No. 3 Arkansas (16-2, 0-1 SEC) had its 12-game winning streak snapped by the No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels (15-2, 1-0 SEC), 10-6, on Friday evening at Swayze Field. The Razorback pitching staff was overwhelmed by the offense in the Southeastern Conference series opener.
Arkansas vs Ole Miss: game one
Ole Miss got a head start on Arkansas in the bottom of the first inning with a solo shot by DH Hayden Federico on the first pitch thrown by LHP Zach Root. RF Mitchell Sanford drew a walk later in the inning with two outs and scored on an RBI double by 3B Judd Utermark to extend the Rebels’ lead, 2-0.
The Razorbacks responded in the top of the second with DH Kuhio Aloy reaching on a single and 3B Brent Iredale getting by a pitch to put runners on first and second. One batter later, C Ryder Helfrick roped an RBI single through the right side to score Aloy and cut the lead to one. 2B Nolan Souza and CF Justin Thomas Jr. both struck out to end the threat.
Ole Miss came right back with another two-run rally in the bottom half of the second. SS Luke Ching opened up a frame with a double to right center and advanced to third on a groundout by Federico. 2B Luke Hill drove him in with a single off of Root’s glove to put the Rebels back up by two. After LF Ryan Moerman flew out, Sanford doubled to left field to cash in Hill to extend the Ole Miss lead, 4-1.
CF Charles Davalan led off the top of the third with an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. SS Wehiwa Aloy moved him up to third on a fly out to left field and RF Logan Maxwell punched in Davalan with an RBI groundout to short to cut the deficit to two. Kuhio Aloy made his way in with a two-out double to extend the inning, but Iredale struck out looking to end the frame.
The Rebels loaded up the bases to start the bottom of the third on a single by 1B Collin Reuter, C Austin Fawley reaching on an error at third and CF Issac Humphrey getting on with a bunt single. Cheng drove in his second run of the game on a single to left to plate Reuter but Fawley was thrown out at the plate by Davalan. Root struck out Federico and forced Hill to fly out to right to end the inning, but not without the Hogs trailing, 5-2.
After Moerman led off with a double to begin the bottom of the fourth, Sanford cracked a two-run home run to left field to put Ole Miss ahead by five. Root was relieved by RHP Dylan Carter after allowing seven runs across three innings. He gave up 10 hits and two walks while striking out three batters.
Ole Miss kept its foot on the gas, with Humphrey leading off with a double and Cheng getting hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Owen Paino came in as a pinch runner for Cheng. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Federico and Humphrey scored on a sacrifice fly by Hill to make it an 8-2 game while Paino advanced to third. After allowing a walk, Carter was replaced on the mound by RHP Tate McGuire, who gave an RBI single to Sanford to put the Rebels up by seven. Utermark lined out to short to end Ole Miss’s fourth different inning of scoring at least two runs.
LHP Hunter Elliott was relieved after five innings by RHP Mason Morris to begin the top half of the sixth inning. Arkansas jumped on the new arm by loading the bases with Kuhio Aloy singling up the middle, Iredale reaching on a walk and 1B Rocco Peppi singling through the left side. Helfrick knocked in Kuhio Aloy with a sacrifice fly. Camden Kozeal stepped in as a pinch hitter for Souza and delivered with an RBI single to right field to plate Iredale while Peppi advanced to third. Thomas struck out swinging on three pitches and Davalan flew out to center to end the rally.
The Rebels punched the Razorbacks right back in the bottom of the sixth with Will Furniss leading off with a walk and Fawley doubling to put runners in scoring position. Humphrey singled to left field for Furniss to score while Fawley moved up to third to put Ole Miss back up by six, 10-4. McGuire retired the next three batters in order to stall the Rebels.
Maxwell cut the lead back to five with a solo shot to left with one out in the top of the seventh for his third home run of the season.
RHP Ben Bybee was brought in in the bottom of the seventh to relieve McGuire. He hurled a 1-2-3 inning to halt the Rebels to no base runners in an inning for the first time of the game.
Davalan put up one more run on the board for Arkansas with a solo shot to center with one out in the top of the ninth for his fourth dinger of the season. RHP Cole Spencer came out of the bullpen after Morris gave up the home run and retired the side to hand Ole Miss the victory.
The Razorbacks and the Rebels will meet back up at Swayze Field on Saturday for the second matchup of the three-game series. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.