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Razorbacks Drop SEC Tournament Opener to Gamecocks

Hogs leave tying run on third in the ninth, comeback falls one run short, setting up early-morning game

Daniel Shi

Arkansas Razorbacks' Peyton Stovall delivers a hit against the Missouri Tigers in Fayetteville in March.
Arkansas Razorbacks' Peyton Stovall delivers a hit against the Missouri Tigers in Fayetteville in March. / Campbell Rogerson-Arkansas Communications
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HOOVER, Ala. — No. 2 Arkansas lost its opening game of the SEC Tournament to No, 10 South Carolina, 6-5. South Carolina Gamecocks' catcher Cole Messina hit a pair of two-run homers to straight-away center field. His fifth-inning homer off Razorback reliever Parker Coil broke a 2-2 tie.

"They're talented," Hogs coach Dave Van Horn said. "They have a good team. The lineup is right, left,
right, left. They don't really have too many holes in that lineup. We maneuvered through it pretty good except for one guy and he killed us.

However, the Razorbacks staged a seventh-inning comeback. Will Edmunson came off the bench and led off the frame with a single. The first four batters in the inning reached, including an RBI double from Peyton Stovall off the wall in center.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Ben McLaughlin hit a ball towards the right field line and the right fielder Ethan Petry made a diving catch to keep the game tied and hold the Hogs to a game-tying sac fly. The Razorbacks had the go-ahead run at third base and just one out, but a Wehiwa Aloy struck out to keep the game tied.

"The biggest thing was a couple of swings away from maybe putting up three or four more runs with runners in scoring position," Stovall said. "I felt like we've done a good job all year of putting ourselves in those positions. We've just got to be able to get that big hit."

Messina hit his second homer off Razorbacks closer Gabe Gaeckle to almost the exact same spot, it's the first homer allowed by Gaeckle in his college career.

The Hogs once again tried to stage a ninth inning comeback with a run on three straight singles but the Jared Sprague-Lott flew out to center with the tying run on third base.

Ben Bybee's start was abbreviated as he struggled with command, issuing three walks in 2 1/3 innings of work and allowing a run in the first and the third, but Christian Foutch came in and stranded two inherited runners to keep the Razorbacks within a run.

South Carolina took advantage of Bybee's early wildness in the first, striking first with two walks and a RBI single from Parker Noland for an early 1-0 lead. It's the sixth straight game for the Hogs that the opponent has scored first.

The Razorback offense was held to just three hits across the first six innings, scratching across two runs with an RBI single from Sprague-Lott and a sac fly in the fourth from Ryder Helfrick to tie the game at two.

Jake Faherty pitched two scoreless innings to hand the ball off to Gaeckle tied in the eighth, but the Gamecocks tagged him for two earned runs, the first runs charged to him since April 6 against Ole Miss.

Arkansas now takes on No. 3 Kentucky in the loser's bracket 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The Wildcats lost its first game 11-0 to LSU. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

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Daniel Shi
DANIEL SHI

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