The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (25-3, 7-1 SEC) earned a 6-4 extra-inning win Saturday afternoon over the No. 14 Vanderbilt Commodores (20-7, 4-4 SEC) at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee.
It's the first time the Diamond Hogs have won a series against Vanderbilt since 2017 and the first series win in Nashville since 2010.
A day after mashing two home runs against Vanderbilt, Arkansas first baseman Cam Kozeal hit his third longball of the weekend in the second inning to give the Hogs a 2-0 lead. The former Commodore transfer finished 1-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs.
Arkansas starting pitcher Gabe Gaeckle looked more like his old self against the Commodores, as he tossed 5.2 innings with six hits allowed, two earned runs, zero walks and seven punchouts.
Right-handed relief pitch Aiden Jimenez was excellent out of the bullpen, as he struck out four batters in 3.1 innings with three hits and one run allowed.
Center fielder Justin Thomas Jr. pitched in a solo homerun, while third baseman Brent Iredale and catcher Ryder Helfrick tallied an RBI each.
Charles Davalan led the game off with a single, but Vanderbilt starting right-handed pitcher Cody Bowker wiped the Canadian off the base paths with a groundball double play. Logan Maxwell's pop-up in foul territory was the third out. Arkansas starter Gabe Gaeckle got his day started with a 1-2-3 frame to close the first.
After hitting two home runs yesterday, former Vanderbilt transfer Cam Kozeal smacked a two-run oppo bomb in the top of the second to give Arkansas a 2-0 lead. Commodore designated hitter Mac Rose collected Vanderbilt's first hit of the day, a left-field double off Gaeckle, but he was stranded in scoring position to bring on the third inning.
Kozeal had a massive two-out RBI opportunity in the top of the third following a single by Wehiwa Aloy and a pair of walks from Kuhio Aloy and Brent Iredale, but he struck out swinging to end the threat.
Gaeckle allowed a a one-out single in the top of the third, but worked around it with two strikeouts and a lineout. For the first time in the game, Arkansas went down in order in the latter-half of the inning.
Neither team mustered much in the fourth inning, though Gaeckle did pick up strikeouts No. 4 and 5 against the Commodores. Both Aloy brothers singled in the top of the fifth, but that all she wrote for Arkansas' offense.
An error by Arkansas center fielder Justin Thomas Jr. allowed a runner on first (who reached with a leadoff single) to come around and score in the bottom of the fifth, but Gaeckle closed the door on the festivities with a strikeout. The Razorbacks now led 2-1.
Vanderbilt turned to the bullpen in the sixth inning, as right-hander Sawyer Hawks took the mound and worked a clean frame to get his day going. Using that momentum, the Commodores tied the game, 2-2, against Gaeckle in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out single. Right-hander Carson Wiggins relieved Gaeckle and got the Hogs out of the frame.
Just as quickly as Arkansas lost its lead, it regained it on a Thomas leadoff left-field bomb in the top of the seventh to make it 3-2. According to the SECN+ broadcast, Wiggins touched 101 MPH in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough to prevent Vanderbilt from tying the game, 3-3. After a walk, the Hogs handed it off to righty Aiden Jimenez for the final out.
The Razorbacks went down in order again in the top of the eighth, and Jimenez struck out the side in dominant fashion to push to the ninth inning.
Vanderbilt worked around a two-out walk in the top of the ninth to keep Arkansas at bay. Jimenez returned in the bottom of the inning and was aided by a super-human defensive play by Wehiwa Aloy, who made a jump throw across his body for the first out. Jimenez worked around a single with a strikeout and groundout to send both teams to extra-innings.
The dam finally broke in the top of the 10th, as Arkansas drove in three runs behind an RBI single by Iredale and back-to-back bunt-hit singles for Kozeal and Helfrick. Arkansas now led 6-3.
Vanderbilt managed to put runners on the corners with no outs to start the bottom of the 10th, but Jimenez fought back to close the door on the series victory.
Up next, Arkansas and Vanderbilt will meet for Game 3 of the series Sunday at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT and the game will air on SEC Network.
