Arkansas loses second straight
FAYETTEVILLE – Not even a season high four home runs could power the No. 1 Arkansas baseball team to victory on Saturday afternoon as the Razorbacks dropped a 13-6 decision to the Vanderbilt Commodores at Baum Stadium.
Arkansas (24-8, 10-4 SEC) loses its second straight game for just the first time this season while Vanderbilt (21-13, 7-7 SEC) used a nine-run fifth inning to take the second of three games from the Hogs.
Vanderbilt held a 2-0 lead heading into the top of the fifth when its bats exploded for nine runs five hits. The Commodores also took advantage of two Razorback errors in the inning to build an 11-0 lead sucking the life out of the 9,196 fans in attendance at Baum Stadium. The Saturday afternoon crowd was the 12th largest in Baum Stadium history and the 9,782 tickets sold were the sixth most ever.
Heading into the bottom of the sixth without a hit in the contest, Arkansas’ first was a big one as Brett Eibner went the other way for a solo home run. He was followed by another long ball off the bat of Ryan Cisterna on a 3-2 pitch to post Arkansas’ first back-to-back home runs since last May when Sean Jones and Logan Forsythe accomplished the task against South Carolina. After a single by Scott Lyons and a fielder’s choice by Ben Tschepikow, Andy Wilkins blasted a towering fly ball over the right-center field fence to make it a four-run inning on three home runs and cut the Vanderbilt lead to 11-4.
The Commodores responded with two additional runs in the seventh as they took advantage of another Razorback error.
Wilkins stroked a double in the ninth to start a two-run rally for the Hogs, but it was too little, too late. Wilkins would score on a ground out before Travis Sample hit his second home run of the season to complete the Razorback scoring.
Along with Wilkins two-hit game, Eibner also contributed a pair of hits. Lyons, Sample and Cisterna were the only other Razorbacks to record hits in the game.
On the mound, the Razorbacks used three pitchers and allowed eight earned runs while walking five and striking out just three.
The Razorbacks and Commodores are scheduled to conclude their series at Baum Stadium on Sunday afternoon weather permitting. For more information regarding Razorback baseball or University of Arkansas athletics please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
