The No. 3 Arkansas baseball team (16-2, 0-1 SEC) dropped their Southeastern Conference opener Friday with a 10-6 loss to the No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels (15-2, 1-0 SEC) at Swayze Field in Oxford, Mississippi.
Ole Miss right fielder Mitchell Sanford drove in four runs on three hits for the Rebels, who plated 10 runs on 14 hits as a team. The leadoff man safely reached and scored in each of the first six innings for Ole Miss, which was 6-for-14 at the plate with runnings in scoring position in the game.
Arkansas starting pitcher Zach Root had some unlucky plays that didn't go his way, but he also struggled by giving up 10 hits. Root allowed seven earned runs and he walked two batters with just three strikeouts on 74 pitches across three innings in his first SEC start.
Hogs' designated hitter Kuhio Aloy went 3-for-4 at the plate while right fielder Logan Maxwell and catcher Ryder Helfrick both added two runs batter in each. Leadoff hitter Charles Davalan added two hits, including a solo home run. Arkansas batters combined for 14 strikeouts on the afternoon.
After Rebels' starting pitcher Hunter Elliott faced the minimum in the top of the first, Root had his first pitch of the game drive deep to left field for a leadoff home run by Ole Miss designated hitter Hayden Federico. The Rebels plated another run in the frame on a misplayed ball by Justin Thomas Jr. in centerfield that resulted in an RBI double to make the deficit 2-0 after a 26-pitch first inning for Root.
Helfrick beat the shift with a one out RBI single through the right side to score Kuhio Aloy in the top of the second inning.
Ole Miss earned the run back with an RBI single hit off Root's glove by second baseman Luke Hill, plus they added another run on a cheap bloop double to left field from Mitchell Sanford that gave them a 4-1 lead after two innings. The Razorbacks stayed within striking distance with an RBI groundout from Maxwell in the top of the third to make the deficit two runs.
Root seemed to be in big trouble with bases loaded and no outs in the bottom half, but the Rebels managed to scratch across just one run on an RBI single from shortstop Luke Cheng to extend the lead to 5-2.
Arkansas stuck with Root to start the bottom of the fourth and he gave up a leadoff double followed by a two-run homer to left field from Sanford that made it a 7-2 lead for Ole Miss and chased Root from the game. Sixth-year righty Dylan Carter relieved Root and retired three batters in a row to get out of the inning with no more damage.
With his pitch count trending towards 90, Elliott seemed to only get better with a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, his final inning, that featured his seventh and eighth strikeouts of the game. The Rebels added an eighth run on an RBI sacrifice fly off Carter, who was relieved by right-hander Tate McGuire. Ole Miss tagged McGuire with an RBI single before the bottom of the fifth was over to make the lead 9-2.
The Rebels brought reliever Mason Morris on in the top of the sixth, and he gave up a pair of runs on swings from Helfrick and Cam Kozeal, who had a pinch hit RBI single to cut the deficit to 9-4. McGuire allowed the first three Ole Miss batters to reach, the third of which was an RBI single, in the bottom of the sixth but he responded with three straight outs to keep the Rebels' lead at six runs.
Morris surrendered a one out 379-foot solo home run to Maxwell, his third of the season, but the Ole Miss right-hander otherwise struck out the side. Junior righty Ben Bybee threw the first scoreless frame by an Arkansas pitcher with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning.
Both Morris and Bybee posted scoreless frames in the eighth inning to keep the score at 10-5 entering the top of the ninth inning for the Hogs. Davalan hit a one out solo homer off Morris to bring on reliever Connor Spencer, who managed to close things down without allowing anymore scoring.
Up next, Arkansas and Ole Miss will meet again at Swayze Field in Oxford, Mississippi, for Game 2 of the three-game series. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.
