FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 3 Arkansas broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth when they hit three home runs and went on to complete the sweep of South Carolina 11-4 Sunday at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas (23-2, 5-1) got a two-run blast by Justin Thomas Jr. to take a 6-4 lead. Then Brent Iredale hit a grand slam to push the score to 10-4. After that, Ryder Helfrick hit a solo shot to set the final score with seven runs in the bottom of the eighth. Dave Van Horn talked about his team getting the sweep.
"I thought it was a great sweep for us," Van Horn said. "It's hard to beat anyone two times on the weekend, much less three. It's a long season and you have a bad weekend. This makes up for it a little bit."
In addition, the Hogs used five pitchers with Parker Coil the fourth one to the mound. Coil (2-0) picked up the win. He worked 2.0 innings. Coil allowed two hits, no runs, walked one and struck out a hitter. Carson Wiggins pitched the ninth inning.
South Carolina started off both the top of the first and second with solo home runs off starter Landon Beidelschies. Nathan Hall hit a solo shot in the top of the first. Beau Hollins started the top of the second the same way for a 2-0 lead.
"We played really well," Van Horn said. "We turned a couple of really nice double plays. Landon gave up a couple solo home runs. I didn't think a solo home run was going to beat anyone today."
Helfrick hit his first home run of the day in the bottom of the second to pull the Razorbacks to within 2-1. Charles Davalan tied the game in the bottom of the third with another solo home run.
The Hogs took the lead for the first time with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Wehiwa Aloy reached on a single to start the inning and then Logan Maxwell was awarded first on catcher's interference. Iredale plated Aloy with a sacrifice fly. Cam Kozeal got Maxwell across the plate on a fielder's choice for a 4-2 advantage.
South Carolina fought back to add a pair of runs in the top of the seventh when Will Tippett doubled to plate both Hollins and Evan Stone. The Gamecocks missed a great opportunity to take the lead in the top of the eighth when they loaded the bases, but Coil kept them off the scoreboard.
South Carolina (17-8, 1-5) sent five pitchers to the mound. The fourth one was Brendan Sweeney who took the loss. He faced three hitters and each scored without him recording an out. The Razorbacks scored 11 runs on 13 hits off South Carolina pitching.
Beidelschies worked 5.0 innings allowing five hits, two runs, walked a pair and struck out three. Ben Bybee and Christian Foutch also took the mound for the Hogs. The five allowed four runs and 10 hits.
Arkansas will now host Missouri State (10-12) who enter the game riding a three-game winning streak Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium. The game can be streamed on the SEC Network+.
Photos Crant Osborne
