Making amends: Hogs gain split with Lee's help

Arkansas' Evan Lee bats during a game against Ole Miss on Saturday, April 28, 2017, in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Given a second chance to help the Arkansas Razorbacks beat Ole Miss, Evan Lee didn't flinch.

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Lee, a freshman from Bryant, came into the second game of Friday's doubleheader at Baum Stadium to pitch in the top of the ninth inning and face the tying run at the plate with no outs.

Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn brought in Lee after Jake Reindl walked Bryan Seamster and Cannon Chadwick hit Tate Blackmon.

"I'm just proud of him for coming in there and not being intimidated," Van Horn said. "All I told him was, 'There's a runner on first and second, but I don't want you to worry about them one bit. You just go get the hitters.'

"Those runners didn't mean anything. The guy at the plate did. That's the tying run."

Lee needed six pitches to get flyouts by Will Golsan, Colby Borltes and Ryan Olenek -- the Rebels' No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters -- as the 14th-ranked Razorbacks held on to win 7-4 before an announced crowd of 4,867.

It was Lee's first career save and it came after he popped out in the bottom of the eighth inning with the game tied 4-4 and two runners on base.

Arkansas scored three runs after Lee made the second out to go ahead 7-4 on shortstop Jax Biggers' RBI single and a two-run single by right fielder Eric Cole.

"That was the two-out hit we hadn't been getting," Van Horn said. "Those are the ones you've got to have if you're going to win these tight games."

Van Horn said Lee did not pout after making popping out in the eighth.

"When he got the ball in the top of the ninth, I think he was pretty excited about it," Van Horn said.

Lee, the designated hitter in the second game, said going 0 for 4 and not driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning provided extra motivation for his pitching.

"I was like, 'I didn't help my team in that situation, so I'm going to help them here,' " Lee said. "I was just going to try to attack those hitters and do the best I could to close it out."

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (34-12, 13-8 SEC) earned a doubleheader split after Ole Miss (27-17, 11-10) won Friday's opener 4-1.

Ole Miss took a 3-0 lead in the second game to chase Arkansas starter Kacey Murphy in the second inning, but the Razorbacks rallied behind home runs by catcher Grant Koch and first baseman Chad Spanberger.

Koch, whose home run in the opener accounted for the Razorbacks' only run, had three RBI in the nightcap with a two-run home run and run-scoring double.

Arkansas avoided being swept after Ole Miss won the series opener 9-1 Thursday night.

"We didn't lose fight at all in this series and I think it showed there at the end in game three," Koch said. "Everything kind of started falling our way."

Reindl, a sophomore from Shiloh Christian, went a career-long 6 1/3 innings and held the Rebels to 1 run on 6 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts.

"We just couldn't figure out Reindl," Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said. "He really just held us at bay and put a lot of zeroes up."

Reindl (2-0) threw 92 pitches.

"I just knew I needed to go as long as I could and try to help the team out," he said.

The Razorbacks have played nine games in 11 days in four cities.

"We're tired," Van Horn said. "I just met with the team out there and told them how proud I was of them for fighting through and finding way to win this game."

Arkansas' next game is at Tennessee Thursday night and Van Horn said he told the players they won't practice again until Tuesday.

"There were some smiles," Van Horn said. "If the coaches are tired a little bit, you know the players are tired, because they're out there running around.

"Give us a little bit of a break and hopefully we'll respond and play with a little more energy."

Van Horn told the Razorbacks after they lost Friday's opener that the nightcap was the biggest game of the season so far.

"Just the way it had gone, we really needed a win," Van Horn said. "That was a huge game for us mentally."

Koch said he was confident in Lee coming in to pitch the ninth inning after he got out of a bases-loaded situation in the Razorbacks' 7-3 victory at Auburn last weekend.

"He's been there and he's done it," said Koch, a sophomore from Fayetteville. "I knew he was going to pound the zone, which was all we need, because his stuff is going to get outs."

Sports on 04/29/2017