McFarland’s HR spurs Razorbacks
OXFORD, Miss. — A fast start by Arkansas’ baseball team was negated by an Ole Miss rally, but Jordan McFarland’s sixth-inning home run gave the No. 6-ranked Razorbacks the winning edge 6-4 against No. 4 Ole Miss on Thursday night before a crowd of 9,619 at Swayze Field.
Game 2 is tonight at 6:30. The Rebels (23-4, 4-3 SEC) have not lost back-to-back games this season and twice have won series after dropping the opener.
The Rebels had tied the game after a four-run deficit,
but McFarland got a one-out fly ball into the feisty right field wind off Ole Miss left-hander Ryan Rolison, a projected first-round draft pick. That gave Arkansas a one-run lead and ended the night for Rolison.
“We were just trying to attack. He’s so good, a left-hander with great stuff,” University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He
throws a lot of strikes, throws his slider for a strike any time he wants and throws the fastball on both sides of the plate.”
The Razorbacks (19-7, 5-2) greeted Ole Miss reliever Will Ethridge with two consecutive hits. He found solid footing with a strikeout of Eric Cole, but Casey Martin’s two-out hit through the left side scored Carson Shaddy to make it 6-4.
Arkansas had 14 hits, 9 against Rolison, who was charged with 5 runs, all earned.
“He did what he was supposed to do,” Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said. “He attacked the zone. They hit breaking balls and fastballs on both sides of the plate. You have to credit them.”
Arkansas starter Blaine Knight (5-0) earned the victory, going 6 innings with 7 hits and 4 runs allowed, 2 earned.
The Rebels had much less success against reliever Matt Cronin, who allowed no runs and just one hit in three innings.
“He had a good fastball, backed it up with a good curve, and he worked up and down in the zone,” said Ole Miss first baseman Cole Zabowski, who was 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBI against Knight.
The Razorbacks had six hits their first time through the order against Rolison. Five of the four hits were singles, but Shaddy’s was not. The nine-hole hitter sent a fly ball to right field that carried over the wall for a 4-0 Razorbacks lead in the second inning.
McFarland had reached ahead of Shaddy – who went 3 for 4 — with an infield single.
The first four batters in the order — Jax Biggers, Cole, Martin and Luke Bonfield – all hit safely in the top of the first.
Biggers scored on Bonfield’s hit through the left side, and Cole scored on one-out sacrifice fly to deep center by Grant Koch.
The Rebels scratched back with a Zabowski’s home run in the second and three more runs in the third when the first four batters reached against Knight.
There were back-to-back hits to start the third, and when Grae Kessinger tried to bunt the runners ahead, Knight fielded and threw wild
to first base. One run scored, and the next touched home on Ryan Olenek’s line drive over the head Martin at third.
Knight struck out the next two batters, but Zabowski singled up the middle to score Kessinger and tie the game.
After Shaddy’s second-inning home run, Rolison retired 12 of the next 14 he faced and tossed three scoreless innings surprising the Razorbacks with his off-speed stuff.
“We really weren’t looking for the change-up, and then the third or fourth inning here he comes with the change. It was a good one, 84 miles an hour, and it slowed us down a lot,” Van Horn said.