Rapid Recap: Wasted opportunities hurt Hogs in loss to Georgia

HOOVER, Ala. — With numerous opportunities to extend its early lead, Arkansas came up empty Thursday evening.

That eventually came back to haunt the Razorbacks when Georgia tied it up in the seventh, took the lead on Patrick Sullivan’s two-run bloop double in the eighth and hung on for a 3-1 win to advance to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

Arkansas needed some help to score its lone run, with two wild pitches - the first of five thrown by Georgia starter Cole Wilcox - bringing in Jacob Nesbit after his one-out double in the third.

That gave the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead and they had a chance to add to it, but Casey Martin struck out looking to strand Christian Franklin on third.

It was a sign of things to come for Arkansas, as it left runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings that could have provided some much needed insurance runs.

A walk by Casey Opitz, single by Franklin and wild pitch gave the Razorbacks runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth inning. Trevor Ezell thought he had ball four on a pitch outside in a full count, but the home plate umpire called him out on strikes to end the thread.

In the sixth, Arkansas had another two-out RBI chance when Dominic Fletcher drew a walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, but Heston Kjerstad grounded out.

The Razorbacks’ best opportunity came the next inning, when Jack Kenley reached on a leadoff error and Nesbit drew a four-pitch walk to finally chase Wilcox. However, reliever Ryan Webb got Franklin to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Meanwhile, Isaiah Campbell threw five scoreless innings for Arkansas. He wasn’t particularly efficient early on, needing 53 pitches to get through the first three and escape a couple of jams.

Georgia used a couple of infield singles - the only hits they managed against Campbell - and a walk to load the bases in the second inning, but Chaney Rogers grounded out to leave them loaded.

Campbell put the first two Bulldogs on base in the third with a walk and hit by pitch, but again stranded them on second and third thanks to a ground out by John Cable.

After that, though, the Razorbacks’ ace settled in and needed only 18 pitches to get the next six outs. Head coach Dave Van Horn mentioned Wednesday that he’d be on a pitch count and must have hit it at 71.

Kole Ramage was the first pitcher out of the bullpen for Arkansas and, after a perfect sixth inning, he gave up an RBI double to pinch hitter Connor Tate to tie the game at 1-1. That gives Campbell a no decision to keep his record at 10-1 on the season.

After throwing 13 pitches in 2/3 of an inning the day before, Jacob Kostyshock came in to pitch the eighth inning. He gave up a leadoff double to Aaron Schunk and intentionally walked Cam Shepherd to face a left before allowing the aforementioned bloop double by Sullivan.

It appeared that Franklin might have been able to make a diving catch on it, but held up at the last second and it bounced away from him. With two outs, both runners would have scored easily regardless because they were running on contact.

Arkansas’ last chance came in the ninth inning when it put runners on the corners with two outs. However, Schunk struck out Nesbit on three straight pitches after falling behind 3-0. The Razorbacks finished the game hitless in six at bats with runners in scoring position.

With the loss, Arkansas enters the loser’s bracket and will play Ole Miss in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Friday. The winner of that matchup will advance to the semifinals Saturday against Georgia, when the tournament shifts back to a single-elimination format.

Freshman right-hander Connor Noland (2-4, 3.86 ERA) is expected to start for Arkansas and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.

BOX SCORE

SUBSCRIBE to HawgBeat and get access to exclusive prospect interviews, the best recruiting network in the industry, inside scoops on recruiting and team news, videos, podcasts and much more.

Join the discussion on THE TROUGH, the Arkansas Rivals premium message board for thousands of Hog fans.