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Hogs slam door on Gamecocks
Arkansas rallies from six-run deficit to take opener after House’s ninth-inning grand slam
FAYETTEVILLE — A House rocked the house Friday night at Arkansas’ Baum Stadium and broke South Carolina’s heart.
Booming louder than the postgame fireworks, Arkansas freshman pinch hitter Jacob House hit ninth-inning grand slam to propel the Razorbacks to a dramatic 12-11 victory against South Carolina in the first of a three-game SEC series.
Arkansas threw away two double-play balls to open the door to seven USC runs and a 9-3 fifth-inning deficit before the Razorbacks rallied to within 11-8 in the eighth.
Andy Wilkins single, Brett Eibner’s walk and Chase Leavitt’s two-out infield single loaded the bases and set the stage for House, who pinch hit for Sean Jones. House pulled a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall off reliever Parker Bangs.
“I was just looking for a good pitch to hit,” House shouted in the postgame din, “just trying to bring these guys in and not try to do much and get a win. This is the run that’s going to get us to the SEC tournament and the regionals. This is what we need.”
Arkansas (29-20, 11-13) moves into ninth place in the SEC and needs to finish eighth to qualify for the SEC tournament with five SEC games remaining.
“We kept battling and battling,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “I just kept telling them we deserve to win the game, keep chipping away. And then House basically backspins a ball out of here.”
USC coach Ray Tanner, whose Gamecocks (33-16, 13-12) fell into a tie for third with Florida in the SEC East, gave Arkansas credit for winning what appeared to be a sure South Carolina victory.
The win left much of the Arkansas crowd in shock, but veteran South Carolina coach Ray Tanner took it in stride.
“I’m not in shock,” Tanner said. “It was a great comeback by Arkansas. House steps up and there hits a pitch when he needed to. They’ve got a great offense and got 18 hits tonight.”
In a five-run fifth inning for the Gamecocks, Andrew Crisp’s three-run homer looked like the death blow as USC seemed to capitalize on every Arkansas mistake.
“We did,” Tanner said, “but they outhit us 18-10. We were fortunate to be in the position we were but we weren’t able to close it out.”
Arkansas third baseman Logan Forsythe threw away a double-play ball that led to USC’s big inning, but he redeemed himself, going 4-for-4 with two solo home runs, a double, an RBI single and a walk.
“I just wanted to give us a chance,” Forsythe said. “Everybody makes errors. It just showed the courage of our team. That it’s not over until it’s over.”
Arkansas and South Carolina resume the series at 3 p.m. today.
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South Carolina (34-16, 13-12 SEC)
Player........................AB R H RBI
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Reese Havens ss......... 6 0 0 0
Whit Merrifield cf........... 3 2 1 0
Justin Smoak 1b.......... 5 0 1 0
James Darnell 3b........ 3 1 1 0
Phil Disher c................. 4 2 2 1
Harley Lail rf................. 3 2 0 1
Andrew Crisp lf............ 5 2 2 3
DeAngelo Mack dh...... 4 2 2 3
Scott Wingo 2b............. 4 0 1 2
Will Atwood p............... 0 0 0 0
Parker Bangs p........... 0 0 0 0
Totals......................... 37 11 10 10
Arkansas (29-20, 11-13 SEC)
Player ......................... AB R H RBI
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Chase Leavitt rf......... 6 1 3 0
Sean Jones lf............. 5 3 2 1
Jacob House ph........ 1 1 1 4
Logan Forsythe 3b.... 4 3 4 3
Casey Coon dh.......... 5 0 2 3
Tim Smalling ss......... 5 0 0 0
Andy Wilkins 1b.......... 5 1 4 0
Brett Eibner cf............. 2 1 0 0
Ryan Cisterna c......... 3 0 1 0
Jeff Nutt ph/c............. 2 0 0 0
Ben Tschepikow 2b.. 5 2 2 0
Justin Wells p............ 0 0 0 0
Shaun Seibert p........ 0 0 0 0
Kendall Korbal p....... 0 0 0 0
Evan Cox p............... 0 0 0 0
Totals....................... 43 12 19 11
Score by Innings R H E
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South Carolina...... 021 150 200 - 11 10 1
Arkansas............... 201 011 214 - 12 19 2
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E - Havens; Forsythe; Wells. DP - SC 2; AR 1. LOB - SC 8; AR 9. 2B - Mack; Forsythe. HR - Crisp, D.; Mack; Jones; House; Forsythe 2. HBP - Darnell; Mack. SH - Lail. SF - Wingo. SB - Merrifield 2.
South Carolina...... IP H R ER BB SO
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Will Atwood........... 6.1 13 7 6 1 6
Parker Bangs........ 2.1 6 5 5 3 2
Arkansas............IP H R ER BB SO
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Justin Wells........... 5.0 5 9 6 2 7
Shaun Seibert....... 0.1 1 0 0 2
Kendall Korbal...... 1.2 3 2 2 0
Evan Cox............... 2.0 1 0 0 1
Win - Cox (3-0). Loss - Bangs (3-3). Save - None. WP - Atwood. HBP - by Wells (Mack); by Wells (Darnell). BK - Atwood. Pitches/strikes: Atwood 113/72; Bangs 63/37; Wells 102/61; Seibert 12/3; Korbal 25/15; Cox 35/23. Umpires - HP: Donald Gilmore 1B: Mark Chapman 3B: Randy Watkins Start: 6:36 pm Time: 3:03 Attendance: 8052 Paid Attendance 8,052 Actual Attendance 7,116
