Gentry Parker Homer in 9th for 13-11 Win Over Volunteers
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Craig Gentry and Blake Parker both blasted home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to propel No. 13 Arkansas to a come-from-behind 13-11 win over No. 21 Tennessee in front of 6,258 fans at Baum Stadium. Parker got things started in the ninth with a one-out missile to dead-center field that hit five-feet from the top of the batter’s eye and tied the game at 11-11.
Matt Willard then reached base when Tennessee third baseman Cody Brown lost a pop fly in the sun and it fell in for a single. Willard then stole second base before Gentry connected for the game-winning home run to left-center field.
Arkansas hit a season-high seven home runs with a strong wind blowing out to left field. The seven home runs in a game are also the second most in school history. The two teams combined for an SEC-record (SEC games only) 11 home runs as Tennessee clobbered four of its own with catcher J.P. Arencibia hitting two of his own.
The Hogs entered the weekend with 18 home runs in the first 26 games of the season and hit 13 home runs in three games with Tennessee. UA freshman designated hitter David Hum also hit two home runs on the day and three for the weekend.
Jake Dugger finished the day 3 for 5 with his second home run of the weekend. Chris Hollensworth was 2 for 3 with a home run while Danny Hamblin was 1 for 2 with a three-run home run and three walks. Hamblin now leads the SEC with 40 RBI on the season.
The win improves the Razorbacks’ record to 23-6 on the season and 4-6 in SEC play. The Volunteers improve to 18-10 and 2-6 in league action.
UA reliever Daryl Maday surrendered two eighth inning home runs and the lead as the Volunteers went ahead 11-10. J.P Arencibia’s two-run shot to left-center field came first and Chris Kemp followed two batters later with an opposite-field solo shot to left. Arencibia finished the day 3 for 5 with two home runs and four RBI.
Devin Collis came on and retired Julio Borbon for the final out of the ninth inning and ended up earning the win to improve to 4-0. Sean Watson took the loss for the Volunteers after pitching three innings and allowing only the ninth-inning runs.
UA starting pitcher Trey Holloway was hurt by four Razorback four errors in the first three innings, allowing six runs with only two of those earned on eight hits.
The Hogs snapped a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with back-to-back home runs for the second time in the game. Hum connected for his second home run and Dugger followed with a solo shot into the UA bullpen in left field to give Arkansas as 10-7 lead.
Borbon added a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to cut the Razorbacks’ lead to 10-8.
Danny Hamblin got the Hogs off to a good start in the bottom half of the first inning with a three-run home run just to the left of the batter’s eye in straight-away center field.
The second inning saw the Hogs hit back-to-back home runs with two outs to extend the lead to 7-2. Hollensworth connected for a three-run bomb and Hum followed with a solo shot over the left-center field wall. It was the first time since June 4, 2004, against Le Moyne in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional that the Razorbacks had hit back-to-back home runs.
The Tennessee starting pitcher Josh Lindblom didn’t make it out of the second inning, giving way to reliever Ty Pryor. Lindblom lasted 1.2 innings, allowing seven runs – all earned – on six hits while issuing two walks and striking out three. Pryor would work 3.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits.
Arencibia staked Tennessee to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a two-run home run into the Hogs’ bullpen in left field. Borbon had reached base to start the inning on an error by freshman second baseman Logan Forsythe.
The Volunteers took advantage of three more Razorback errors in the third inning, scoring four runs three hits to cut the Hogs’ lead to 7-6.
Tennessee tied things up in the fifth inning with a solo shot to left field off the bat of Brian Van Kirk.
Arkansas welcomes Missouri State to Baum Stadium on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest with the Bears. The Razorbacks then head to Vanderbilt for a three-game series with the Commodores next weekend.
