By Otis Kirk
No. 7 Arkansas used four home runs and an efficient pitching staff to take an 8-4 win over No. 10 Tennessee at the SEC Tournament on Wednesday at Hoover's Metropolitan Stadium.
Arkansas (37-19) now advances to Friday facing No. 2 Texas (40-12) at 3 p.m. on the SEC Network. Arkansas got two home runs from Zack Stewart and one each from Camden Kozeal and TJ Pompey.
Arkansas took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Kozeal hit a one-out solo blast. Ryder Helfrick walked and then Stewart hit a two-run blast for a 3-0 lead. It was the fourth game in a row that Stewart has hit a home run. Pompey followed with a single and then Nolan Souza doubled to plate Pompey.
Tate McGuire gave the Razorbacks a solid start. He worked three innings, allowing just one hit, walking a hitter and then striking out three. Dave Van Horn was pleased with what he got from McGuire.
"I thought Tate did a great job of getting us off to a good start," Van Horn said. "I mean, Tennessee has a really good lineup. They're very aggressive. He kept them off balance, but he threw a lot of strike ones.
"And we could have sent him back out for the fourth. This was definitely a bullpen day for us. We felt if we could use our bullpen today and find a way to win, it sets us up a lot better and it gives some guys a little more rest, get them back on track."
McGuire was pleased to deliver a good start for the Razorbacks.
"It was awesome, getting ahead in the count," McGuire said. "For me the whole idea behind starting pitching is just getting (lost audio). The bullpen did a great job as they always do, filling up the zone and getting ahead and kind of keeping their offense down as much as they could."
In the bottom of the third, Stewart once again left the park with a solo shot over the fence in right field. That put the Hogs up 5-0. Stewart was asked what is going right for him now?
"I mean I think I'm just going on the right pitches and getting a pitch in the middle of the zone, committed to the approach," Stewart said. "When I stay within the approach, good things happen. So it's just doing that."
Tennessee did mount a threat with a two-out double by Blaine Brown in the top of the fourth that plated both Trent Grindlinger and Levi Clark. Grindlinger had reached on an error on Pompey at third base. Clark then singled to center, but Maika Niu fielded it cleanly, but couldn't get a good grip on the ball and had a throwing error putting runners on second and third for Brown.
In the top of the fifth, Garrett Wright singled with one out. Then, with two outs, Henry Ford doubled off Parker Coil to cut Arkansas' lead to 5-3. James DeCremer replaced Coil and then retired Grindlinger on a grounder to Souza at second base. Tennessee's Josh Elander was quick to credit the Razorbacks following the game as well as the fight his team showed after a big hole early.
"Not the result we were looking for today," Elander said. "Not the result we were looking for today. But congrats to Arkansas. They really landed on some balls today. Those were hit a long way.
"I thought our guys did a good job staying in the fight. We'll go home, rest up, get ready for our next task. But congrats to Arkansas. They really landed on some balls today. Those were hit a long way."
In the bottom of the fifth, Chandler Day walked Kozeal and Helfrick to start the inning. He then fanned Stewart. The Vols elected to bring in Ethan Baiotto to pitch to Pompey. Arkansas' third baseman hit a 3-run blast over the fence in left field for an 8-3 lead.
Tennessee added one run in the top of the seventh when Jay Abernathy singled off DeCremer. Then Grindlinger doubled with one out to plate Abernathy. DeCremer pitched 2.1 innings allowing two hits, one run, walking one and striking out four.
Cole Gibler (5-2), who had a very rough outing against Kentucky on Saturday, came in to pitch the final two innings allowing just one hit and picking up the win.
Arkansas' Kuhio Aloy did have to leave the game in the middle of a bat in the bottom of the third due to an injury. He was replaced by Carter Rutenbar.
Tennessee (38-20) starter Evan Blanco (7-4) pitched three innings and took the loss. He surrendered seven hits, five runs, all earned, walked one and struck out three. On the day, the Vols used six pitchers. They combined to allow eight runs, nine hits, walked four and struck out 11. Elander talked about Blanco's performance.
"Yeah, I think just the breaking stuff was not as sharp as usual tonight," Elander said. "I just love that he got out there and competed. Again, obviously not his best stuff.
"And credit to Arkansas, they had a good approach. They were sitting on pitches, and they landed on them. And some of those were hit a long way."
Arkansas' four pitchers allowed four runs, only two earned, walked a pair and fanned 10 Tennessee hitters. Coil was the second Razorback to take the mound. He worked 1.2 innings allowing four hits, three runs, only one earned and struck out three while not walking any hitters.
Van Horn knows the Longhorns will present a strong challenge to his Razorbacks.
"Well, yeah, they bring a lot of challenges," Van Horn said. "And they can pick one of those three starters and they're all just about as good as the other. I mean, you look at their numbers, they're just really good. They're a solid team. Really don't have any weaknesses, and that's what I see.
"I guess the good thing about what's gone on, we got to play Tennessee today and we hadn't played them all year. We get to play Texas, haven't played them all year.
"We're going to do everything we can to try to beat them. We've got some guys available. But this is so far been good except for the injury to one of my players, to get to see some different teams in our league."
