HOOVER, Ala. — The No. 15 University of Arkansas scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th inning Wednesday to beat the University of Mississippi 2-1 on day two of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The loss drops Ole Miss (37-21) into the losers’ bracket where it is scheduled to face the University of Alabama at 9:30 a.m. today.
“It was another great pitching duel,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “I thought Sam was awesome for us and gave us everything he had. Aaron Greenwood had a great performance as well. His performance was similar to last week in Baton Rouge. We were close but came up short.
Greenwood (3-5) suffered the loss despite another solid relief outing. The right-hander worked 3 1/3 innings before leaving the game with the bases loaded in the 10th. He allowed five hits with four strikeouts and an intentional walk. He was charged with the one run that scored after he left the game, deciding the outcome.
Jalen Beeks (6-1) picked up the win, working the final two innings and allowing one hit with two strikeouts.
“It was a very well-played game,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “Both pitchers and bullpens did a tremendous job. We got out of some jams. We both hit some line drives. We had the unfortunate play that would have been a two-run single and given us a two-run lead going into the ninth and it hits a runner in the foot. It just figures that the game would end on a wild pitch, the most exciting play in baseball next to the sacrifice fly. From our standpoint, we were glad to see it.”
Ole Miss got on the board in the first inning with a two-out single from Stuart Turner that brought Tanner Mathis. Mathis reached on an infield single before back-to-back groundouts moved him to third and set up the score on the Turner hit.
The Razorbacks (36-19) answered with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first, plating Matt Vinson from second on a single through the right side from Jacob Mahan. Vinson came up with a one-out single to reach before taking second on a groundout back to the pitcher. A hit batter and the single from Mahan got him home before Ole Miss would get out of the inning tied at one.
Arkansas threatened in the third, putting two men on with no outs on back-to-back singles. The Rebels responded, however, picking off the lead runner before two straight flouts ended the inning and kept the game knotted at one.
Smith worked his way out of a jam again in the fifth to keep the score tied. Joe Serrano hit a liner to third that Mistone was able to knock down, but couldn’t hold on to for the first hit. A single up the middle from Vinson put men at the corners before Brain Anderson walked to load the bases. Smith then struck out Ficociello to end the inning and keep the score flush.
The Rebels got a chance in the seventh, putting two men on with one out, but for the second time on the day the Razorbacks turned a double play to get out of the inning and keep Ole Miss from taking the lead back.
Back-to-back singles with one out for Arkansas in the eighth started another attempted Razorbacks rally, but the Rebels escaped it yet again with a little luck.
Anderson and Ficociello’s singles put men at the corners before Tyler Spoon lined out to second, holding the runners in place. With two outs on the board, Jacob Mahan was hit by a pitch to load the bases and bring pinch hitter Eric Fisher to the plate. Fisher hit the ball to first, but it struck the runner for the final out and kept the Razorbacks off the board in the inning.
The Rebels got two on in the ninth, but again Arkansas pitchers won the battle with a strikeout to end the inning and keep the score tied before the game would go to extra-innings.
In the bottom of the 10th, a ground-rule double with one out from Brian Anderson started the rally. A single from Ficociello put men at the corners before Mahan was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a play at any bag. The Rebels then turned to freshman left-hander Matt Denny out of the bullpen.
Denny got a strikeout of Mahan to put two outs on the board, but the first pitch to Fisher in the next at bat was wild. Anderson came home on the play, plating the run to give Arkansas the 2-1 victory.
n LSU 3, Alabama 0: In the second game Wednesday, the second-seeded and No. 2 Tigers (49-8) scored all their runs in the first inning en route to a victory against the Crimson Tide (33-25).
Alabama starting pitcher Charley Sullivan (5-6) allowed three earned runs on eight hits in eight innings. He walked two and struck out three.
“We tip our hat to LSU and Cody Glenn, he was outstanding” Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said. “He changed speeds and moved the ball around. We couldn’t get any good swings off and they played clean. With the exception of the first inning, where I thought we were sloppy and they put good swings on him. Charley responded and I was really pleased with the way he settled in and was able to go the distance and save the bullpen.”
Glenn (7-2) pitched seven innings and allowed five hits and struck out two. He didn’t allow a runner to reach second base until the seventh, when the Tide had runners on first and second with two outs.
LSU relievers Nick Rumbelow and Chris Cotton threw two scoreless innings. Cotton retired all three hitters he faced in the ninth to record his 13th save.
Brett Booth had two of the Tide’s six hits and was 2-for-4. Kenny Roberts, Georgie Salem, Kyle Overstreet, and Chance Vincent all had singles for Alabama.
LSU freshman shortstop Alex Bregman was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Sean McMullen was 1-for-3 with a run scored and Mason Katz and Christian Ibarra were 1-for-3 with an RBI.
In the first, McMullen singled off the glove of third baseman Kenny Roberts. He advanced to third on a fielding error by left fielder Andrew Miller. Mark Laird grounded out to short to allow McMullen to score the first run.
With the bases empty, Bregman doubled to the corner in left field and Katz walked to put runners on first and second. With the runners moving on the pitch, Raph Rhymes hit a slow roller back between home plate and the pitcher’s mound. Poor communication by Sullivan and Booth left home plate uncovered and Bregman scored from second as Sullivan threw out Rhymes at first. Katz scored the third run of the inning and the last run of the game on a single by Ibarra.
After the three-run first, LSU was limited to six runners in the next seven innings. Glenn allowed six base runners through seven innings, and faced three batters over the minimum in his first six innings.
Alabama had a couple of late chances, getting a pair of runners on in the seventh and eighth. In the seventh, Austen Smith was hit by a pitch and Booth singled with two outs, but the threat ended when Miller grounded out to first. Off Rumbelow in the eighth, the Tide got a one out single by Roberts and Salem reached on an error. Overstreet flied out to left and Ben Moore grounded out to second, ending Alabama’s best scoring opportunity of the day.
Alabama was scheduled to start sophomore right-hander Spencer Turnbull (4-3, 3.61 ERA) this morning against the University of Mississippi, which will counter with freshman right-hander Jacob Wageuspack (0-1, 2.89).
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