Hogs win again as 10,837 cheer

Dominic Taccolini of Arkansas delivers to the plate against Mississippi State during the fourth inning Saturday, April 25, 2015, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The last time an Arkansas baseball team won five consecutive SEC series the Hogs made it to the College World Series.

Nobody is saying the 2015 Razorbacks are on their way to Omaha, but Arkansas matched the 2004 team’s feat of winning five consecutive series when it defeated Mississippi State 6-1 Saturday night.

A crowd of 10,837, the third-largest to see a game at Baum Stadium, witnessed a victory that left Coach Dave Van Horn at a loss for words.

“It’s hard to win a series,” Van Horn said, “much less five in a row.”

Dominic Taccolini gave up 1 run and 4 hits over 6 2/3 innings, Brett McAfee hit a bases-loaded two-run double and the Razorbacks (26-17, 11-9) won for the 12th time in 15 games.

The Bulldogs (22-21, 6-14) have lost six consecutive.

Arkansas looks for its first SEC series sweep of the season today at 1:05 p.m., and it’s an opportunity Van Horn said the Hogs need to take seriously.

“It’s nice to know we’ve won the series, but when you have a chance to sweep you need to take advantage of it,” Van Horn said.

The Razorbacks, ranked No. 25 by Baseball America, have come a long way since getting swept at Vanderbilt to start the season, then losing 2 of 3 to LSU to go 1-5 in the conference.

But Arkansas rebounded by winning 2 of 3 against Ole Miss to start the successful stretch.

“We turned it around last week (against Texas A&M) and have played pretty well this weekend so far, but we have a big game [today],” Van Horn said.

The Razorbacks have an opportunity to sweep because of a three-run fourth inning, a rally against Mississippi State starter Preston Brown (5-5) that gave Arkansas all the runs it would need.

A chance for their first sweep of the season thanks to a breakthrough fourth-inning rally against Mississippi State starter Preston Brown (5-5), which came with two outs and gave the Razorbacks all the runs they would need.

Arkansas loaded the bases when Andrew Benintendi was hit by a pitch, Luke Bonfield singled to right field and Bobby Wernes reached on an error.

McAfee hit a shot down the right-field line, just out of the reach of a diving Mississippi State first baseman Wes Rea, and two runs scored.

“I was just wanting to shoot something through the infield and if I got a good enough pitch maybe split a gap,” McAfee said. “It was a fastball away and I was able to stay on it and shoot it through.”

Michael Bernal walked to reload the bases, and Wernes scored when Carson Shaddy was hit by a pitch, pushing the Razorbacks’ lead to 3-0.

“We hadn’t had a whole lot going on offensively and to strike first and get momentum going was huge,” McAfee said.

The Bulldogs got a run without a hit in the seventh when Ryan Gridley walked and scored on an RBI groundout from Jake Vickerson.

Arkansas got that run back, and added two more in the bottom of the seventh on three hits, including RBI singles from Tyler Spoon and McAfee to lead 6-1.

Taccolini (6-3) struck out five and walked four before being relieved by Lance Phillips in the seventh.

Van Horn said a key for Taccolini was his ability to pitch out of jams. The Bulldogs stranded nine, and had two on with no outs in the fourth before Taccolini retired three consecutive.

“When we started turning this thing around, it’s been because of our pitching,” Van Horn said. “Our offense and defense has been pretty steady, but when the pitching kicks into gear and guys started backing each other up, we’ve started winning games.”

Spoon and McAfee each went 2 for 4 to lead Arkansas’ eight-hit night. Jacob Robson had 3 of the Bulldogs’ 4 hits. Rea, who was 5 for 5 in Friday’s game, was 0 for 3 Saturday.

“After we got the lead, Dominic was outstanding,” Van Horn said.

Taccolini said pitching out of the bullpen in pressure situations last season has helped him get out of bumpy stretches this season.

“Last year I learned to throw one pitch at a time,” Taccolini said. “I haven’t had my best stuff and just struggled and grinded. Today I felt good.”

Arkansas was error-free Saturday and has committed just one error in its past eight games.

Sports on 04/26/2015