UA drops 6-5 decision to SEMO
FAYETTEVILLE – Southeast Missouri State scored three times in the top of the eighth inning to overcome a two-run deficit and defeat Arkansas 6-5 on Wednesday night at Baum Stadium.
The Razorbacks drop to 30-14 with the loss, while the Redhawks are now 28-17.
James McCann and Kyle Robinson each had two hits to lead the Arkansas offense. McCann drove in a pair of runs and scored once, while Robinson also scored a run. Franco Broyles also drove in two runs in the loss.
Ky Burgess had two hits and two RBI, including the eventual game-winning RBI in the eighth inning. Brett Russell also added two hits and two RBI.
Logan Mahon earned the win in relief for the Redhawks, improving his record to 5-3. Mahon threw 2.1 shutout innings, striking out two and allowing two hits.
Colby Suggs was saddled with his first loss of the season. Suggs allowed a run on three hits and struck out three in two innings.
Arkansas starter Ryne Stanek pitched well, but did not pick up a decision. The freshman righty tied a career long with seven innings pitched, giving up three runs on five hits with two strikeouts.
Southeast Missouri State struck first, scoring two runs in the top of the first. With two outs, Michael Adamson and Trenton Moses drew back-to-back walks. A double to the left-center field alley by Russell scored both runners.
Arkansas got a run back in the bottom of the first. Dominic Ficociello drew a two-out walk and then moved to second on a balk. A single to center field by McCann scored Ficociello to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Redhawks regained a two-run lead with a run in the fourth. Blake Slattery singled to center field with one out and then moved to second on a groundout by Taylor Heon. Burgess drove in Slattery with a single to right field.
Arkansas cut the lead back to one with a run in the bottom half of the fourth. Robinson singled to left to lead off the inning and then moved to third on a double to left-center field. Broyles drove in a run on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop with Reynolds being thrown out at third base.
The Razorbacks took their first lead of the night with two runs in the sixth. A walk to McCann and a single to left field by Robinson started the inning. Reynolds reached on a fielder’s choice to short as Robinson was retired at second for the first out of the inning. A sacrifice fly to center field by Broyles scored McCann to tie the game at three. Reynolds moved to second on a passed ball. A fielding error by the pitcher on a ground ball hit by Jarrod McKinney allowed him to reach and moved Reynolds to third base. SEMO pitcher Shae Simmons had McKinney picked off and caught in a rundown between first and second. However, during the rundown, Reynolds broke for home and the throw to the plate was high, allowing Reynolds to steal home and put Arkansas in front 4-3. The steal of home was the first for a Razorback since Danny Hamblin stole home at Vanderbilt on April 8, 2006.
Arkansas added on to the lead in the seventh, scoring a run. Ficociello walked with two outs and then advanced to second on a passed ball. McCann doubled to the gap in left-center field, scoring Ficociello from second.
SEMO put together the game-winning rally in the top of the eighth, scoring three times. The inning started with a walk to Moses, who then moved to third on an opposite field single to right by Russell. A wild pitch advanced Russell to second. Casey Jones popped out to second for the first out of the inning. A ground out to short by Slattery plated Moses to cut the lead to 5-4. Louie Haseltine came off the bench to deliver a pinch hit game-tying double to left field to score Russell and tie the game at five. Burgess gave the Redhawks the lead with a single to center field to score Cole Bieser, who had pinch ran for Haseltine.
Arkansas resumes Southeastern Conference play on Thursday night when it opens a three-game series against No. 5 Florida. Game times in the weekend series are set for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 6:35 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday. Thursday and Saturday’s games will be televised by ESPNU.
