Razorbacks win opener at Alabama

Arkansas first baseman Peyton Stovall runs the bases after hitting a home run during a game against Alabama on Thursday, May 19, 2022, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Photo courtesy Alabama Athletics, via SEC Media Portal)
Arkansas first baseman Peyton Stovall runs the bases after hitting a home run during a game against Alabama on Thursday, May 19, 2022, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Photo courtesy Alabama Athletics, via SEC Media Portal)

Peyton Stovall and Cayden Wallace hit two-out home runs in the fifth inning to give Arkansas the lead, and the fifth-ranked Razorbacks rallied to win 7-3 at Alabama in the series opener Thursday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. 

Arkansas (38-14, 18-10 SEC) remained atop the SEC West standings with two games remaining in the regular season. The Razorbacks are scheduled to play the Crimson Tide again Friday at 7 p.m. 

With Arkansas trailing 3-0, Stovall pulled a two-run home run to right field that also scored Chris Lanzilli, who led off the inning with a single. Jalen Battles followed with a single and Zack Gregory walked before Wallace crushed a three-run home run to left field to give the Razorbacks a 5-3 lead. 

It was the third time in seven games Arkansas won after trailing by at least three runs. The Razorbacks overcame a five-run deficit at Auburn on May 6 and a four-run deficit to beat Vanderbilt last Saturday. 

Arkansas improved to 7-3 in SEC series openers.

Kole Ramage, Evan Taylor and Brady Tygart combined to pitch five innings of scoreless relief for the Razorbacks. 

Ramage, who pitched a scoreless fifth inning, walked Jim Jarvis to lead off the sixth. Taylor allowed a two-out single to Caden Rose in the sixth, but stranded runners at the corners when William Hamiter struck out to end the inning. 

Alabama catcher Dominic Tamez, a former Razorback, walked against Taylor with one out in the seventh, but Zane Denton grounded into a second base-to-first base double play to end the inning. It was one of two double plays turned by the Razorbacks, both of which were started by second baseman Robert Moore.

Taylor allowed a double by Andrew Pinckney to lead off the eighth before he and Tygart combined to strike out three in a row. Taylor struck out Jarvis, who was unsuccessful trying to bunt to advance Pinckney, and Tygart came out of the bullpen to strike out Tommy Seidl and pinch hitter Owen Diodati. 

Taylor, an Alabama native, earned his fifth win in his two-inning appearance. He allowed 2 hits, walked 1 and struck out 4.

Tygart retired three straight after Rose led off the ninth with a walk in the ninth. The freshman right hander earned his eighth save and did not allow a hit in 1 2/3 innings. 

Alabama (27-25, 10-17) out-hit Arkansas 10-8, but the Crimson Tide stranded 10 base runners. 

In his first SEC start, Arkansas right hander Will McEntire allowed 3 runs, 8 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 4 in 4 innings. McEntire threw 48 of 79 pitches for strikes. 

The Razorbacks' pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts.

The Crimson Tide had four hits and scored twice against McEntire in the second inning. Pinckney and Jarvis singled, and Seidl hit an RBI double with no outs to give Alabama a 1-0 lead. 

Following a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Hobbs, McEntire struck out Bryce Eblin before Rose singled in another run to put the Crimson Tide ahead 2-0. Rose, the leadoff hitter, went 3 for 4 and walked once. 

McEntire surrendered a third run during the Tide's two-out rally in the fourth inning. Rose doubled with two outs before Hamiter singled him home to give Alabama a 3-0 lead. 

Arkansas did not have a base runner until Lanzilli’s leadoff single in the fifth. Alabama right hander Garrett McMillan retired the first 12 batters in 57 pitches, but quickly ran out of gas after the Razorbacks’ fifth-inning surge. He was lifted after Lanzilli hit a one-out single in the sixth inning. 

McMillan (4-5) allowed 5 runs, 5 hits and 1 walk, and struck out 4 in 5 1/3 innings, which tied for his third-shortest outing in SEC play. He threw 59 of 97 pitches for strikes.

Lanzilli and Stovall were reinserted into the lineup after limited playing time in recent weeks. Stovall, who suffered a finger injury before a game he was not scheduled to start April 30, played for the first time in 20 days. Lanzilli had been kept out of the lineup in 4 of 6 games. 

Alabama reliever Jake Leger kept the game close for 3 1/3 innings, but he allowed the Razorbacks to extend their lead to 7-3 in the ninth when Jalen Battles hit a 2-run double with 2 outs.

Battles’ hit came against reliever Luke Holman and scored Brady Slavens and Webb, who doubled and walked against Leger with one out. 

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