The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (26-3, 8-1 SEC) earned a 7-3 win Sunday afternoon over the No. 14 Vanderbilt Commodores (20-8, 4-5 SEC) at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee.
Starting junior left-handed pitcher Landon Beidelschies gave the Razorbacks a chance, as he tossed 5.0 innings with six hits, three earns runs (all three scored on a home run), two walks and four strikeouts.
It was a relatively tough day at the plate for the Diamond Hogs, who finished 9-for-35 with 12 punchouts. Leadoff man Charles Davalan had the two biggest swings of the day, a two-run shot in the third inning that gave Arkansas its initial 2-0 lead and a solo shot in the eighth to tie things up.
Those weren't the only runs scored in the eighth frame, as Logan Maxwell laced a solo shot over the left-field wall and Nolan Souza smoked a two-run hit off the left field wall to give Arkansas a 7-3 lead.
Junior right-hander Ben Bybee was excellent in relief, as he completed 4.0 innings of scoreless baseball with seven strikeouts, one walk and only two hits allowed.
Aided by two swings and misses, Vandy right-hander Connor Fennell made quick work of Arkansas' top three batters to start the game. Razorback lefty Landon Beidelschies issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, but a smooth double play by Wehiwa Aloy wiped him off the base paths. Beidelschies worked around a two-out single with a strikeout.
Cam Kozeal broke up the no-hitter with a two-out single in the top of the second, but after stealing second base, he was stranded in scoring position. Beidelschies had much better control in his second frame. He started off with a strikeout, but was tagged with an 0-2 single. Then Vandy laid down a perfect bunt that should've resulted in two men on base, but the runner on first base made contact with second baseman Nolan Souza on his way to second base and was called out. Beidelschies finished things off with another strikeout.
Following a leadoff strikeout by Souza, Justin Thomas Jr. doubled to right center. Charles Davalan drove him in with a left-field bomb that just snuck over the wall. The Hogs didn't piece anything else together, but exited the frame up 2-0.
Disaster struck for Beidelschies in the bottom of the fourth. Following a leadoff double and a flyout, Beidelschies hit a batter and then gave up a three-run homerun to give Vandy a 3-2 lead, its first advantage of the weekend. Arkansas' southpaw was able to escape without allowing anymore damage.
Arkansas' offense went 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth and Beidelschies was able to work around a walk and a hit-by-pitch to keep the Commodores at bay in the bottom of the inning.
Right-handed reliever Ben Bybee replaced Beidelschies in the bottom of the sixth, and he struck out two Commodores to escape a jam. Brent Iredale got the Hogs' offense going with a leadoff single in the top of the seventh. After back-to-back flyouts, Souza doubled to left center to give Arkansas two runners in scoring position. They were both stranded after Thomas struck out looking.
After a quick outing by Bybee, the tide shifted in Arkansas' favor in the top of the eighth. Down a run, Davalan homered for the second time to tie things up. Wehiwa Aloy grounded out, and then Logan Maxwell sent a pitch over the left-field wall to give the Hogs a 4-3 lead.
Iredale singled with two outs to force a Vandy pitching change to lefty Ethan McElvain, who walked back-to-back batters to load the bases. Souza punched a hit off the wall in left to score two more, but was thrown out at second. Arkansas now led 7-3.
With a newfound lead, Bybee didn't show any signs of wavering. He picked up strikeouts No. 2, 3 and 4 to set the Commodores down in order in the bottom of the eighth.
The Hogs went down 1-2-3 in the top of the nnith, and Bybee took the mound again to close things out. The Kansas native started off with a one-pitch groundout before giving up a single down the left-field line. That didn't matter, though, as Bybee retired the final two Commodores to seal the sweep.
Up next, Arkansas will face Grambling for a midweek battle Tuesday at Dickey-Stephens Park in Little Rock. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will stream on SEC Network+.
