SEC BASEBALL: Hogs get victory, denied SEC bid

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State Coach Ron Polk wasn't the only one who had a farewell party Saturday.

Arkansas waved a big goodbye to its SEC Tournament bid after losing its series to the last-place Bulldogs. Arkansas salvaged a 15-10 victory in its final SEC game Saturday, but it wasn't enough to nail down a bid to the SEC Tournament because South Carolina and Ole Miss won as well.

South Carolina will enter the SEC Tournament as the No. 7 seed after beating Tennessee 10-8, and Ole Miss grabbed the No. 8 seed by defeating Kentucky 7-5 in 11 innings.

Arkansas (33-22, 14-15 SEC) failed to make the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2001, and for the first time in the six years Dave Van Horn has been the Razorbacks' coach. Arkansas will stay home despite sweeping South Carolina and taking 2 of 3 from Ole Miss during the regular season.

Van Horn wanted to remain positive and talk about Saturday's victory after the game, but the disappointment from failing to advance to the tournament in Hoover, Ala., was obvious.

"We were watching the scoreboard and we knew when South Carolina had just won," Van Hornsaid. "But we kept fighting and won the game, and I hope this season is not over."

Arkansas returns to Fayetteville for a final home game against Western Illinois on Monday at Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks will then wait and see about a possible bid for the NCAA Tournament. Invitations for the 64-team field will be announced May 31.

Arkansas arrived in Starkville in eighth place overall in the SEC and in control of its own hopes for the SEC Tournament, but the Razorbacks lost the upperhand by losing to Mississippi State 6-5 on Thursday and Friday.

Mississippi State (23-33, 9-21) hadn't won consecutive SEC games all season until the Bulldogs beat Arkansas on Thursday and Friday. The toughest loss for Arkansas came Friday after the Razorbacks had taken a 5-2 lead with three runs in the ninth. Mississippi State rallied for four runs in the bottom half of the inning and claimed a 6-5 victory on a one-out RBI single by Russ Sneed.

Arkansas jumped out to 9-2 lead after two innings Saturday before Mississippi rallied to take a 10-9 lead with four runs in the sixth. The Razorbacks then pushed across five more runs and used the relief pitching of James Mahler to complete the victory.