brought in another run as the Razorbacks extended their lead to 5-1.
Arkansas would add six more insurance runs over the final two innings and set a season-high with 16 hits on its way to a 10-run victory.
After giving up a run in the first inning, starting pitcher Chris Oliver settled in and left the bases loaded in the second frame before facing the minimum over the next five innings to take complete control of the Rebel hitters. Jacob Stone and Michael Gunn each worked hitless innings in the eighth and ninth respectively to seal the victory.
Joe Serrano and Wernes tallied three-hit games, while Eagan, Baxendale and Bernal each recorded a pair of hits in the blowout victory.
From Saturday:
The Arkansas baseball team (29-20, 10-13 SEC) scored four first-inning runs Saturday afternoon, but No. 10 Ole Miss (35-13, 15-8) bounced back and rallied for a 7-4 victory at Swayze Field to clinch the series.
The Razorbacks were swinging hot bats in the first inning, stringing together six consecutive hits to take an early 4-0 lead. Eric Fisher drove in the first two runs of the game with a single through the right side, and Tyler Spoon and followed and made it 3-0 with a base knock to left field.
Blake Baxendale capped the big inning with a single up the middle as Arkansas batted around for the eighth time on the year and the second time in the last three games.
The Rebels would fight back in their half of the first inning however, scoring three runs to cut the Arkansas lead to just a run, before scoring three more runs in the fourth to take the lead. Ole Miss added a single run in the fifth to complete the comeback and clinch the series.
The bullpen posted another solid outing for the Razorbacks, working 4.1 innings and allowing just two hits and one run, while striking out one. Zach Jackson, Dominic Taccolini, Jackson Lowery and Colin Poché all saw action in relief.
Fisher recorded his second three-hit game of the year and eighth multi-RBI game of the season to pace the offense, while Spoon and Wernes each chipped in a pair of hits.
From Friday:
The Arkansas baseball team (29-19, 10-12 SEC) rallied back from an early deficit Friday evening on the road, but No. 10 Ole Miss (34-13, 14-8) held on for the 3-2 victory in the series-opener at Swayze Field.
Trailing 3-0 heading to the fifth inning, Arkansas put together some two-out magic when Eric Fisher and Bobby Wernes provided a pair of singles and Tyler Spoon came to the dish and delivered a two-strike triple to the gap in right center to plate two runs and make it 3-2.
The Razorbacks had chances to tie the game later in the fifth inning, but Arkansas left the bases loaded and stranded two more runners in scoring position in the sixth inning. Spoon's triple proved to be the last hit of the game for the Razorbacks, who dropped their 11th one-run game of the year.
Trey Killian continued to put together an impressive sophomore campaign, tossing his SEC-leading fourth complete game, allowing three runs on nine hits and striking out five. He has allowed three earned runs or less in eight of his 10 starts this season.
Fisher paced the offense with his seventh multi-hit game of the year to extend his hitting streak to six games, while Wernes added two hits and a run scored.
