STARKVILLE, Miss. — A home run derby broke out between two of the nation’s top teams Saturday at Dudy Noble Field.
No. 2 Arkansas launched four homers for the second game in a row, blasting its way past No. 4 Mississippi State 11-5. The Razorbacks (18-3, 4-1 SEC) won the best-of-three series and will go for a sweep Sunday at 2 p.m.
Christian Franklin’s 3-run no-doubter in the top of the fifth put the Razorbacks on top 5-4 after trailing 4-1, and the Hogs stretched their lead to 8-5 in the sixth on home runs by Cullen Smith and Matt Goodheart.
It was a timely offensive outburst for the visitors after Zebulon Vermillion struggled on the mound. The Bulldogs tagged the senior right hander for 4 earned runs on 7 hits in 3 ⅓ innings the week after Vermillion held Alabama to 1 hit in 8 innings.
Mississippi State (17-6, 2-3) grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning, returning the favor after Arkansas scored three in the opening frame Friday.
Bulldogs center fielder Rowdey Jordan lined Vermillion’s second pitch of the game into the right-field corner for a double and Tanner Allen followed him with a single up the middle to put the hosts on top 1-0.
Luke Hancock added another RBI single two batters later before Logan Tanner doubled off the wall along the left field line. Vermillion threw 50 pitches, struck out 3 and walked 1.
The Razorbacks failed to answer in the first four frames — save for a third-inning Bulldogs error on a deep fly to center from Goodheart that brought Jalen Battles around to score from first base — before scoring four runs against starter Will Bednar in the fifth.
Bednar, who struck out 10, gave up a towering solo shot to Webb to pull the Razorbacks within 4-2, and Franklin’s three-run homer to left-center field to put Arkansas ahead 5-4.
The four runs were the first earned runs allowed this season by Bednar, who threw 16 scoreless innings to start the season.
The Razorbacks attacked Mississippi State reliever Brandon Smith in the sixth with a leadoff home run to opposite-field left by Smith and a two-run homer by Goodheart to give Arkansas an 8-5 lead.
The Razorbacks loaded the bases with a single, a double and a walk to start the seventh before a 75-minute rain delay put a brief halt to their offensive outburst.
Once Mother Nature’s thunder dissipated, Arkansas was lightning quick to build on its lead.
Smith lined the second pitch he saw into deep right for a sacrifice fly, bringing Brady Slavens in to score. Battles then used his speed two pitches later to beat out a would-be 5-4-3 double play. That allowed Franklin to come home for his second run of the afternoon and make it a 10-5 Razorback lead.
The Hogs’ bullpen once again turned in a strong showing thanks to the trio of Caleb Bolden, Caden Monke and Kevin Kopps. They combined to shut the Bulldogs out over the game’s final 5 2/3 innings, scattering 3 hits as Kopps pitched the last 4 innings and struck out 7.
Saturday’s victory gave Arkansas its first series win in Starkville since 2012.
EARLIER
Arkansas 11, Mississippi State 5 — FINAL
Kevin Kopps struck out the first two Mississippi State batters in the ninth inning, but the Bulldogs put two base runners on with a two-out single and a two-out walk. Tanner Allen grounded into a 4-6 fielder's choice to end the game.
Kopps pitched four innings to earn the save. He struck out seven batters.
Arkansas has won a series in Starkville for the first time since 2012. The teams will play the series finale Sunday at 2 p.m. on SEC Network.
The Razorbacks out-hit Mississippi State 13-10, and outscored the Bulldogs 10-1 over the final five innings.
We will have more soon at WholeHogSports.com.
Arkansas 11, Mississippi State 5 — Middle 9th Inning
Cullen Smith walked to lead off the inning. He went first to third on a one-out single by Robert Moore, and scored when Moore got caught in a rundown between first and second base. Moore took too big of a lead around first, but did a good job of extending the rundown long enough for Smith to run home.
Arkansas 10, Mississippi State 5 — End 8th Inning
Arkansas third baseman Cullen Smith committed a two-out error on a ground ball by Logan Tanner, but Kevin Kopps struck out Josh Hatcher to strand the runner.
Tanner was the first base runner in three innings against Kopps, who has struck out five. He has been so good for the last five weeks.
Arkansas 10, Mississippi State 5 — Middle 8th Inning
Cayden Wallace singled t right field with one out and Christian Franklin reached on a two-out error by Mississippi State second baseman Tanner Leggett, but both were stranded when Casey Opitz lined out to center field.
The Razorbacks have left eight on base today.
Arkansas 10, Mississippi State 5 — End 7th Inning
Brad Cumbest reached on an infield single — a topped ball that kind of stopped in front of the plate, and pitcher Kevin Kopps and Casey Opitz both hesitated.
Rowdey Jordan hit into a 4-6-3 double play to erase the leadoff base runner, and Tanner Allen flied out to right field to end the inning. That double play was the third turned by Robert Moore and Jalen Battles during this series, and the second today.
Arkansas 10, Mississippi State 5 — Middle 7th Inning
The game resumed after a delay of 1 hour, 14 minutes.
Cullen Smith's sacrifice fly scored Brady Slavens, who led off the inning with a single. Jalen Battles followed with a fielder's choice RBI to score Casey Opitz, who walked.
Battles barely beat out a would-be double play at first base.
Robert Moore followed with a two-out single the other way to right field. That is Moore's first hit of the weekend.
The inning ended when Braydon Webb struck out on a 3-2 pitch from right hander Carlisle Koestler. That stranded two runners, the Razorbacks' fifth and sixth runners today.
It appears Kevin Kopps will come back out to pitch for the Razorbacks in the bottom of the seventh. He threw the sixth inning and struck out the side.
Arkansas 8, Mississippi State 5 — DELAYED Top 7th Inning
UPDATE: The game will restart at 5:21 p.m. after a thunderstorm with lightning and heavy rain moved through Starkville.
EARLIER: As soon as Mississippi State went to the bullpen, the umpires sent the players off the field due to lightning.
There is a small cell south of Starkville that should move across town within the 4 o'clock hour. SEC rules mandate the game must be delayed 30 minutes for every new lightning strike that is within 8 miles of the stadium.
Arkansas will have the bases loaded with no outs and Cullen Smith due up when play resumes. Smith hit a home run in his last at-bat.
The Razorbacks will hope for a short delay for a couple of reasons. First, the bats are hot, but maybe more importantly because Kevin Kopps is Arkansas' pitcher. The longer the delay, the worse the chances are pitchers will return to the game.
Weather delays have a tendency to reset a game like this. Local officials knew yesterday there was a possibility for weather beginning around 4 p.m. today, but chose to keep a first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
Arkansas 8, Mississippi State 5 — Top 7th Inning
The Razorbacks have loaded the bases with no outs on a Brady Slavens single, Christian Franklin double and Casey Opitz walk. The Bulldogs are going back to the bullpen.
Big moment in the game here.
Arkansas 8, Mississippi State 5 — End 6th Inning
With Mississippi State on the ropes, Arkansas makes a great call to go to Kevin Kopps, who is probably the team's best pitcher right now.
He had Bulldogs swinging out of their shoes at his brilliant cutter in the sixth inning. He struck out Josh Hatcher, Tanner Leggett and Lane Forsythe in 14 pitches.
Arkansas 8, Mississippi State 5 — Middle 6th Inning
Matt Goodheart hit a two-run home run with two outs to extend the lead to 8-5. That is Arkansas' fourth home run in two innings, and eighth home run in this series.
To put the home runs in perspective: Mississippi State allowed 12 home runs in its first 188 innings pitched this year.
Braydon Webb drew a two-out walk to bring Goodheart to the plate.
The Razorbacks have been so good with two outs this year.
Arkansas 6, Mississippi State 5 — Top 6th Inning
Cullen Smith homered in the first at-bat against Mississippi State reliever Brandon Smith. Cullen Smith hit it to opposite-field left.
The Razorbacks have hit three homers in the last two innings.
Arkansas 5, Mississippi State 5 — End 5th Inning
Caden Monke came out of the bullpen to strike out the final two batters of the inning. Monke's fastball showed a lot of good run to his glove side.
Arkansas 5, Mississippi State 5 — Bottom 5th Inning
Tanner Allen led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a home run to opposite-field left to tie the game. That home run was against Caleb Bolden.
Arkansas 5, Mississippi State 4 — Middle 5th Inning
Christian Franklin hit a three-run home run to left field to give the Razorbacks the lead.
That was Franklin's third home run of this series. He hit two solo homers last night.
Arkansas scored four runs — all earned — against Will Bednar in the inning. Those were the first earned runs allowed by Bednar this season. He had thrown 16 scoreless innings to start the year.
Arkansas' run earlier in the game was unearned.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 2 — Top 5th Inning
Cayden Wallace blooped a single into right field with two outs, and Brady Slavens reached in the next at-bat when Mississippi State's third baseman, shortstop and left fielder let a popup fall between them.
Christian Franklin is at the plate with runners in scoring position.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 2 — Top 5th Inning
Braydon Webb hit a solo home run to left field with one out. That is his second home run this week. He also hit one in the first game of the Memphis series.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 1 — End 4th Inning
Caleb Bolden got out of the jam quickly. Rowdey Jordan hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. That is the second double play Robert Moore and Jalen Battles have combined to turn in this series.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 1 — Bottom 4th Inning
Zebulon Vermillion's outing is over after he gave up a leadoff single to Tanner Leggett and hit Brayland Skinner in the knee with one out. Caleb Bolden will replace him against the top part of the MSU batting order.
Vermillion pitches to contact, but his location is important to induce soft contact. The Bulldogs hit him as hard as any team has this year. His partial final line: 3 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, 3 strikeouts.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 1 — Middle 4th Inning
Arkansas has stranded two runners in fourth. Brady Slavens singled to lead off the inning and Casey Opitz walked with one out. Will Bednar battled back from a 3-0 count to strike out Cullen Smith on a high fastball out of the zone for the second out, and Jalen Battles' long at-bat ended with a fly out to center field.
Bednar appeared to lose his command some in that inning, and the Razorbacks ran his pitch count to 68, but they failed to break through against him on the scoreboard. Arkansas has stranded four base runners.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 1 — End 3rd Inning
The Bulldogs got the run back in the bottom of the third. Kamren James hit a deep home run to left-center field. Mississippi State is hitting Zebulon Vermillion hard today.
Mississippi State 3, Arkansas 1 — Middle 3rd Inning
Arkansas got a break to get on the board. Jalen Battles led off with a single up the middle and scored when Mississippi State center fielder Rowdey Jordan lost Matt Goodheart's fly ball in the sky. The run was unearned, so Will Bednar still has a perfect ERA.
The half inning ended when Cayden Wallace struck out. The Razorbacks have struck out six times through three innings.
Mississippi State 3, Arkansas 0 — End 2nd Inning
Zebulon Vermillion avoided further damage after two Bulldogs got on base with two outs. Brayland Skinner doubled and Rowdey Jordan followed with a walk, but Tanner Allen grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Because he pitches so much to contact, Vermillion has only thrown 31 pitches despite the high number of base runners through two innings. The Bulldogs have stranded three runners.
Mississippi State 3, Arkansas 0 — Middle 2nd Inning
Christian Franklin was hit by a pitch with one out, but he was stranded when Casey Opitz struck out looking and Cullen Smith flied out to left field.
MSU starter Will Bednar has not allowed a hit and has struck out three. He has thrown 14 scoreless innings this year.
Mississippi State 3, Arkansas 0 — Bottom 1st Inning
Rowdey Jordan doubled and Tanner Allen singled in back-to-back one-out at-bats to give the Bulldogs a quick first inning lead. Allen stole second base and scored on an RBI single by Luke Hancock, and Hancock scored on a two-out double down the left field line by Logan Tanner.
Mississippi State is putting contact on Zebulon Vermillion like no team has this year. The Razorbacks have a full bullpen and might need to go to it quickly today.
Lineups
Arkansas
LF Braydon Webb
DH Matt Goodheart
RF Cayden Wallace
1B Brady Slavens
CF Christian Franklin
C Casey Opitz
3B Cullen Smith
SS Jalen Battles
2B Robert Moore
P Zebulon Vermillion
Mississippi State
LF Brayland Skinner
CF Jordan Rowdey
RF Tanner Allen
3B Kamren James
DH Luke Hancock
C Logan Tanner
1B Josh Hatcher
2B Tanner Leggett
SS Lane Forsythe
P Will Bednar
Pregame
The road team will not be swept in the series for the first time since 2015. The home team swept the road team each of the previous four times these teams played since 2016, including 2018 when the then-No. 3 Razorbacks lost in Starkville, and 2019 when the then-No. 2 Bulldogs lost in Fayetteville.
Arkansas has not won a series at Dudy Noble Field since 2012.
The state of Mississippi has lifted all covid-19 health directives, but a capacity cap and mask mandate is still in place for games in Starkville.
The Razorbacks won the final two games of their series against Alabama last week to win the series.
Mississippi State won its first two games over LSU last week before losing in the series finale.
Running updates by Matt Jones