OXFORD, Miss. -- Arkansas got within one run of Mississippi three times Sunday afternoon at Swayze Field.
The Rebels countered with more runs on the first two occasions, and then relied on its relief pitching in the top of the ninth to hold on for an 8-7 victory and SEC series sweep in front of 8,060 fans.
Arkansas (20-12, 4-8 SEC) dropped its fifth consecutive conference game and second consecutive series in the similar fashion that plagued it all weekend here -- falling behind early and not being able to catch up.
Even Michael Bernal's two-run home run with one out in the top of the ninth, which brought the tying run to plate against reliever Will Stokes, couldn't get the struggling Razorbacks over the hump against the Rebels.
The Razorbacks never led in the series, but third baseman Carson Shaddy said he was proud of his teammates for cutting a four-run deficit to 4-3 in the fifth, then coming back from three runs down to pull within in one in the seventh and ninth.
"We just competed," Shaddy said. "We knew we had to come out here and compete, and that's what we did."
Mississippi's revamped rotation this weekend included making its closer, junior left-hander Wyatt Short, the Game 3 starter. It was the first start of his collegiate career.
Arkansas had five hits off Short through four innings, but it was 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position, hitting into three double plays.
"He's been a closer, and he's used to working out of jams," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "When he missed, he missed down or away. He didn't miss up in the zone like we did. We hit ground balls instead of doubles and home runs. Give him credit for that."
Arkansas finished with 10 hits Sunday after picking up 14 in Saturday's 14-9 loss, and the Hogs scored 24 runs in the three-game series. But 15 of those runs were scored in the seventh inning or later after Ole Miss (25-7, 6-6) had opened a lead.
Van Horn noted that mistakes by two of Arkansas' more experienced pitchers led to four Ole Miss runs.
There was junior right-hander Dominic Taccolini, who yielded a two-run home run J.B. Woodman on an 0-2 pitch in the second inning, and sophomore Keaton McKinney, who lost his location when yielding a two-run single to Will Golsan in the seventh.
"We made two really big mistakes pitchingwise, an 0-2 ball, a slider that was supposed to be down and away or in the dirt was left in the middle of the zone, and it leaves the park," Van Horn said. "Instead of him hitting a home run, maybe we get out of it with just two runs. All of a sudden we're down 4-0 for the third day in a row.
"And then McKinney. We'd just scored some runs to get within one run. He's supposed to deliver a pitch, an expand away fastball, and he throws it on the inner half of the plate. It's a single to left field. We watched the video, and we were kind of shocked. You can't miss 3 and 4 feet."
The Hogs finally scored on Short in the fifth.
Short walked Jake Arledge and Shaddy and in between dropped an infield pop-up from Clark Eagan.
Arledge scored on a wild pitch, Eagan came home on a ground ball out and Shaddy scored on a RBI single by Cullen Gassaway.
That's when former Fayetteville High School star Andy Pagnozzi replaced Short.
Bernal reached on an error, but Pagnozzi struck out Rick Nomura and Tucker Pennell to preserve a 4-3 lead.
Ole Miss extended its lead to 6-3 with Pagnozzi in the game. He reached the seventh having allowed no runs with 1 hit and 3 strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.
Pagnozzi left with a 6-4 lead with two outs in the seventh after giving up an RBI double to Bernal and a walk to Nomura.
Bernal scored after two wild pitches from reliever Chad Smith, and the Hogs were within 6-5 when Ole Miss came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh.
Arkansas gets today off, but returns to action against Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock and plays host to current No. 1 Florida when SEC play resumes Thursday.
Turning things around will require better play at the game's most critical moments, Van Horn said.
"It's all about being able to get the big out and get through some innings early," he said. "It's the same thing we've been talking about not just this weekend but for three or four weeks now. We've got to get better from some veteran pitchers."
Sports on 04/11/2016