Hogs win game one 20-9

FAYETTEVILLE – The No. 9 Arkansas baseball team completed its suspended game with Mississippi State from Friday night on Saturday and continued where it left off with hits in bunches and a lopsided 20-9 final score. Field conditions and dropping temperatures halted play after game one was complete and the two sides will meet on Sunday afternoon beginning at noon for a doubleheader.

Arkansas (18-4, 7-0 SEC) remains undefeated in conference play and tallied 20 runs against an SEC opponent for the first time since March 17, 2001, when it defeated Georgia in Fayetteville 20-3. Mississippi State (14-11, 2-5 SEC) came storming back with six runs on five hits in the ninth inning but their deficit was too large to overcome.

“With the forecast for tomorrow, it was probably the right decision to not play a second game today,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said.

Arkansas led in the contest 10-3 with a runner on first in the bottom of the fifth as play began on Saturday afternoon. The Razorbacks turned that into a six-run inning with Scott Lyons continuing to swing a hot bat with a two-RBI single. Ben Tschepikow, Travis Sample and Andy Wilkins all put together RBI hits in the inning to make it a 16-3 game.

The Razorbacks would add another three runs in the sixth to make the lead 19-3 on a sacrifice fly by Lyons, a walk to Sample which scored a run and Wilkins getting hit by a pitch which scored another.

Justin Wells took the ball for the Razorbacks and was solid through his first three innings of work as he allowed no runs on two hits. The Bulldogs would get to Wells in the ninth for six runs on five hits and an error but the Razorback lead was too much to overcome.

For the game, which began at 6:36 p.m. on Friday and ended at 3:51 p.m. on Saturday and saw a combined 29 runs scored and 27 hits, the Razorbacks had four players with multi-hit games and six players score two or more runs. Lyons and Wilkins had three hits each while Tschepikow and Sample added a pair. Collin Kuhn, Brett Eibner, Tim Carver and Ryan Cisterna rounded out Arkansas’ 14-hit parade. Lyons, Tschepikow, Sample and Carver each scored three runs with Kuhn and Cisterna adding a pair. Lyons, Sample and Wilkins also came up with timely hits as each drove in four runs while Cisterna had three RBI.

The Razorbacks are on a tear that has not been seen in some time as they have scored 10 or more runs in four straight games and had 10 or more hits in five straight. Over the last five games, beginning with Arkansas’ Friday night showdown at Auburn, the Razorbacks have scored 55 runs on 70 hits and are 5-0 in those games. In Arkansas’ first 17 games of the year they were 13-4 and scored 112 runs on 160 hits.

Arkansas and Mississippi State are set for two seven-inning games beginning at 12:05 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. For more information regarding Razorback baseball or University of Arkansas athletics please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.