HawgBeat - Mississippi State evens series with Game 2 win over Arkansas
HawgBeat provides a game recap and box score from Arkansas' 8-5 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday.
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FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (41-9, 18-7 SEC) allowed the No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs (32-17, 14-11 SEC) to even the series with an 8-5 win over the Hogs on Saturday at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Though both teams had nine hits in the game, Arkansas pitchers walked 10 batters compared to four by the Bulldogs. The Razorbacks were 0-for-9 at the plate with runners in scoring position and they stranded eight runners compared to 12 by Mississippi State, which has three hits with runners in scoring position.
Junior right-hander Brady Tygart struggled for the second week in a row, as the Hernando, Mississippi, native was unable to get out of the second inning in the start for Arkansas. Tygart gave up four earned runs on three hits and had five walks compared to just two strikeouts on 57 pitches.
Sophomore right-hander Ben Bybee was tagged for four runs on three hits in relief of Tygart before lefty Parker Coil then came in and threw 3.1 innings of scoreless ball with no walks and three strikeouts. Three more pitchers saw the mound and held the Bulldogs scoreless for Arkansas in the 1.2 innings of play, but the Hogs were unable to provide any offense late.
"It was a little bit of a roller coaster for us," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said postgame. "Thank goodness Coil calmed it down a little bit, gave our offense a chance to score a run or two. And we did, and honestly we were just one big swing away from getting within one or two or maybe even catching or passing them.
"I was happy with the way the guys competed. I was disappointed that four of the last six outs were called strikes and we didn’t swing the bat. But other than that, I mean the start that we started with and the way our guys competed with, I was happy with that."
Tygart began his outing with two straight walks that were followed by a single to load the bases with no outs. The right-hander gave up a run on a 4-3 groundout double play that was followed up by a line drive two-run homer from Mississippi State designated hitter Amani Larry to make it a 3-0 lead for the Bulldogs.
Bulldogs' ambidextrous pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje worked a perfect bottom half of the first inning for the road team.
After starting the top of the second with two quick outs, Tygart then allowed four straight to reach — three of which on walks — and he walked in the fourth run for the Bulldogs before he was replaced by sophomore right-hander Ben Bybee with bases loaded and two outs. Bybee left bases loaded with a strikeout.
"Yeah, I didn’t see the fastball go over the plate much at all," Van Horn said of Tygart's outing.
The Razorbacks put their first two runners on in the bottom of the second — including Wehiwa Aloy, who hit a 406-foot leadoff double to center — but both runners were stranded to keep the deficit at four runs.
Bybee finally put together Arkansas' first scoreless frame in the top of the third, but after the Hogs had the same result in the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs got to the Hogs' big right-hander via a leadoff single that was followed by a 391-foot two-run homer from slugger Dakota Jordan in the top of the fourth.
Though he picked up two outs, Bybee was tagged for two more runs on another two-run homer, this one from third baseman Logan Kohler that made it an 8-0 lead for Mississippi State.
The Razorbacks finally got on the board with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to get the deficit back to six runs. Left-handed reliever Parker Coil pitched a scoreless top of the fifth to follow up the two-run frame from the Hogs' offense.
Arkansas added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of a 423-foot two-run homer from Stovall — his ninth longball of the year — that chased Cijntje from the game.
Coil worked his second-straight scoreless frame in the top of the sixth, and the Hogs then added another run via a Kendall Diggs RBI sacrifice fly out that trimmed Mississippi State's lead to 8-5 after six innings.
Both teams were retired in order during the seventh inning, and Coil's night came to an end after he gave up a one-out double in the top of the eighth.
"Just throwing that cutter," Van Horn said of Coil. "Threw a changeup a little bit and spotted it up pretty well. The 0-2 double, that was supposed to be a buried slider. He left it down the middle, and next thing you know it’s off the fence. Other than that, I thought he had a great outing."
The lefty was relieved by right-hander Cooper Dossett, who picked up one out, before Kansas transfer left-hander Stone Hewlett came on for the final out in a scoreless top of the eight.
A pair of singles from Peyton Holt and Hudson White gave Arkansas two runners with no outs in the bottom of the eighth, but Mississippi State reliever Brooks Auger stranded them to keep the lead at three runs for the road team.
Arkansas junior right-hander Jake Faherty struck out two in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning. The Bulldogs brought in left-hander Tyler Davis in the bottom half
Up next, the Razorbacks and Bulldogs will meet for Game 3 of the series at 2 p.m. CT Sunday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be televised live on SEC Network.
Box Score
