FAYETTEVILLE — Randall Fant struck out six batters and Arkansas beat Mississippi State 3-1 Sunday at Baum Stadium to win the three-game series.
Arkansas (21-8, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) scored in the opening inning of all three games, but like Saturday couldn't plate a run after the first on Sunday.
The Razorbacks put their first five batters on base, taking the lead on a Tyler Spoon RBI double. Arkansas added another pair of runs in the inning after Matt Vinson drew a bases-loaded walk and Dominic Ficociello grounded into a double play that scored Spoon.
All three runs were charged to Ben Bracewell (0-1), who made his first start for the Bulldogs. He entered the game without allowing a run in 10 appearances, but allowed three runs without recording an out against the Razorbacks.
Mississippi State then turned to Ross Mitchell, who pitched a career-high 6 1/3 innings and, along with Chad Girodo and Jonathan Holder, prevented Arkansas from adding any runs to its lead. Wes Rea hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning, but that was the only run Mississippi State (23-8, 3-6 SEC) could muster against Fant.
The senior left-hander recorded his fourth consecutive quality start by tossing six innings, allowing one run on four hits. Fant (2-0) totaled his second-best strikeout total in a game after striking out a career-high seven batters last weekend against South Carolina.
Sophomore left-hander Jalen Beeks pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Fant, needing just 18 pitches to record six outs against the seven batters he faced.
Colby Suggs closed out the game for Arkansas, recording his second save of the weekend. Ficociello committed an error to allow a batter to get on base, but Suggs otherwise shut down the Bulldogs in the final inning.
Arkansas will not play a midweek series this week, but the weekend series comes a little earlier than usual. The Razorbacks will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., where they will play Alabama in a three-game series starting at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The first game of the series will be televised by ESPNU.