Diamond Hogs drop Game 2 at South Carolina
The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (33-6, 13-4 SEC) suffered their third loss in the past four conference games with a 6-3 defeat at the 20 South Carolina Gamecocks (26-12, 8-8 SEC) in the first half of a doubleheader Saturday at Founders Park in Columbia, South Carolina.
Despite having two more hits (12) than the Gamecocks (9), the Razorbacks left 13 runners on base and they were 1-for-12 at the plate with runners in scoring position.
After Friday's 2-1 win over the Gamecocks, which featured 14 runners left on base, the Razorbacks have now left 27 runners on base across the first two games of the series against South Carolina.
Arkansas starting pitcher Mason Molina struggled to locate for most of the 3.1 innings he pitched. The junior Texas Tech transfer gave up two earned runs on two hits, but he walked seven and struck out three.
Sophomore lefty Parker Coil was solid in relief until things fell apart in the bottom of the sixth, which was a five-hit, four-run inning for South Carolina.
South Carolina ace Eli Jones' first pitch of the game was hit for a leadoff single up the middle by Peyton Stovall, who managed to make it all the way to third via a passed ball and wild pitch. Jones was able to retired the other three batters he saw, though, to strand Stovall.
Molina the leadoff man aboard with a walk in the bottom of the first. After a pair of fly outs, Molina picked off the runner — Austin Brinling — trying to steal second to end the inning.
Arkansas left two more on base after not being able to capitalize on a pair of two-out singles in the top of the second. Molina put two on with outs after throwing eight straight balls in the bottom of the second.
Following a sacrifice bunt, the Gamecocks managed to strike first via a one-out, two-RBI single up the middle from third baseman Talmade LeCroy. Despite issuing a walk after that, Molina regrouped to strikeout two in a row and limit the damage to two runs.
Again, Arkansas had two runners on with two outs in the top of the third, but Jones was able to get out of the jam while the Hogs stranded their fourth and fifth baserunners of the game. South Carolina had runners on the corners in the bottom half, but Molina also stranded two with his third strikeout of the game.
The Razorbacks cut the South Carolina lead in half in the bottom of the fourth after Will Edmunson drove Peyton Holt, who hit a leadoff single, in with an RBI sacrifice fly that made it a 2-1 game. Still, the Hogs stranded two more runners in the frame.
Two more walks from Molina brought an end to his day with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sophomore left-hander Parker Coil came on and had bases loaded with one out, but he worked around the traffic and stranded all three runners to keep the deficit at one run.
South Carolina turned to left-handed reliever Matthew Becker in the top of the fifth and he worked the game's first 1-2-3 frame. Coil followed suit by going three up, three down in the bottom half.
After Becker again faced the minimum in the top of the sixth inning, Coil ran into trouble with one out in the bottom half. He gave up three straight singles, the third of which drove in a run and chased him from the game.
Right-hander Koty Frank came on in relief and was tagged with back-to-back RBI swings from Ethan Petry and Parker Noland that gave the Gamecocks a 6-1 lead over Arkansas after six innings.
Arkansas threatened with bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh, which led the Gamecocks to bring in left-handed reliever Garrett Gainey, who gave up just one run on an RBI fielder's choice for Diggs that cut the deficit to four runs for the Razorbacks.
Frank kept the game at 6-2 by facing one more than the minimum in the bottom half of the seventh inning. After the Hogs wasted a leadoff single in the top of the eighth, Frank again faced just one more than the minimum in the bottom of the eighth by working around a two-out single.
Stovall led the top of the ninth off with a 371-foot solo homer that he snuck over the wall in left to trim the deficit to three runs for the Hogs. Right-hander Connor McReery came on in relief after Gainey loaded the bases via three straight singles. McReery picked up two straight outs to leave the bases loaded and close the game.
Up next, the Razorbacks and Gamecocks will play Game 3 as the second half of a doubleheader Saturday due to impending weather Sunday. First pitch for Game 3 is set for 4:15 p.m. CT and it will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Box Score
Coming soon.