The No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs (32-6, 10-5 SEC) pulled off some extra-inning magic to win the rubber match over No. 1 Arkansas (32-5, 12-3, SEC) in 11 innings, 7-6, on Sunday afternoon at Foley Field in Athens, Ga. The Razorbacks have now lost their first-place tie with the Texas Longhorns in the Southeastern Conference standings.
Arkansas drew first blood in the top of the first inning with CF Charles Davalan leading off the inning with a walk and DH Kuhio Aloy reaching on a catcher’s interference with two outs. 1B Camden Kozeal singled to center field to score Davalan and give the Hogs an early 1-0 lead.
Georgia strung together some two-out hitting in the bottom of the second to take the lead over Arkansas. 2B Ryan Black was hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI double by CF Devin Obee to tie the game. SS Kolby Branch gave the Bulldogs the lead with a two-run home run to center, 3-1, off of LHP Landon Beidelschies.
Georgia tacked on in the bottom of the third with a leadoff home run by 3B Slate Alford to extend the lead to three. Arkansas cut the lead back down to two in the top of the fourth with two outs on a solo shot by Ryder Helfrick, 4-2, for his seventh home run of the season.
Beidelschies went five innings in his eighth start of the season (ninth appearance) while allowing four runs, four hits and a walk with six strikeouts on 83 pitches (49 strikes). He was relieved by RHP Carson Wiggins, who struck out all three batters he faced in the bottom of the sixth.
All was silent until the top of the seventh inning when pinch hitter Carson Boles and Davalan drew back-to-back one-out walks. SS Wehiwa Aloy reached on an error at short on a slow roller that allowed Boles to score from second to cut the deficit to one and move runners into scoring position. RF Logan Maxwell struck out swinging, and Kuhio Aloy popped out to first to stop the Razorbacks from tying the game.
After striking out the first batter of the frame, Wiggins allowed a walk to Obee. He advanced to second base on a pickoff error and later stole third base. Branch drove Obee in with a sacrifice fly to left field to build the lead back up to two, 5-3.
RHP Dylan Carter was inserted on the mound in the bottom of the eighth after Wiggins had hurled two innings. Carter struck out the side in order on 15 pitches (11 strikes).
The Hogs opened up the top of the ninth with a leadoff solo home run by Helfrick off of RHP Tyler McLoughlin to bring the lead back down to one. Boles struck out looking, and Davalan popped out to shallow center field for the first two outs of the frame. Wehiwa Aloy reeled back and tied the game with a big solo shot to center field for his 12th homer of the year. McLoughlin was relieved by RHP Brian Zeldin after the game-tying home run, and Maxwell grounded out to end the inning.
RHP Aiden Jimenez was placed on the hill to start the bottom half of the ninth and sat down the side in order to force extra innings. He returned for the bottom of the 10th and delivered another three up, three down frame.
2B Gabe Fraser led off the top of the 11th by legging out an infield single to the right side and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Helfrick. Boles reached on a fielding error at third to put runners on the corners with one out. Davalan reached on a fielder's choice while Fraser slid home to score to give Arkansas the lead, 6-5.
Jimenez started out the bottom of the 11th by forcing LF Nolan McCarthy to ground out and striking out RF Robbie Burnett. A pitch hit DH Ryland Zaborowski to put the tying run on first while Daniel Jackson came in for him as a pinch runner. 1B Tre Phelps laced a double to left field to tie the game with Jackson barely getting his hand in at home to score. LHP Cole Gibler made his way out of the bullpen to relieve Jimenez and made 2B Trey King ground out to the right side to take the game to the 12th.
Gibler struck out the first two batters of the bottom of the 12th to begin the inning. C Henry Hunter stepped in and crushed a walk-off solo shot to center field to win the game for the Bulldogs and take the series.
The Razorbacks will head back home to the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium to take on in-state opponent the UAPB Golden Lions on Tuesday night. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on SEC Network+.