Arkansas' baseball team is back at .500, just in time for an important three-game SEC series against Ole Miss.
The Razorbacks rallied late Wednesday to defeat Memphis 7-3 in a nonconference game at AutoZone Park in Memphis to improve their overall record to 12-12 going into tonight's series opener against Ole Miss at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
The Razorbacks broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth inning on Bobby Wernes' home run and added three runs in the seventh, keyed by Andrew Benintendi's two-run triple, to break open the game as Arkansas won for only the third time in its past 13 games.
Arkansas split its two-game series with Memphis (15-5) and broke the Tigers' 11-game winning streak, their longest since 1994.
James Teague (1-1) relieved Keaton McKinney in the fifth inning and allowed one run on five hits to pick up the victory. McKinney allowed 1 earned run on 6 hits in his 4 innings.
Wernes and Chad Spanberger had two hits each for the Razorbacks, who were scheduled to bus back into Fayetteville during the stormy overnight hours into Thursday morning.
Benintendi, who hit his team-high sixth home run Tuesday, slapped his first triple of the season in the seventh to drive in Max Hogan and Joe Serrano, who had opened the inning with a walk and a double. Benintendi capped the big inning by scoring on Clark Eagan's sacrifice fly to shallow center field. Pinch-hitter Tyler Spoon dropped a two-out single into right field to score Spanberger with an insurance run in the eighth inning.
Memphis leadoff batter Darien Tubbs went 5 for 5 with two runs scored and accounted for nearly half of the Tigers' 11 hits. Matt Ferguson (1-1), the fourth Memphis pitcher, picked up the loss, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits in 1 inning.
Arkansas is 1-5 in SEC play after facing No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 1 LSU. The good news for the Razorbacks is they have already played what is likely their two toughest SEC opponents. The bad news is Arkansas has never been 1-5 in conference play.
Arkansas fell a game below .500 for the first time through 23 games since 1974 with Tuesday night's *** loss to Memphis at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, but Benintendi expressed confidence that the Razorbacks would turn things around.
"We'll respond well," he said. "We're just going to come out and play hard and hopefully things start going our way. Our pitching is going to come along, and we're going to start getting crucial hits when we need to. It's just a matter of time."
Arkansas' pitching depth has been tested during its recent rough stretch. The Razorbacks are playing their second Thursday-Saturday SEC series and their second set of five consecutive games in back-to-back weeks, but Benintendi said they Razorbacks are handling the busy schedule.
"We're all 20," he said. "We can play every day."
Ole Miss (13-12) elected to move its two-game mid-week series against Alabama-Birmingham up to a Tuesday doubleheader and struggled to score while being swept 6-1 and 3-1 by the Blazers.
Razorbacks sophomore right-hander Dominic Taccolini (4-2, 3.21 ERA) is scheduled to start tonight after scattering 6 hits and 1 walk and allowing 1 earned run in a 5-1 victory over LSU last Thursday.
Ole Miss' scheduled starter is junior left-hander Christian Trent (4-1, 3.11), who throttled Florida in a 4-1 victory last weekend. Trent suffered his first career loss in the Rebels' SEC opener, a 6-4 loss at LSU, and he'll bring a 13-1 career mark into tonight's start.
The Rebels have been scuffling lately as well, having lost seven of their past 12 games.
Ole Miss has won four of its last five series in Fayetteville, including sweeps in 2005 and 2009.
Sports on 03/26/2015