#2 Arkansas Splits Saturday's Doubleheader to Clinch Road Series Win at #20 South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 2 Arkansas (34-6, 14-4 SEC) split Saturday’s doubleheader against No. 20 South Carolina (27-13, 9-9 SEC), pulling out a 9-6 win in the finale at Founders Park to clinch its second SEC weekend road series of the season.
With their win in the night cap of Saturday’s doubleheader, Arkansas secured its fourth consecutive regular-season weekend series win against South Carolina. The Razorbacks have not lost a series to the Gamecocks since 2016 and have now won six of the last seven regular-season weekend series against their SEC Eastern Division opponent.
Arkansas is now 14-4 through 18 games of SEC play for only the second time in program history and for the first time since 1999, when the Hogs finished with a 22-8 record in league play and claimed their first SEC overall championship.
Next, the Razorbacks head to North Little Rock for their annual midweek game at Dickey-Stephens Park, home of the Arkansas Travelers. First pitch between Arkansas and UAPB is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, on SEC Network+.
Game 1: #20 South Carolina 6, #2 Arkansas 3
Despite racking up 12 hits, Arkansas lost, 6-3, in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader. Three Razorbacks recorded multi-hit games in the loss, including Peyton Stovall (3-for-5, HR, RBI), Peyton Holt (2-for-5) and Ross Lovich (2-for-2).
South Carolina opened a two-run lead in the bottom of the second and never looked back, adding four more in the sixth to take control of the game. Arkansas scored in the fourth, seventh and ninth, but stranded 13 on base in the loss.
Junior left-hander Mason Molina lasted only 3.1 innings on the mound, allowing two runs on two hits and seven walks with three strikeouts in his outing. In relief of Molina, Parker Coil (2.0 IP, 2 SO) and Koty Frank (2.2 IP, 3 SO) combined for five strikeouts over 4.2 innings but were tagged for four runs on seven hits and one walk by the Gamecock offense.
Game 2: #2 Arkansas 9, #20 South Carolina 6
Brady Tygart turned in his second quality start of the season, and the Razorback offense posted crooked numbers in the third and seventh innings to pull out a hard-fought 9-6 win in game two of the doubleheader and clinch the series win.
Tygart struck out six over six innings of two-run ball, allowing four hits and issuing two walks. The junior right-hander was staked with an early advantage, thanks to a three-run outburst by the Arkansas offense in the top of the second.
Parker Rowland’s two-out RBI double extended the Hogs’ lead to 3-0 in the second inning, providing Tygart with breathing room as he navigated the Gamecock lineup. When South Carolina cut its deficit to one in the bottom of the fifth, Arkansas answered a run in the sixth and five more in the seventh to open a commanding seven-run advantage.
Wehiwa Aloy (1-for-5, RBI), Kendall Diggs (2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI) and Holt (2-for-3, 2 RBI) each delivered run-scoring base knocks in the five-run seventh, as the Razorbacks mounted a 9-2 lead and swung the game’s momentum in their favor.
Tygart’s day was done after the Hogs’ productive seventh inning, and he turned the ball over to his bullpen to record the game’s final nine outs. Will McEntire (2.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 SO) and Gage Wood (1.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 SO) emerged in relief and did just enough to hold off South Carolina across the last three innings, securing Arkansas’ series-clinching 9-6 win.
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