STARKVILLE, Miss. — Yogi Berra famously once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
The Hogs and Mississippi State proved the truthfulness of that statement once and for all on Sunday afternoon, before Arkansas ultimately came away with an 8-5 win in 11 innings.
Colby Suggs (2-0) got the win for throwing a scoreless a tenth inning, and Cade Lynch got the save for recording the final two outs in the eleventh.
Junior Randall Fant started for the Hogs, but didn’t last long. After loading the bases with nobody out in the second, Fant hit Brayden Jones to force in a run, and that ended Fant’s day.
Nolan Sanburn came on in relief and limited the total damage to just two runs in the inning, striking out Trey Porter with the bases loaded.
The Bulldogs held a 2-0 lead until the sixth, when Derek Bleeker followed up a Matt Reynolds single and Sam Bates walk with a base hit up the middle, scoring Reynolds. Jimmy Bosco kept the line moving with a single to right scoring Bates.
Arkansas added on in the seventh. Dominic Ficociello drove a ball deep to center. Mississippi State centerfielder Hunter Renfroe misplayed it, letting Ficociello reach with a double. Tim Carver scored from third on the play, and Arkansas had a 3-2 lead.
They held that lead until the last possible moment. With two outs and the tying run on third in the bottom of the ninth, Trey Porter sent a routine groundball to Carver at shortstop, who flipped to Bo Bigham for the out at second. But Bigham was late getting to the bag, the runner was safe at second, and the run scored. Barrett Astin induced a foul out from Renfroe to end the inning and send it to extras.
After a scoreless tenth, Arkansas exploded in the eleventh. Bigham led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a Matt Reynolds sacrifice bunt. Pinch hitter Joe Serrano then chopped on to short. Bigham broke for the plate and scored when the throw was high.
But the Razorbacks weren’t done in the inning. With the bases loaded, Bosco doubled to left center, scoring Serrano and Ficociello. The next batter was Jake Wise, and after a single to right, Bosco scored on a throwing error.
In all, the Hogs plated five runs in the inning on three hits and one error. But the Bulldogs had one last threat in them.
Trent Daniel came on to try and close the game out, but after the Bulldogs scored on a bases loaded walk, Cade Lynch came on with two outs. Nick Ammirati greeted him with an RBI base hit to make it 8-5 and bring the winning run to the plate, but Lynch got a pop out and a lineout to center to end it.
Bosco led the Hogs, going 2-for-6 with three driven in. The win moves the Razorbacks to 22-3 overall, and 5-1 in SEC play.
Arkansas has another road series coming up. They travel to Baton Rouge, La. for three against no. 11 LSU, beginning Friday night.
