COLUMBIA, S.C. – Arkansas ace Dominic Taccolini left pitches out over the plate early against South Carolina. The Gamecocks didn’t miss them.
Taccolini allowed eight runs in the first two innings, and the Razorbacks’ rally fell short as South Carolina (18-2, 1-0 SEC) beat Arkansas 10-6 in the SEC opener for both teams Friday night at Founders Park.
Arkansas (15-4, 0-1) cut the Gamecocks’ 8-0 lead to 9-6 in the eighth inning, but the early deficit proved too much to overcome.
“They were just attacking everything that Dominic threw, and most everything he threw was belt high,” Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said. “He could not get the ball down and use his sink. They were looking for something up and hitting it.
“The top of their order did a lot of damage tonight, and credit to them. They jumped all over us.”
Taccolini had allowed only 12 hits in 25 innings all year before South Carolina had 12 hits in six innings Friday.
Despite getting off to a rough start, Taccolini held the Gamecocks scoreless in the final four innings he pitched.
“Once he kind of got tired a little bit, then he had to pitch. He wasn’t just out there letting it go,” Van Horn said. “He had to really compete and just pitch, and he did a good job of holding it down there a little bit to the point that at least we didn’t have to use our whole bullpen.”
Tucker Pennell got the Razorbacks on the board in the third inning with a solo home run, his second of the year, and Arkansas cut the lead to 8-2 in the sixth on an RBI single by Carson Shaddy.
The Razorbacks trailed 9-2 entering the eighth inning before things got interesting.
Clark Eagan and Darien Simms opened the inning with singles to chase South Carolina starter Clarke Schmidt from the game. He was replaced by right-hander Brandon Murray.
Rick Nomura advanced the runners with a groundout to shortstop before Shaddy singled up the middle to score two and cut the deficit to 9-4.
Luke Bonfield followed with his third home run of the year, a two-run shot, and the Razorbacks trailed only 9-6. But Murray was replaced by Reed Scott, and he retired the next two hitters.
The Gamecocks added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning to push the lead to 10-6, but Arkansas was unable to get anything going in its final at bat.
“We did battle back, and I was proud of our guys for doing that. They still believed,” Van Horn said. “Two swings and we scored four runs and were right back in the game, but South Carolina did a nice job of answering with a run there and got us out there.”
Arkansas finished with 12 hits by seven different batters. Shaddy led the way with three, while Eric Cole, Eagan and Bonfield each added two. Shaddy also finished with a team-high three RBI.
“On a Friday night, if you get 11 hits, 12 hits, 13 hits, that’s a pretty good night on a Friday. Usually you see games that are a little more lower scoring,” Van Horn said. “We put together some really good at bats, but we also had some bad at bats. We need more good at bats.”
SUN BELT
ARKANSAS STATE 11,
GEORGIA STATE 1
Arkansas State scored four runs in the first inning Friday and pounded out 19 hits to cruise to a victory over Georgia State in Atlanta.
Third baseman Tanner Ring went 5 for 6 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI to lead Arkansas State (10-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) offensively. Ring’s five hits were one shy of the school record set by Shane Eaker in 1992 against UALR, while the 19 hits were the most by Arkansas State since May 9, 2015, against Texas State in a 12-10 ASU victory. Second baseman Joe Schrimpf went 4 for 6 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored and center fielder Austin Baker went 3 for 5 for the Red Wolves and had 3 RBI.
Georgia State (9-9, 0-1) managed just six hits. Shortstop Justin Jones went 2 for 3 and was the only Georgia State player with multiple hits.
ASU got a strong start from pitcher Tyler Zuber (2-1), who allowed 1 earned run on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks over 6 innings. Cody Jackson pitched two hitless innings with three strikeouts and Bo Ritter had a walk and a strikeout in his one inning of work. Wayne Wages (1-2) took the loss for Georgia State after allowing 6 runs — all earned — on 10 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
SOUTHLAND
LAMAR 19,
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 5
Central Arkansas scored single runs in the second and third innings to take an early lead, but Lamar (11-7, 2-2 Southland) took the lead with two runs in the fifth and broke the game open with eight runs in the sixth to take Friday’s series opener at Vincent-Beck Stadium in Beaumont, Texas.
UCA (9-8, 3-1) took its early lead on an RBI single by Butch Rea in the second inning and a sacrifice fly by Logan Preston in the third inning. Reid Russell hit a home run to right-center field for Lamar to cut the lead to 2-1, then gave the Cardinals the lead at 3-2 in the fifth with an RBI single.
Things unraveled for the Bears in the sixth inning. Brendan Satran singled to right field to start the inning, then Stijn van der Meer was hit by a pitch. Jake Nash doubled to left center, scoring Satran for a 4-2 lead. Cutter McDowell reached on an error that scored van der Meer to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. Bryndan Arredondo struck out, and Robin Adames walked to load the bases, then Russell reached on UCA’s second error of the inning. That scored Nash to increase the Lamar lead to 6-2. McDowell scored when Jacoby Middleton was hit by a pitch, which led to a pitching change for UCA. Connor McClain came in for Derek Beier but promptly gave up an RBI single to Chaneng Varela. Satran hit a two-run double down the left-field line, giving Lamar a 10-2 lead, and van der Meer hit a sacrifice fly for an 11-2 lead.
The Cardinals added three runs in the seventh and five more in the eighth, while the Bears scored a run in the eighth on an RBI single by Rea. The Bears added two runs in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk to Preston and a Justin McCarty sacrifice fly.
Langley, Rea and Brandon Montalvo all went 2 for 4 to lead UCA offensively. Varela was 3 for 4 to lead Lamar, while van der Meer was 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored. McDowell and Russell were each 2 for 4.
SWAC
UAPB 11, PRAIRIE VIEW 1 (7)
UAPB (2-14, 2-2 SWAC) scored five runs in the third inning, four more in the fourth and two in the seventh against Prairie View (6-10, 3-3) to invoke the SWAC’s 10-run rule Friday afternoon at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex in Pine Bluff.
Left fielder Jordan Knox hit a threerun home run in the third inning, then added an RBI double to right field in the fourth inning to finish 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI. First baseman Julian Jones hit a 2-run triple in the fourth inning and finished 3 for 4. Prairie View’s only run came in the top of the first inning when Nick Gurka scored on a throwing error by UAPB starting pitcher Anthony Bowmaker.
Bowmaker (1-1) earned his first victory of the season, allowing 5 hits with 9 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Charles Philpott (0-4) took the loss for Prairie View after allowing 4 earned runs on 4 hits with 1 strikeout in 3 1/3 innings.
Sports on 03/19/2016