SEC BASEBALL : UA powers its way past Ole Miss

BY RICK FIRES

Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/224030/

OXFORD, Miss. — Arkansas earned its third consecutive SEC series victory the hard way Saturday.

Logan Forsythe hit two home runs as Arkansas defeated Ole Miss 12-4 to complete a doubleheader sweep at Swayze Field. Forsythe also had a home run in the first game that helped the Razorbacks to a 13-11 victory in 10 innings.

Tim Smalling had three home runs in the opener and finished the night with four home runs on the night to nearly double his season total. Brett Eibner also had a home run in the opener, and Cody Overbeck hit a grand slam for the Rebels.

Ole Miss (28-17, 11-10 SEC ) and Arkansas (26-18, 9-11 ) decided Saturday morning to play a doubleheader because of the threat of severe weather for today in the Oxford area. The forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of rain today.

Cliff Springston (5-2 ) pitched a complete game for Arkansas in the nightcap, while Cody Satterwhite took the loss for Ole Miss. The sweep

1 moved Arkansas to within 1 / 2 games of first-place Ole Miss in the SEC West. Arkansas lost its first four SEC series before jumping back into the West Division race with series victories over Florida, Tennessee and now Ole Miss. The Razorbacks will face Alabama and South Carolina in key back-to-back home series before ending the regular season at last-place Mississippi State.

The Rebels had used strong pitching to take four consecutive series from Arkansas, but the Razorbacks broke out at the plate after being held to seven hits in a 12-4 loss to Ole Miss on Friday.

Arkansas got off to a good start in the nightcap with a leadoff home run by Chase Leavitt. Forsythe then hit home runs in consecutive plate appearances to put the Razorbacks ahead 6-0. His second home run prompted many of the fans who were left at the stadium to start heading for the exits, and their pace quickened when Smalling followed with his fourth home run of the night.

Smalling drove in six runs in the opener to lead Arkansas to victory. Ole Miss rallied from deficits of 6-0 and 8-1 to tie the game at 11 with two runs in the ninth. Arkansas took the lead for good in the 10 th on an RBI single from Ben Tschepikow and a sacrifice fly by Scott Lyons.

Smalling became the first Arkansas player to hit three home runs in a game since Rodney Nye did it against South Carolina in 1999.

Mike Bolsinger picked up his first victory since Feb. 27 for Arkansas in the opener. Bolsigner struck out four in two innings and ended the game by striking out the final three batters.

Arkansas jumped ahead 6-0 in the opener on the strength of Smalling’s home runs in his first two plate appearances. Ole Miss scored a run before Eibner and Forsythe hit consecutive home runs in the fifth inning to give Arkansas an 8-1 lead.