FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas and Tennessee treated spectators at Baum-Walker Stadium to another entertaining night of baseball, and once again, the Razorback faithful went home happy.
A seventh-inning outburst from the home team changed a game that featured no bigger than a two-run lead through six innings, and the Hogs secured their second victory — a 6-3 decision — over the No. 16 Volunteers to win their third straight SEC series.
Tennessee left fielder Jared Dickey led off the game with a home run for the second straight day, marking the beginning of a challenging first inning for Arkansas starter Will McEntire. Three Volunteers reached consecutively against him, but a wacky 5-2-5-4-3 putout at second base and a routine grounder to first kept the damage to just the solo shot.
It did not take the Razorbacks as long to respond as it did Friday, as leadoff man Tavian Josenberger made Tennessee starter Chase Dollander work extremely hard. The center fielder fouled off six pitches and drew a walk on the 11th, getting aboard two batters ahead of the red-hot Jace Bohrofen.
After working the count to 3-1, Bohrofen launched Dollander’s offering 105 mph and 447 feet to right field to establish the first Arkansas lead of the evening.
"I thought that was big," Bohrofen said. "Got myself in a good count. Tavian had a heck of an at-bat to start off the game. I think that just kind of speaks to the grittiness of our offense."
Pitching with a 2-1 lead, McEntire threw five much smoother innings after the first. The only trouble he faced took the form of a leadoff double in the third, but a line drive to shortstop John Bolton erased the runner when he caught it and stepped on second base for the unassisted double play.
"The conversations in the dugout were ‘Is he going to be able to start hitting some spots?’ Because if not, they’re going to score," Van Horn said. "I think one of those guys got on on a walk. You know, if they hit you, they hit you. They’ve got guys that can hit. The wind's blowing out and it should’ve been a hitters' day, a hitters' night. Then he just kind of flipped it."
Volunteer right fielder Dylan Dreiling collected his second two-bagger in three innings with two away in the fifth as the wind blew the ball away from Bohrofen and Bolton in shallow left. Fortunately for McEntire, Kendall Diggs secured the third out in foul ground, and the Razorback bats were about to show some life.
Dollander had retired 11 consecutive batters after surrendering the bomb to Bohrofen, but third baseman Caleb Cali hit MLB.com’s No. 2 draft prospect even harder than his teammate did. A 106-mph line drive made contact with Dickey’s glove on the warning track in left, but it also touched dirt to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out.
Designated hitter Ben McLaughlin delivered on the very next pitch, poking a single through the middle of the infield to drive in his first run since Feb. 25, when he tore his meniscus.
"It was big, because we hadn’t done much," Van Horn said. "We had some quick innings, and we needed to get his pitch count up, but more than anything, we needed to score."
Bolton drew a one-out, eight-pitch walk at the end of the second time through the order, marking the end of Dollander’s day at 4 ⅓ innings and 93 pitches. Lefty Kirby Connell stranded both runners with two quick outs.
The third run proved to be a big one for the Hogs, as Tennessee first baseman Blake Burke tagged McEntire for another leadoff bomb in the sixth and pinch hitter Kavares Tears kept the pressure on with a one-out single. The next batter was the Arkansas righty’s fifth strikeout victim, and catcher Parker Rowland delivered a perfect throw to second to nab Tears for the double play.
"Any time you get a double play, whether it was a regular double play or something like that, it's a huge momentum shift," McEntire said. "You get the momentum on your side and take that to the dugout, and the offense does its thing."
Arkansas threatened to stretch the lead back out in the bottom of the sixth, but three free passes generated no runs, and the margin stood at 3-2 heading to the late innings.
Right-hander Gage Wood was the first Razorback out of the bullpen for his first appearance since his nine-out save to clinch the series at Ole Miss a week ago. Christian Scott’s one-out pinch hit eventually brought the tying run within 90 feet of home, but the freshman retired Dreiling for the first time all night with an emphatic strikeout.
"I think he just mentally turned the corner," Van Horn said, "because we saw it in the fall. We thought this guy was going to help us as a freshman. He just seemed a little nervous the first couple, three times out, which is probably normal. He had a couple disappointing outings a few weeks back and I think he just said ‘I’m done with that. I’m good.’"
When Wood returned to the mound in the eighth, he had four runs of support with which to work.
Volunteer reliever Camden Sewell plunked Bolton, who stole second and moved to third on Josenberger’s sacrifice bunt. An errant pickoff attempt allowed him to scamper home to make it 4-2, and Diggs and Cali tacked on RBI singles with two away in the seventh, doubling the lead once again.
After retiring the side in order in the eighth, walks and wild pitches cost Wood a run in the ninth, but he ultimately locked down his third save of the year to seal the 6-3 victory.
The Razorbacks stand a full game ahead of No. 1 LSU for first place in the SEC West, and because the Tigers do not play Sunday, they will remain alone in first regardless of how their series finale with Tennessee goes.
That contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday and will stream live on SEC Network Plus, accessible through the ESPN app.
"We have another game tomorrow, and we need to do everything we can to try to win that thing," Van Horn said.
