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Diamond Hogs drop defensive battle to USC, 3-1

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Arkansas squeezed by USC, 7-6, on a walk-off RBI single from Dominic Fletcher in a shortened series finale in Baum Stadium Sunday.

The Razorbacks fell behind early until a 4-hit, 4-run sixth inning tied the game at 5-5. Fletcher, who came into the game batting .186, had his biggest hit of the season so far with the bases loaded in the final inning. The Hogs totaled 11 hits on the day.

USC's baseball club had to catch a flight, so both teams agreed not to start an inning after 4:00 pm (CST), resulting in an eight-inning game. USC hopped on the Hogs early and often, recording at least one hit in each of the first five innings but couldn't close the deal late.

Here's how the Razorbacks took the series on Sunday:

Casey Martin lead off the bottom of the second with a line-drive double down the left field line. He advanced to second on a groundout and scored on an RBI groundout from Grant Koch to put the Hogs up 1-0.

USC's Stephen Dubb doubled down the right side and the throw from Kjerstad got away from Jared Gates, scoring Jamal O'Guinn and tying the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth.

Barrett Loseke came in to relieve Murphy in the fifth inning but was pulled for Jake Reindl after putting the first two runners on with no outs. Dillon Paulson preceded to break the game open with a two-RBI double down the right side to make it 3-1 USC. Matthew Acosta's RBI single to center pushed it to 4-1. A throwing error on Jax Biggers brought in the fourth run of the inning and put the Trojans ahead 5-1.

After a walk and two hit by pitches, the Razorbacks loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Easton Murrell came on to pinch hit for Evan Lee and grounded out, ending the threat.

The Razorbacks made a rally in the sixth inning, scoring 4 runs on 4 hits. Hunter Wilson got the party started with an RBI groundout, bringing Arkansas within 3 runs, 5-2. Eric Cole hit an RBI single to left, his first of the day, to push it to 5-3 USC. Freshman Heston Kjerstad came through with an RBI single to left, advancing Eric Cole to third who later scored on a wild pitch, tying the game 5-5.

USC retook the lead, 6-5, with an RBI single in the seventh inning by Sabol.

Because of the 4:00 curfew, the eighth inning was Arkansas' last chance to come back. Jax Biggers singled to left and was brought home by Eric Cole's RBI triple to center field. USC intentionally walked Kjerstad and Luke Bonfield back to back, loading the bases. Dominic Fletcher pinch hit for Easton Murrell and came through with a walk-off RBI single to center field, pushing Arkansas over the top 7-6.

Dave Van Horn on falling behind 5-1:

"We spot them a four-run lead, but the dugout was positive. My message to the players was we don't have to score four runs in one inning, we just have to chip away a little bit."

Van Horn on the shortened game:

"I don't like coaching with a clock. I told Coach (Mike) Anderson I'd be coaching basketball if I wanted to coach with a clock...I don't like it. I want to make sure we're getting our allotment of outs."

Van Horn on Fletcher's walk-off single:

"He's had a lot of struggles. It was huge. His teammates are really pulling for him to come through...When he was going up to the plate, I told him what was going to happen...He squared it up about as good as you can square it up up the middle."

Dominic Fletcher on his walk-off single:

"Yeah it was pretty big not only for me but for our team to come out of that series with two wins...Hopefull it'll get me going, just relax up there a little more."

Eric Cole on his RBI triple in the eighth:

"It would've sucked if he'd caught it, I'll tell you that much. That's kind of how it's been going for us so far. So it was good for us that he didn't."

Grant Koch on the impact of this win:

"It's huge. At this point in the year, obviously we know it's still early. We don't want this to be a super-defining moment for us...I think it can help us build some momentum for guys."

Eric Cole, Grant Koch and Casey Martin finished a combined 8 for 13 and were responsible for half of Arkansas' RBIs on the day (3 of 6).

The Razorbacks drew 8 walks and 81 of USC's 189 total pitches were balls.

Jackson Rutledge (Arkansas): 1 IP (17 pitches), 0 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 0 ER

Dominic Fletcher entered the game for the first time in a pinch-hit situation with the bases loaded in the bottom of the final inning and delivered with the game-winning hit. Fletcher was 8 for 43 at the plate entering the contest.

Eric Cole had a huge day, hitting 4 for 5 with 2 RBIs. Cole had an RBI single in the sixth and the game-tying RBI triple that set up the winning run in the eighth inning. He's hitting .395 on the year.

Arkansas gets a little bit of a break until Kent State comes to town for a weekend series starting this Friday, March 9. The first of three games will start at 3:00 pm (CST) on SEC Network+.