FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas had its chances, but it was Ole Miss who got the big hit when it mattered most Saturday afternoon.
Grae Kessinger’s two-out double in the ninth drove in the go-ahead run that gave the Rebels a 4-3 win over the Razorbacks to even the series at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Needing one more out to keep the game tied, reliever Kevin Kopps was supposed to throw his first pitch to Kessinger low and away in an effort to induce a ground ball or get him chasing. Instead, he left it up and paid for it with a double off the bottom of the wall in left-center.
“Kessinger just went up there looking for a pitch and it was a mistake,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “It was a cutter that was left above the belt and he just clubbed it.”
With a speedy pinch runner - Carl Gindl - on second, the Rebels scored easily on the hit. It was their third in nine at bats with runners in scoring position.
That was an area in which the Razorbacks struggled. They wasted Casey Martin’s leadoff double in the first and also couldn’t drive him in from second with no outs in the third, when he drew a leadoff walk and moved to second when Heston Kjerstad was hit by a pitch.
Arkansas got its leadoff man on base in the sixth and seventh innings, as well, but a caught stealing and double play wiped them out.
“It was just one of those games we never could get anything going offensively,” Van Horn said. “We couldn’t string together two hits - it was one hit here, one hit there, maybe a walk and a wind-blown home run, a couple of outs, we hit another wind-blown home run. Other than that, not much offense.”
When the dust settled, the Razorbacks were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and just 1 for 11 with any runners on base.
“There’s no excuses in that as good as we’ve been hitting,” Martin said. “It’s a little frustrating, but then again that’s baseball. That’s just how it goes.”
Saturday’s loss sets up another rubber match for Arkansas. It has previously won the deciding game of its series against Louisiana Tech and at Alabama and will try to improve to 3-0 in those games at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The game will be streamed on SEC Network-plus, meaning it can be watched online on ESPN3.com or on the WatchESPN app.
“A lot of times it comes down to Sunday,” Van Horn said. “It’s always a big game on Sunday, no matter what the situation is, but when it’s 1-1, it’s obviously big for both teams.”
Right-hander Cody Scroggins (2-0, 3.00 ERA) will start for the Razorbacks. Ole Miss will counter with right-hander Gunnar Hoglund (1-0, 4.09 ERA), a freshman who was picked in the first round of last year’s MLB Draft but decided to come to school.
HBP Controversy
Arkansas seemed to get the tying run on base in the ninth when leadoff man Jacob Nesbit was hit by a pitch, but a first-year rule took away the free base.
Home plate umpire Eddie Newsom ruled he didn’t make an effort to get out of the way before the ball hit his left shoulder. That is an automatic strike now, even if it wouldn’t have been in the strike zone, and resulted in strike three because it came on a 1-2 count.
The play was reviewed by the SEC office in Birmingham, Ala., as all replays are in conference play, but it stood. Van Horn called it a “bad rule” and added that even the umpires are a fan of it.
“The problem with the call is the pitcher has made a mistake,” Van Horn said. “He’s got a breaking ball that starts out probably just a little bit behind the hitter. The hitter doesn’t know where to go, so the instinct is you’re just going to turn.”
Martin didn’t shy away from giving his opinion of the rule and the call in postgame interviews. He would have gotten another at bat in a clutch situation had Nesbit reached on the play, barring a double play by either of the next two batters.
“The rule states you have to attempt to get out of the way and from everybody’s viewpoint right there, he turned the shoulder,” Martin said. “He didn’t leave the box - which you don’t have to - but he did turn his shoulder in an attempt to get out of the way. … I think it’s a bad call, I think it’s a bad rule overall and I think they kind of messed up on it, personally.”
Although he was clearly upset with the call on the field, Van Horn didn’t use it as an excuse for Saturday’s loss.
“We got our breaks during the game,” Van Horn said. “We didn’t take advantage of anything. You only get so many shots in a game and we had three or four early and we didn’t do anything.”
Middle Innings HR Derby
In between a third-inning RBI single by Tyler Keenan and Kessinger’s game-winning hit, Arkansas and Ole Miss combined for five runs on four long balls in the middle innings.
Jack Kenley actually gave the Razorbacks a 2-1 lead with his fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot that barely cleared the right field wall.
“I was just trying to stick to my approach,” Kenley said. “(I’m) just thankful that I got a pretty good pitch and was able to get the barrel to it and a little tailwind pushed it out.”
Arkansas extended its lead with a solo home run by Christian Franklin a few batters later. It was his fourth home run of the season and third to the opposite field, as it landed in the right field bullpen.
A pair of monster home runs by Ole Miss in the fifth and sixth innings tied it up. Keenan launched one over the right field bullpen to pull the Rebels with a run and then Cole Zabowski crushed one halfway up the batter’s eye in center to make it 3-3.
Noland Bounces Back
Coming off his worst start at Arkansas, Noland bounced back with a solid outing Saturday, even if he’s still waiting for his first collegiate victory.
The freshman right-hander had his breaking ball working and eventually started spotting his fastball against right-handed hitters, helping him get out of a few jams.
Unfortunately for him, Keenan - who was going to be his final batter regardless of the outcome of the at bat - got ahold of a changeup that was supposed to be down and away but was left up and in. That was the aforementioned home run and it knocked him out of the game after 4 2/3 innings.
Noland mostly scattered seven hits and one walk, allowing only two earned runs while striking out three, and said it was a “good day to build off of” moving forward.
“I struggled for two innings to get anything going,” Noland said. “Coming out this week, I just tried to stay ahead. It’s good to get a couple innings in there and get back on my feet pitching wise and do some good stuff out there.”
Because he didn’t make it through the fifth inning, he wouldn’t have been in line for the win even if Arkansas hung on to its lead, but Van Horn was still pleased with how he pitched.
“He gave us a chance to win the game,” Van Horn said. “He gave us everything we wanted, so I’m proud of him for kind of bouncing back after a couple of weekends where he didn’t throw real well and he made a big move forward this week.”
Martin’s Day
After starting the season on a nine-game hitting streak, Martin had cooled off considerably at the plate and was actually in the midst of a 7-for-44 (.159) slump since the start of SEC play coming into Saturday’s game.
However, he took some good swings Friday and carried that over into a 3-for-3 day at the plate with two doubles and a walk.
“I saw him work the count a little more than he had been,” Van Horn said. “He just found a way to put the bat on the ball and that’s what we want him to do. When he mis-hits a ball, we’d like it to be on the ground. It’s good to see him get a few hits.”
The performance raised Martin’s batting average 20 points to .261 and might give him something to build on moving forward.
“That’s a learning step for me because I didn’t press today,” Martin said. “I just went out and took some good swings at pitches and we’ll see what happens. … It gives me a little bit of momentum because I know what I can do at the plate and all the other guys know what I can do.”
Other Tidbits
~There was an announced attendance of 9,642, but frigid temperatures kept many fans home. The “tickets scanned” number was 4,767.
~With his double in the second inning, Nesbit extended his on-base streak to 24 games. He has now reached safely in 26 of 27 games this season and the only time he failed to do so was against Eastern Illinois, when he had two sacrifice bunts.
~The all-time series between Arkansas and Ole Miss is now tied 48-48, so Sunday’s rubber match will also decide who has the lead in the all-time series.
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