Good for Arkansas that coach Dave Van Horn pitched projected Sunday starter Mike Bolsinger 3 2 / 3 relief innings Saturday.

Not only did Bolsinger beat South Carolina, 6-3, but spending Bolsinger Saturday freed displaced Dallas Keuchel to start Sunday. Sophomore lefty Keuchel threw eight shutout innings with a career high 10 strikeouts and beat South Carolina, 4-2 at Baum Stadium completing the Razorbacks’ first SEC three-game SEC sweep of 2008.

Two-out RBI hits by Aaron Murphree, a single in the second, and Andy Wilkins’ 2-run double in the third, and Casey Coon’s 1-out RBI single in the eighth, sufficed to offset the 2-run home run Carolina’s James Darnell hit off Bolsinger relieving in Sunday’s ninth after Justin Smoak’s leadoff single against Keuchel.

Bolsinger retired the next three after Darnell’s dinger.

Thus the Hogs, fourth in the SEC West entering this series and once on the brink of not qualifying for the SEC’s eight-team postseason tournament, are eighth in the SEC overall with just the Thursday through Saturday SEC series at Mississippi State left.

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The Hogs, 31-20 for all games and hosting Mississippi Valley State today in a 2 p. m. nonconference makeup of a rainout, stand 13-13 in the SEC ahead of South Carolina, ninth at 13-14.

Four teams, Alabama and Ole Miss of the West and Kentucky and Florida of the East, are tied for fourth overall at 14-13, a half-game ahead of Arkansas.

Georgia (18-7-1 ) clinched both the SEC East and overall title beating East runnerup Vanderbilt (15-11 ). LSU (15-11-1 ) rules the West.

The Gamecocks, closing the SEC season with fellow East rival Tennessee Thursday through Saturday in Columbia, S. C., presently are on the outside looking in at a SEC Tournament despite a 34-18 overall record and 17 th-national ranking by Baseball America.

The weekend’s Arkansas-South Carolina juxtaposition seems about as improbable as Keuchel, the nearly deposed SEC starter hit hard his last two SEC starts versus Ole Miss and Alabama, capitalizing on Sunday’s reprieve to pitch into the ninth with just two walks and five hits against 10 strikeouts. “ I won’t say it was unexpected, ” Van Horn said, “ but I didn’t expect him to go 8 plus. A great job by Dallas. His best outing as a Razorback. ”

And against a power team (93 home runs ) with the wind blowing out. “ I just tried to keep the ball down because South Carolina is not ranked 12 th [by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association )] for nothing, ” Keuchel said. Keuchel consistently stayed ahead in the count, which he said he failed miserably at against Ole Miss and Alabama. “ I wanted to regain the form I had at Florida, ” Keuchel said of his best SEC start until Sunday. “ My 2-seamer and my changeup had more movement. ” It moved Ray Tanner, South Carolina’s classy veteran coach, to admiration even with the improbable sweep initiated by Razorback freshman pinchhitter Jacob House’s ninthinning grand slam Friday night turning an 11-8 South Carolina lead into a stunning 12-11 Arkansas victory. “ Dallas Keuchel pitched a tremendous game for Arkansas, ” Tanner said. “ He was really spectacular. He hit his spots and was able to get his changeup in there. Our guy, (losing starter ) Blake Cooper, battled extremely hard as well, but we didn’t threaten until the very end. ”

Well, the Gamecocks did have runners on first and second with one out in the second, but Keuchel retired Whit Merrifield on a fly to center. On a 3-2 pitch, Keuchel struck out Justin Smoak, Carolina’s All-American first baseman who entered the series hitting. 405 with 19 home runs.

“ Anytime you get a potential firstrounder, you don’t want to give him too much but you want to attack him at the same time, ” Keuchel said. I gave him a changeup and he chased it. ”

Keuchel struck out the side in the seventh, the last two after Andy Crisp reached on shortstop Tim Smalling’s error, the game’s lone miscue, and stole second.

Arkansas and South Carolina both had six hits, but Arkansas had all the key hits other than Darnell’s home run. Murphree’s 2-out single to left drove in Wilkins who had walked and advanced when Jeff Nutt was plunked by a pitch.

Before Wilkins’ double into rightcenter, Arkansas third baseman Logan Forsythe, 4 for 4 Friday with two home runs and 2 for 4 Saturday, was intentionally walked after Chase Leavitt had singled and been bunted over by Ben Tschepikow.

No hit, though, was bigger than House’s grand slam Friday night.

“ I think that win Friday got us over the hump, ” Van Horn said. It propelled us into today. ”