Loss to Vols acts as alarm for Hogs

Arkansas second baseman Jordan Farris makes the play on a ground ball for an out in the second inning Sunday against Tennessee at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville. Offensively, Farris recorded four RBIs in the Razorbacks' series-clinching 10-2 win.

Tennessee’s 8-3 victory over No. 11 Arkansas last Friday night at Baum Stadium seemed to do more for the Razorbacks’ resolve than the Volunteers’ confidence.

Tennessee came into the weekend series 2-8 in its previous 10 games while Arkansas was on a 7-1 roll.

“I think our guys were surprised we played so well on a Friday night and won,” Vols Coach Dave Serrano said. “They may have been afraid we woke those guys up, and sure enough we did, and we acted like that the last couple of games.”

Arkansas (34-17, 17-9 SEC) beat Tennessee 11-1 on Saturday night and 10-2 on Sunday to clinch one of four first-round byes at the SEC Tournament on May 21-26 in Hoover, Ala.

Twelve of the 14 SEC teams qualify for the tournament, with eight teams playing first-round elimination games. Then, the four first-round winners advance to play the top four seeds in a double-elimination format.

Vanderbilt and LSU, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Baseball America poll, have clinched division titles and first-round byes with the Commodores at 24-2 in SEC play and the Tigers at 21-6 in SEC play.

Arkansas, which plays at Auburn (31-20, 11-16) in a series that opens Thursday night, will either be the third or fourth seed at the SEC Tournament, depending on what South Carolina (16-10) does at Mississippi State this weekend.

Ole Miss and Mississippi State (both 14-13) still have a chance to earn the fourth seed. The Rebels play at LSU this weekend.

In addition to clinching a first-round SEC Tournament bye by taking two of three games from Tennessee, the Razorbacks also likely kept alive their hopes of hosting an NCAA regional.

“Maybe we can play our way into it,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “We’ll see.”

Arkansas won for the seventh time in nine SEC series, the first time the Razorbacks have done that since 1999, when they took eight of 10 series en route to winning the conference title at 22-8.

Van Horn said losing the opener to Tennessee, in which Arkansas allowed opponent season-highs for runs (8) and hits (13), resulted from a combination of the Razorbacks’ lack of focus and an outstanding performance by Vols pitcher Zack Godley.

“We got our butts kicked Friday night,” Arkansas senior outfielder Matt Vinson said. “We did what we needed to do (Saturday and Sunday).”

Auburn has won its last two SEC series, taking two of three games against Ole Miss and two of three at Florida to clinch an SEC Tournament spot. They Tigers play Jacksonville (Ala.) State tonight before facing the Razorbacks.

“They seem to be pretty hot,” Van Horn said. “We’re going to their ballpark and it will be a battle.

“Hopefully, we can go there and swing the bats. Usually against Auburn you have to score, because they can hit.”

Vinson was among six seniors who may have played his final game at Baum Stadium on Sunday.

“It was Senior Day, but as a team we needed to win the series,” Vinson said. “We came out and did that.

“Everybody was probably thinking it’s close to the end, but we still have about15 games left. We’re trying to win series.”

Serrano - who was part of six College World Series teams at Cal State-Fullerton (four as an assistant and two as head coach) before taking the Tennessee job last year - said he wasn’t surprised by Arkansas’ response after losing to the Vols.

“They showed the signs of a team that has been to Omaha,” Serrano said, referring to the site of the College World Series. “That’s commonplace for a program that has been so successful so many years in a row.

“I’ve been (with) programs that were like that. You expect to win.”

Sports, Pages 17 on 05/14/2013