No. 7 Arkansas (41-11, 18-9 SEC) came away with the series finale over the No. 3 LSU Tigers (40-12, 17-10 SEC), 7-4, Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium in a gutsy contest. The Razorbacks have reclaimed sole possession of second place in the Southeastern Conference.
Arkansas baseball vs LSU: Game 3
LSU struck first in the bottom of the second on a solo shot by C Luis Hernandez down the right field line with one out. After 3B Michael Braswell III flew out, SS Steven Milam crushed a solo home run of his own to left center to put the Tigers ahead, 2-0.
Arkansas responded in the top of the third with CF Justin Thomas Jr. leading off with a double and moving to third base on a sacrifice bunt by LF Charles Davalan. SS Wehiwa Aloy brought in Thomas on an RBI sacrifice fly to right field to bring the Hogs within one.
The inning continued with a two-out walk by RF Carson Boles and a single by DH Kuhio Aloy. C Ryder Helfrick roped an RBI double to left field to score Boles to tie the game, while Kuhio Aloy moved up to third. 2B Camden Kozeal gave Arkansas the lead with a two-run single up the middle to cap off the four-run rally and give the Razorbacks the lead, 4-2.
After 2B Daniel Dickinson led off the bottom of the third with a single for LSU, LHP Landon Beidelschies was relieved by RHP Dylan Carter. Beidelschies went just two innings in his 12th start (13th appearance) of the year while allowing three runs, four hits and no walks with four strikeouts on 42 pitches (30 strikes).
After Carter forced Frey to fly out to right field for the first out of the inning, RF Jake Brown singled up the middle to put runners on first and second. Hernandez drove in Dickinson with an RBI single to center to cut the deficit to one, and Braswell was hit by a pitch to load up the bases. Carter locked in and made Milam ground into a 6-4-3 double play to get Arkansas out of the jam.
Arkansas pushed its lead back to two with Helfrick leading off the top of the fifth with a walk and advancing to second on a groundout by Kozeal. 3B Brent Iredale reached on a single to right field and stole second base to put runners in scoring position. 1B Reese Robinett, who came in as a defensive replacement for Rocco Peppi in the bottom of the third, scored Helfrick with an RBI groundout to first base to give the Razorbacks a 5-3 lead.
Carter was relieved by RHP Christian Foutch to begin the bottom of the fifth. Carter tossed two shutout innings of relief while surrendering two hits and a walk with two strikeouts on 44 pitches (25 strikes). Foutch delivered with 1.2 innings of relief while holding the Tigers to just a hit while carving up three batters on 27 pitches (15 strikes). Cole Gibler was placed on the mound with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and struck out LF Derek Curiel to end the frame.
With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Thomas drew a full-count walk. LSU head coach Jay Johnson argued the call and was ejected by home plate umpire Brandon Cooper.
RHP Aiden Jimenez was inserted on the bump to open up the bottom of the eighth for Gibler. Gibler fired 1.1 innings while allowing just a walk with three strikeouts on 28 pitches (16 strikes).
After Hernandez struck out looking, Josh Pearson came up as a pinch hitter for Braswell and delievered a single to right field. Milam singled to left center to move Pearson all the way to third base to put runners on the corners. CF Chris Stanfield drove in Pearson with an RBI groundout to third base to cut the lead to one, 5-4, while Milam moved to second. Jimenez got the Hogs out of the inning by forcing Curiel to groundout to second.
Logan Maxwell, who came in as a pinch hitter for Boles in the top of the sixth, led off the top of the ninth with a walk, and Kendall Diggs replaced him as a pinch runner. RHP William Schmidt relieved LHP Conner Ware and gave up back-to-back walks to Kuhio Aloy and Helfrick to load up the bases.
RHP Mavrick Rizy was placed on the bump and forced Kozeal to pop up to second for the first out of the inning. Iredale drew an RBI walk to extend the lead to two, 6-4, and Robinett came through with an RBI single to right field to hand Arkansas a three-run lead.
Jimenez came back for the bottom of the ninth and struck out 1B Jared Jones to start the inning. After giving up a single to Dickinson and a walk to Frey, LHP Parker Coil came in to shut down the game in his first game back since March 23. Coil struck out pinch hitter Cade Arrambide for the second out and made Hernandez line out to short to secure the victory while picking up his first save of the season.
The Razorbacks will finish the regular season at home at Baum-Walker Stadium with a three-game series against the Tennessee Volunteers starting on Thursday. The first pitch for the series opener is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.