Arkansas baseball sent South Carolina to the losing bracket after defeating the Gamecocks 2-1 Monday night.
The Razorbacks ended South Carolina’s 22-game NCAA post-season win streak. The 46 wins for Arkansas are the most in a single season under Coach Van Horn.
“I thought it was a great college game,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “It was a big win. I thought both teams played extremely well. The pitching was outstanding.”
Sophomore right-hander Ryne Stanek pitched for six innings and Barrett Astin took over to close it out. Stanek earned the win after allowing just one run on three hits with three strikeouts. Astin allowed one hit while striking out one in his three innings. He also made his 11th save, tying for the third most in a single-season in program history.
“I thought Stanek had four pitches working,” Coach Van Horn said. “He did a good job. Barrett came in and did an outstanding job of throwing strikes. Just about everything he throws moves.”
Arkansas batted first, allowing the first run to the board. Redshirt senior short stop Tim Carver lead off with a single to right-center field and advanced to second after Jacob Mahan’s sacrifice bunt. Senior third baseman Matt Reynolds grounded out to second to send Carver to third. Sophomore first baseman Dominic Ficociello’s double plated Carver for the Hogs’ 1-0 lead.
The Hogs’ second and final run came in the top of the fourth. Freshman Brian Anderson walked to open the inning. With two outs, Anderson advanced to third with a steal. A single to the left by Matt Vinson scored Anderson to put the Hogs up 2-0.
The Gamecocks had an opportunity to score in the bottom of the first, but stranded the runners. Evan Marzilli hit a single through the middle and reached second on a wild pitch. Christian Walker was walked, putting runners on first and second. With two outs, LB Dantzler grounded out to first to position both runners for scoring, but Stanek worked out of the jam when Adam Matthews hit a grounder to the mound for the Hogs’ third out to close the inning.
Arkansas advances to 46-20 with the victory and is in line for the bracket two championship to be played Thursday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
The Razorbacks will play the winner of the Kent State/South Carolina game, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday evening.
By: Martha Swearingen