COLLEGE BASEBALL

Breaking even

Hogs win 1, lose 1 in 8-hour tussle vs. Aggies

Arkansas second baseman Rick Nomura celebrates a two-run RBI double against Texas A&M Saturday, April 30, 2016, during the second inning at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas second baseman Rick Nomura celebrates a two-run RBI double against Texas A&M Saturday, April 30, 2016, during the second inning at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- A long Saturday of baseball at Baum Stadium ended in a split between Arkansas and Texas A&M.

The Razorbacks beat the No. 2 Aggies 9-5 in the opener of a doubleheader and Texas A&M won the nightcap 11-8 in 11 innings after trailing 6-3.

Combined time for the games was 7 hours and 54 minutes before an announced crowd of 8,125.

Texas A&M first baseman Hunter Melton hit a two-run home run on the 11th inning of the second game on a 3-2 pitch from Blaine Knight to put the Aggies ahead 10-8.

The Aggies (34-9, 13-7 SEC) made it 11-8 on a double by Ryne Birk and RBI single by Michael Barash.

Arkansas (26-19, 7-13 SEC) tied it 8-8 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when pinch-hitter Alex Gosser -- 1 for 13 on the season before that at-bat -- sent a single up the middle off Mark Ecker to score Rick Nomura from second base.

Nomura hit a leadoff single and went to second on an error when right fielder Nick Banks bobbled the ball. Ecker then struck out Chad Spanberger and Tucker Pennell before Gosser batted for Cody Scroggins.

Barrett Loseke pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings for the Razorbacks to keep them within striking distance.

Nick Banks hit a grand slam with two outs in the fifth inning against Zach Jackson to put the Aggies ahead 7-6. He also hit a grand slam off Jackson last season when the Razorbacks won 9-8 at Texas A&M.

Jackson retired the first two batters in the fifth before six consecutive Aggies reached against Jackson and Doug Willey.

"We're disappointed," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said after the second game. "Obviously, we feel we should have won the ballgame. We let it get away from us in the middle innings."

Jackson got the first two batters in the fifth on four pitches and looked like he'd get through the inning easily and go back out for the sixth.

"The next thing you know you've got a couple of hits and a walk and then he's behind in the count," Van Horn said. "He just left a pitch right where Banks wanted it, it looked like.

"You want to give Zach a chance, because he's wiggled out of things, and that's what he does. But once he got two outs, he was behind every hitter. You need to be ahead of hitters that are that talented."

Texas A&M made it 8-6 on Boomer White's RBI double in the sixth. Arkansas closed with 8-7 in the sixth on Spanberger's RBI single.

Texas A&M scored two runs in the first inning when Jackson allowed three walks and a single.

The Razorbacks came back with five runs in the bottom of the first inning when they had five hits against Aggies starter Jace Vines, including Luke Bonfield's three-run home run and RBI singles by Spanberger and Tucker Pennell.

Arkansas had the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth inning when Pennell hit a drive to left, but J.B. Moss made a diving catch.

"The left fielder makes a diving catch and they come in and score four runs," Van Horn said. "That's the way the game can turn on you just like that.

"If that ball drops in, we score two, maybe three and we have a huge lead. But that's the way the game works. When you do something, take advantage of it, and they did."

The Razorbacks had 13 hits in the opener -- including five for extra bases highlighted by a Carson Shaddy home run -- and rallied from a 3-0 deficit.

Shaddy went 2 for 3 and drove in two runs. Nomura was 3 for 4 with two runs batted in, Clark Eagan was 2 for 4 with 3 runs and an RBI and Michael Bernal was 2 for 5 and scored 2 runs.

Bonfield ended the game with a leaping catch at the left-field fence that might have taken a two-run home run away from Banks.

"Last year Luke wasn't the best outfielder, but he's really worked on it," said Arkansas junior pitcher Dominic Taccolini, who started and went six innings. "He approached that ball really well, got to the fence and got up.

"It was a big play for him to make and big a victory for us."

Arkansas scored four runs in the sixth inning to take an 8-4 lead, including Eagan's two-run triple.

The Aggies took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on Birk's three-run home run on a 3-2 fastball.

"Honestly, I just threw a bad pitch and he lifted it out of the stadium," Taccolini said. "I was hitting my spots. I tried not to panic.

"I had confidence in myself that I'd get out of that inning and just keep rolling."

Tacollini (5-2) held Texas A&M to one run the next five innings and left the bases loaded in the fourth inning when he got Banks on a groundout.

"Some of those innings were kind of tough, because they're the best-hitting lineup in the SEC," Taccolini said. "They got their hits, but I just had to minimize the damage."

James Teague, Josh Alberius and Knight pitched scoreless innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth for the Razorbacks.

Today's 1 p.m finale will be televised on ESPNU. Van Horn said sophomore right-hander Keaton McKinney (1-2, 6.46 ERA) or freshman right-hander Isaiah Campbell (3-0, 3.72 ERA) will start for Arkansas against Texas A&M senior right-hander Kyle Simonds (6-1, 2.96 ERA).

"It'd be huge," Van Horn said if the Razorbacks are able to take two of three games from the Aggies. "Any time we can win a series, especially in the second half against the teams we're playing it would be great for what we're trying to do, and that's continue to play at the end of the season."

Sports on 05/01/2016

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