Hogs salvage Game 3 with wild comeback victory
Arkansas delivered the final blow in a classic Game 3 slugfest Sunday afternoon.
Casey Opitz capped a five-run ninth inning by driving in two runs with a single and the No. 10 Razorbacks hung on for a 14-12 win over No. 7 Vanderbilt to avoid their first sweep of the season.
It was the catcher’s fourth hit of the game and provided some much needed insurance runs after Jacob Nesbit gave Arkansas (26-10, 9-6 SEC) its third lead of the game with an RBI double.
Both of those hits came with two outs, giving the Razorbacks nine two-out RBIs for the game. Earlier in the inning, Matt Goodheart hit an RBI triple sandwich between singles by Casey Martin and Dominic Fletcher, which tied the game at 11-11.
All five runs were charged to Vanderbilt closer Tyler Brown, who came into the game with a 1.52 ERA and seven saves.
Arkansas didn’t have the luxury of turning to its closer in the ninth because Matt Cronin had pitched earlier in the game. Sure enough, Zebulon Vermillion gave up a leadoff home run to Austin Martin - who successfully reach base in his final 12 plate appearances - and put the tying runs on base with back-to-back walks.
Head coach Dave Van Horn then called on Marshall Denton. The side-armer formerly known as Angus struck out Harrison Ray and Cooper Davis to earn his first career save and end a wild back-and-forth slugfest.
Neither starting pitcher was particularly sharp, with Cody Scroggins giving up six earned runs on six hits and four walks in two innings for Arkansas and Patrick Raby giving up five earned runs on nine hits and two walks in three innings for Vanderbilt.
The Razorbacks struck first, but their first two innings were marred by missed opportunities. Although Heston Kjerstad, Jack Kenley and Trevor Ezell each notched RBIs, Kenley was picked off to prematurely end the first inning and Christian Franklin - when he failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt - grounded into a double play to limit the second-inning damage.
After scoring just one run and leaving the bases loaded in the home half of the first, Vanderbilt jumped all over Scroggins in the second. The Commodores scored five runs, started with a Julian Infante home run and capped by a Stephen Scott RBI double, to take a 6-3 lead.
They added to that lead off Patrick Wicklander in the third with another leadoff home run by Infante. Struggling out of the bullpen once again, the freshman left-hander loaded the bases before a visit from pitching coach Matt Hobbs settled him down and he retired seven straight.
That allowed Arkansas to storm back and take the lead with three runs in the fourth - highlighted by Opitz’s first career home run - and two in the fifth, with Ezell driving in the tying and go-ahead runs with a two-out single.
It was a short-lived lead, though, as Wicklander found himself in more trouble in the bottom of the fifth. This time he couldn’t work himself out of the bases-loaded jam, walking in a run and giving up a sacrifice fly to put Vanderbilt back on top 9-8.
Despite Kevin Kopps needing just 12 pitches to retire the Commodores in order in the sixth, Van Horn brought in Cronin to face the top of their lineup - which features a string of three straight lefties.
The move backfired when Philip Clarke launched a two-run home run that extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 11-8. It seemed like a back-breaking swing, especially after Nesbit’s sacrifice fly in the eighth that would have tied the game before the homer.
Instead, it set the stage for Arkansas’ furious rally in the top of the ninth and Denton’s heroics to salvage Game 3 of the conference series.
The Razorbacks pounded out a season-high 22 hits, with every player except Franklin - who went 0 for 5 - finishing with multiple hits. Opitz and Kjerstad each had four, while Ezell and Martin had three apiece.
After back-to-back SEC road series, Arkansas returns to Fayetteville for a 10-game home stand. It starts with a matchup with in-state foe UAPB at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and then No. 6 Mississippi State comes to town for a series beginning Thursday.
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