SEC BASEBALL : Razorbacks get most out of hits
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — Producing hits in only two innings is usually a recipe for failure, but it didn’t keep Arkansas from scratching out a victory Saturday at Baum Stadium.
Arkansas bunched together its hits and defeated South Carolina 6-3 to take a 2-0 lead in a crucial SEC series.
South Carolina outhit Arkansas 11-7 and the Razorbacks went down in order in six of their eight innings, but the fourth and seventh innings made the difference for Arkansas (30-20, 12-13 ), which clinched its fourth consecutive series victory over South Carolina (34-17, 13-13 ).
Arkansas remained ninth in the SEC overall standings, a halfgame behind Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama and Ole Miss. The top eight teams will advance to the SEC Tournament, which begins May 21 in Hoover, Ala.
“I told our guys just keep doing what you’re doing and don’t worry about the standings,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “If you keep winning and playing hard, it’ll all take care of itself.” The Razorbacks scored two runs on two hits in the fourth and four runs on five hits in the seventh after South Carolina had taken a 3-2 lead.
Arkansas’ ability to eke out some runs was quite a contrast from Friday, when Jacob House hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth to beat the Gamecocks 12-11.
“With the wind blowing in, we knew this might be a situation where we needed to manufacture some runs,” Van Horn said. “We flared a couple [of runs ] in and did a good job of putting the bat on the ball.
“ We took advantage of some of their mistakes, and we made the plays we needed to make.” Arkansas responded with four runs after Reese Havens hit a home run in the top of the seventh to give South Carolina a 3-2 lead. Logan Forsythe, Andy Wilkins, Tim Smalling, Sean Jones and Ben Tschepikow had singles in the inning, and Havens made a throwing error that helped the Razorbacks’ cause.
South Carolina second baseman Scott Wingo got a glove on Jones’ flare to right field, but it dropped in to give Arkansas a 5-3 lead. Tschepikow continued the rally by beating out an infield hit to allow another run to score.
“That four-run seventh really did us in,” South Carolina Coach Ray Tanner said. “Arkansas got only seven hits, but they came up with some very key hits.” Tschepikow and Forsythe each had two hits for Arkansas, while Andrew Crisp finished with three hits to lead the Gamecocks. The Razorbacks had three infield singles, including one by Tschepikow on a ball that rolled just a few feet in front of the plate.
Pitching and defense prevailed for Arkansas, which needed a standout play by Chase Leavitt in the sixth to keep South Carolina from taking the lead. The Gamecocks had two runners on when Leavitt made an over-the-shoulder catch near the wall in right field to end the inning. The catch likely saved two runs against reliever Mike Bolsinger (4-0 ), who went 1 3 / 3 innings to earn the victory.
Arkansas fell behind after Havens connected for a home run off Bolsinger, but the right-hander was able to finish the game after the Razorbacks rallied in the seventh.
“We were kind of down in the dugout after that home run, but those four runs lifted us back up,” Bolsinger said. “You’ve got all that pressure on your back, then you go from being down one run to being three runs up.
“ It’s a big help, especially for a pitcher.”
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