FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 5 Arkansas defeated No. 17 Tennessee 8-6 Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium to even the series.
Cole Gibler (2-1) worked 3.1 innings in relief of starter Aiden Jimenez to pick up the win. Gibler limited Tennessee to three hits, no runs, one walk and fanned a trio. In addition, Arkansas got home runs from Brent Iredale, Ryder Helfrick and Logan Maxwell. Dave Van Horn was pleased to see his team defeat Tennessee ace Liam Doyle (9-3).
"Just a great overall effort from both the offense, our defense and our pitching staff, obviously," Van Horn said. "We faced one of the best pitchers I the country and just fought him, put some big swings on him, hit a couple of home runs. We did a nice job of taking pitches, fouling pitches off and got his pitch count up pretty good after three. I don’t know, just didn’t make any mistakes in the field really and they made one and it cost them a couple of runs. We took advantage of it. We scored on the play when it’s thrown down the line, and then Davalan singles in the next run. All of a sudden we have a four-run lead. Yeah, just a really, really good effort by everybody, especially after the way the game went last night. And then obviously facing their ace and someone who could be voted in as the SEC pitcher of the year. Just proud of our team."
After Tennessee moved ahead of Arkansas 4-3 in the top of the third on doubles by Andrew Fischer and Dalton Bargo as well as singles by Dean Curley and Cannon Peebles the Hogs took the lead for good in bottom half of the inning. Kuhio Aloy was hit by a Doyle pitch and Helfrick followed with a two-run shot over the fence in left field for a 5-4 advantage.
In the bottom of the fourth, Arkansas got a solo shot by Maxwell to go up 6-4. In the bottom of the fifth, Iredale walked with one out. He scored on an error on the Vols shortstop and Justin Thomas Jr. getting a single. Thomas then scored when Charles Davalan singled for an 8-4 lead.
Tennessee got a two-run home run by Levi Clark in the top of the seventh to pull within two, but that was when Christian Foutch came in and closed the door on the visitors. Foutch pitched two innings. He allowed one hit, no runs, walked a hitter and fanned one while earning his fourth save of the season.
Jimenez started his first game as a Razorback. He worked 2.1 innings, allowing seven hits, four runs, walked none and struck out no Vols. Parker Coil was the other Arkansas pitcher.
Curley doubled for Tennessee in the top of the second then scored on a single by Peebles. But the Razorbacks got a two-run home run by Iredale in the bottom half of the inning and then Wehiwa Aloy plated Thomas for a 3-1 lead. Van Horn praised Iredale.
"I mean, first off, the home run was awesome," Van Horn said. "He's the one that got jammed last night with the bases loaded with two outs. He had a chance, he was just a little bit late. And the whole thing we talked to him about today is, don't be late. Let it fly. Go for it. And he got that one. I think it was a 3-1 pitch, maybe. And the diving effort, I mean, if he'd have been playing a normal third base, it'd have been an easy catch for him, but he was playing over in the shortstop area with a little bit of the shift on there. One of their best hitters up, leads the league in home runs, and man, if you can get him to pop out on a check swing, and Iredale went for that too. And he just made an incredible catch and he slid hard into the into the pad. I was worried about his neck a little bit, and the shoulder. He was pretty scraped up, but it was just an incredible effort and a great play, and the team loved it."
The Hogs got to Doyle early and often. He lasted 4.2 innings. Doyle, Tennessee's ace, allowed 11 hits, eight runs, six earned, walked two and struck out 10 Hogs. Austin Breedlove, Brandon Arvidson and Tanner Franklin pitched for the Vols.
Arkansas (42-12, 19-10) and Tennessee (41-14, 16-13) will play the final game of the series and regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. Gage Wood will get the start for Arkansas with the game televised on the SEC Network.
Photos Craven Whitlow
