Razorbacks grind out road SEC victory at No. 4 Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — No. 5 Arkansas was able to score two crucial runs in the sixth inning Thursday to break a 4-4 tie with No. 4 Ole Miss en route to a 6-4 victory and the Hogs’ fifth conference win of the year.
The Razorbacks (19-7, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) claimed their fifth victory against a top-five team and has yet to lose the first game of a weekend series this year. The win over Ole Miss (23-4, 4-3) allowed the Hogs to take over sole possession of first place in the SEC’s Western Division. The Rebels are Arkansas’ third consecutive top-five opponents in the conference schedule.
Sophomore Jordan McFarland hit his third home run of the season to break the tie in the sixth inning. The long ball to right-center field was one of two in the game by Arkansas.
McFarland was one of five Razorbacks to turn in multi-hit performances. Joining him were Jax Biggers, Eric Cole, Casey Martin, and Carson Shaddy.
Shaddy batted 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs on a two-run home run in the second inning. He is tied with Martin for the team lead with seven on the year.
Starting pitcher Blaine Knight (5-0) remained undefeated this season. The junior gutted out six innings with seven hits scattered, two earned runs, one walk and seven strikeouts on 97 pitches.
Knight was spotted four runs after two innings, but Ole Miss scored four back, two of them unearned after an error to tie the game after three innings. Knight threw scoreless fourth, fifth and sixth innings to notch his fifth quality start this season.
McFarland and Shaddy combined to go 5-for-8, .625, with two home runs, driving in half of the Razorbacks run total from the eight and nine spots in the lineup. Shaddy’s long ball came after Arkansas had already scored two runs in the first inning off Ryan Rolison. His seventh home run of the year extended his hitting streak to five games and was his first since his two-homer game against Kentucky (18-7, 2-4) on March 17.
In conference play, Shaddy is leading the team with a .520 average after seven SEC games, as well as a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .567 on-base percentage. Over his last nine games, Shaddy has five multi-hit games with 12 RBIs and a .486 average.
Biggers, Cole and Martin each had two hits at the top of the lineup. Catcher Grant Koch was the only starter to not record a hit in the game as the team finished with 14 hits, its most in its last six games.
Knight gave up a solo home run to Cole Zabowski in the second inning. Ole Miss scored three more runs in the third inning on four hits, including one coming off a throwing error from a sacrifice bunt attempt.
Knight picked up two strikeouts to prevent the Rebels from taking the lead. He only allowed three baserunners for the rest of the game and got some help from his defense, which turned double plays in the fourth and sixth innings.
Sophomore Matt Cronin finished the final three innings of the game, striking out five batters, to earn his team-leading fifth save of the year. He struck out the side in the eighth and two of the final three batters in the ninth to lock up the victory. It’s the second time this year Cronin has totaled five strikeouts. He has four saves in his last five outings.
Game two of the series took place Friday night at Swayze Field. The series is scheduled to conclude at 1:30 p.m. today.