Razorbacks rally for rare road win against LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. — A three-run eighth inning propelled No. 4 Arkansas to a 5-4 victory Friday night on the road against LSU to open their Southeastern Conference weekend series.
LSU (26-20, 10-12) had the tying run on third and the winning run on first in the bottom of the ninth inning at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Junior Jake Reindl struck out the final two batters to earn his fifth save of the year and give the Razorbacks (33-13, 14-8) their fifth win in a row and fifth SEC road win.
“There was a little frustration in the dugout after we left the bases loaded in the sixth inning,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “My comment to the team was, ‘This team can really hit. We haven’t put together our good inning yet.’
“In most of our wins, we’re going to put together an inning where we score three or four runs. We were kind of living off the solo home run there for a while, but we finally strung together some hits in a row. This team is resilient. They never felt like they were out of the game because we have some firepower.”
The three runs in the eighth inning gave the Hogs their third lead of the game. Junior right fielder Eric Cole started the rally with his second home run of the game.
Sophomore designated hitter Evan Lee and senior first baseman Jared Gates each hit a two-out RBI single to put Arkansas ahead for good. Lee and Gates were both hitless before their final at-bats.
Arkansas had three or more home runs in a game for the ninth time this season as Cole and junior catcher Grant Koch both went deep. Cole delivered a solo shot to lead off the game. His second home run in the eighth was his team-leading 12th of the season.
Cole finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. He is the first Razorback this season to lead off a game with a home run and the seventh to hit two in the same game.
Koch’s solo home run in the third inning gave Arkansas a 2-1 lead. It was his first home run since March 31 at Ole Miss (35-12, 12-10),
his seventh of the year and his only hit of the game.
Arkansas now has 72 home runs this season, which leads the SEC and ranks second in the nation. Tennessee Tech (38-6, 20-2 Ohio Valley Conference) leads college baseball with 98 team home runs.
Freshman infielder Casey Martin was 2-for4 for his 17th multi-hit game of the year.
Junior Blaine Knight gave up four runs on eight hits over six innings with three strikeouts and two walks in his 12th start of the year. It marked only the second time this season he has allowed four or more runs in a game.
Junior Barrett Loseke (2-1) retired six of the first seven batters he faced. He issued three walks and allowed one hit, but he struck out two batters in 2 1/3 innings of scoring relief.
Reindl entered the game in the ninth inning after Loseke walked two of the first three batters. Reindl struck out Nick Webre and Beau Jordan for his third save in as many appearances.
Loseke was able to continue his scoreless streak of 10 2/3 innings. He has struck out 19 batters during that span.
The win was Arkansas’ first in Baton Rouge since 2014 and eighth one-run win of the season. Arkansas was able to increase its lead over Ole Miss in the SEC West as the Rebels lost, 13-5, Friday at South Carolina (27-18, 12-10).
The Hogs and Tigers played game two of the series Saturday evening. The final game of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m. today and can be viewed online on the SEC Network+.