FAYETTEVILLE―It was just the offensive response the No. 12 Diamond Hogs had been looking for all weekend.
After senior TJ Forrest was tagged with a run in the first inning, Arkansas center fielder Brett Eibner hit a two-run home run to give the Razorbacks their first lead of the series in the bottom of the inning.
But No. 8 South Carolina (41-11, 20-7 Southeastern Conference) was again too much during the 5-3 win and sweep of Arkansas (38-14, 16-11 SEC).
“It was a big hit by Eibner that kind of quieted them because they thought they had a good start with putting one up in the first,” Arkansas catcher James McCann said. “Us responding like that was big. But that was pretty much it after that.”
Both lead off hitters traded home runs in the third inning when Gamecock outfielder Whit Merrifield hit one off the foul pole in left while Razorback Collin Kuhn also went deep to give Arkansas a 3-2 lead.
But the Diamond Hogs failed to score in the final six innings while allowing three runs in the final two innings―which led to being swept for the first in conference play since last year against Ole Miss.
“We were swinging the bats pretty good the first two innings,” Eibner said. “It was almost like we thought it was enough. But it is never enough in the SEC. It’s wasn’t a productive weekend with way we were swinging the bats.”
After DJ Baxendale allowed a runner to get on third base with one out, Geoffrey Davenport took the mound in the sixth and ended the Gamecock scoring threat with a strike out and a fly out. He followed the inning by striking out the side in the seventh.
But Merrifield struck again in the eighth inning and gave South Carolina a 4-3 lead with a two-run shot off Razorback reliever Jordan Pratt, who then allow another home run in the ninth to Adrian Morales.
“That was the first time I can remember he didn’t have his stuff,” McCann said of Pratt. “He struggled a little bit. But you can’t blame it on him. As an offense we only scored three runs and had a chance to put them away.”
With Davenport pitching more than an inning during the 5-0 Saturday loss, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said he thought he needed to pull the sophomore pitcher.
“He just pitched the other day and he we felt he just needed to come out,” Van Horn said. “You can’t leave a guy out there too long. In this case just one guy didn’t get it done for us.”
The relieving core of Baxendale, Davenport, Jeremy Heatley and Jason Fuqua pitched 3.2 scoreless innings while striking out six Gamecocks—but it was the two-run eighth inning that was the difference.
“Our bullpen throughout the game came in and hit their spots,” McCann said. “They kept the bats quiet until the eighth and ninth. It’s not a good feeling losing a game like that.”
Arkansas shortstop Matt Reynolds, who was replacing third baseman Zack Cox, delivered with a lead off single up the middle in the eighth. But the Razorbacks couldn’t produce in the inning, finishing 1-for-13 at the plate with a runner on base during the loss.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” Van Horn said. “We just haven’t been able to drive the big run in and have been leaving too many people on base.”
The South Carolina bullpen used five different relievers and limited the Razorbacks to only two hits in the final six innings.
“They did a great job with their bullpen mixing and matching,” Van Horn said. “Every time they went to the pen when we got something going, they got us out. We didn’t drive anybody any.”
Cox appeared to hurt his back in the third inning when he failed to connect with a pitch during the at-bat. He struggled with the injury all last year and left the game in the eighth inning with was called ”a little pull” by Van Horn.
“He went out and tried,” McCann said, referring to Cox playing through the injury. “I remember throwing a ball down and he kind of stood there. I knew something was wrong. But he didn’t want to push it and make it worse.”
Van Horn didn’t rule out the possibility of the third baseman making a return when the Razorbacks play Oklahoma on the road Tuesday. But Eibner said a loss of time from the captain would hurt the team.
“It’s big because Cox has played great all year,” Eibner said. “It’s hard to lose one of your best guys. I could tell with the swing that something didn’t feel right. He is going to do what it takes to get back as soon as possible.”
