STARKVILLE, Miss. — Arkansas’ first SEC road series ended much better than it began.
The Razorbacks scored five runs in the 11th inning and defeated Mississippi State 8-5 Sunday before 2,572 fans at Dudy Noble Field. Arkansas took two of three in the series after losing 11-2 to the Bulldogs on Friday night.
Arkansas (22-3, 5-1) broke the game open in the 11th inning on a two-run double by Jimmy Bosco followed by a two-run single by Jake Wise. The Razorbacks snapped a 3-3 tie when Bo Bigham led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Matt Reynolds and scored on an infield ground out by Joe Serrano.
Colby Suggs (2-0) pitched one scoreless inning to get the victory while Caleb Reed took the loss for Mississippi State (16-9, 2-4).
Arkansas collected 15 hits and the Razorbacks turned a triple play in the fourth inning, the first for the Hogs since the 1998 SEC Tournament.
Mississippi State, leading 2-0, had runners on first and second with no out when Adam Frazier hit a line drive toward Dominic Ficociello at first base. Ficociello stepped on first, catching Matthew Britton off base for the second out, then threw to shortstop Tim Carver, who beat Bulldogs runner Brayden Jones to the bag for the third out.
“I just appreciate the effort from our guys, who kept a positive attitude and kept battling,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “We were here and we might as well win the thing no matter how may innings it takes.”
Arkansas received another strong performance from its bullpen after Randall Fant left in the second inning after facing only eight batters. Cade Lynchgot the final two outs after Trent Daniel walked in a run in the bottom of the 11th. It was the second consecutive appearance for Lynch, who pitched 2 2/3 hitless innings in Arkansas’ 8-0 victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday.
Mississippi State tied the game in the ninth inning Sunday against Arkansas closer Barrett Astin, who had six saves entering the game. The Razorbacks appeared close to victory when Trey Porter hit a ground ball to Tim Carver at short with two outs and runners at first and third. Carver fielded the ball and flipped to Bo Bigham, who was beaten to second base by Sam Frost hustling from first.
Jacob Morris hit a two-out double for Arkansas in the top of the 10th but he was left stranded after Carver struck out. Carver and Bosco each had three hits for Arkansas while Frost had three hits to lead the Bulldogs.
“Arkansas is a really good team and a contender for the national championship,” Mississippi State Coach John Cohen said. “Our kids are competing their hearts out every single game and experiencing something new. We played seven freshmen in the game and I think they’re all going to be great players.”
Arkansas tied the game 2-2 with two runs in the sixth inning then took the lead on doubles by Carver and Ficociello in the seventh. Carver scored when MSU center fielder Hunter Renfroe turned to pursue Ficociello’s fly only to see the ball drop in front of him.
Mississippi State loaded the bases with two outs against Astin in the eighth inning but did not score. Astin was helped by a standout defensive play at short by Carver, who stayed with a bad hop grounder and threw to second base for a force out that ended the threat.
“That was a great play,” Van Horn said. “We thought it was going to be a routine ball, then it hit something and jumped up. He made a super play by getting the force at second and that saved the game for us right there.”
Mississippi State starter Kendall Graveman couldn’t match his performance last Sunday when he pitched a complete game to give the Bulldogs a 7-1 victory over LSU. But the junior right-hander pitched into the sixth inning and left in a tied game after giving up 2 runs on 8 hits. He was bailed out in the sixth inning by reliever Caleb Reed, who retired Jake Wise and Morris with two Arkansas runners on base.
Graveman was also helped by two double plays from a Mississippi State team that leads the nation in double plays. Arkansas had the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning when Bosco grounded into an inning ending double play. Graveman escaped another jam in the fifth when he got Jacob Mahan to ground into a double play for the third out with Wise and Carver on base.
Fant was removed in the second inning after Mississippi State took a 2-0 lead. Fant faced left after he hit Jones with a pitch to force in a run. Nolan Sanburn took over for Fant and got Britton to hit into a double play while the Bulldogs’ second run scored.
Van Horn said Arkansas may make an adjustment on its pitching rotation when the Razorbacks begin a three-game series at LSU on Friday. Fant and DJ Baxendale both pitched poorly in the series while Ryne Stanek threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings to start the Razorbacks’ comeback on Saturday.
SUN BELT
UALR 7, TROY 3
Ethan Schlechte took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and David Guarno hit a three-run home run in the fourth to help UALR to a victory on Sunday over Troy at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock.
The victory gave UALR (15-9, 2-4) the series victory after being swept in a Sun Belt opener at Arkansas State last week.
Schlechte improved to 2-0 after he gave up 1 run on 3 hits and struck out 5 in 7 2/3 innings. He allowed only two base runners through the first six innings, then got the first two batters out in the seventh before Logan Pierce singled to left field.
Schlechte later gave up a home run to Boone Shear to lead off the eighth that made it 7-1, and he was relieved by Cameron Allen with two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth. Allen got Austin Golden to pop out to end the inning and after he gave up two runs in the ninth. Andrew Hohn got Tyson Workman to ground out to end the game with two runners on base.
Sean Bignall and Blake Johnson each had two hits for UALR and each drove in a run. Bignall scored two runs and Nick Rountree and Bryson Thionnet each drove in runs.
Ryan Brady fell to 0-2 for Troy (11-11, 2-4), after giving up 4 runs on 3 hits and striking out 3 in 3 2/3 innings.
ARKANSAS STATE 8, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 7
LAFAYETTE, La. - Logan Uxa went 3 for 5, including his third home run of the season, and Arkansas State held off Louisiana-Lafayette for a victory Sunday at “Tigue” Moore Field.
Louisiana-Lafayette five times answered with runs in the bottom of innings in which ASU ( 13-10, 5-1) scored in the top, but John Koch allowed only a run in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.
Chandler Hawkins (1-1) earned his first victory after giving up 1 run on 1 hit in 1/3 of an inning. Hawkins finished the sixth inning after relieving Seth McWilliams, who gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in 2 2/3 innings. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ two runs in the sixth tied the game at 5-5, but ASU scored two in the seventh to take a 7-5 lead and the Red Wolves never trailed again.
Collin Massanelli went 1 for 4 with three runs scored, while Michael Faulkner went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI. Claude Johnson and Ryan Emery each had two hits for the Red Wolves.
Daniel Nichols went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored for Louisiana-Lafayette (13-10, 3-3).
SOUTHLAND
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 5, TEXAS A&M-COR. CHRISTI 3
CONWAY - Blake Roberts’ triple in the second inning scored Griffin Glaude to give Central Arkansas a 1-0 lead, Bryan Willson singled and scored on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning and the Bears never trailed in winning a series finale Sunday.
After Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11-14, 4-5) tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth, the Bears (10-10, 5-4) took a 3-2 lead when Willson’s RBI single scored Ethan Harris. The Islanders tied the game again in the seventh, before Harris’ RBI single scored Blake Marchal and Forrest Allday’s bunt scored Jonathan Davis to make it 5-3.
Davis, Harris, Willson and Snider each had two hits for the Bears, who had 11 as a team.
Up next
ARKANSAS AT LSU
WHEN Friday-Sunday
WHERE Alex Box Stadium, Baton Rouge
RADIO RSP statewide radio network.
Not all games will be carried by affiliates. Check local listings.
Sports, Pages 13 on 03/26/2012