STARKVILLE, Miss. — Relief ace Aaron Weatherford couldn’t save it for Mississippi State starter Ricky Bowen and retiring Mississippi State coach Ron Polk against Arkansas.

But thanks to Ryan Duffy’s seventh-inning home run off losing starter Justin Wells, Weatherford won it 6-5 against the Razorbacks in Thursday night’s start to a threegame regular-season closing SEC series at MSU’s Dudy Noble Field.

Weatherford couldn’t prevent Arkansas from coming back from down 5-3 to 5-5 when he relieved Bowen with two on and one out in the seventh and yielded a run-scoring wild pitch and Ben Tschepikow’s sacrifice fly, but he stranded pinchhitter Jacob House, on via 2-out double, at second in the ninth on Chase Leavitt’s grounder to first.

Because ninth-place South Carolina, 13-15 in the SEC, lost to Tennessee Thursday night in Columbia, S. C., the Razorbacks, 13-14 in the SEC and 32-21, remain eighth in the SEC contesting for the eighth and final spot in the 12-team league’s eight-team SEC Tournament beginning Wednesday in Hoover, Ala.

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Mississippi State, 22-32 and last in the SEC West at 8-20, is going nowhere this postseason but this series means so much to the Bulldogs with Polk, MSU’s coach for 29 years, retiring after Saturday’s 3 p. m. conclusion to this series that continues at 6: 30 tonight.

“ It didn’t work out the way I had hoped for, ” Weatherford said of blowing the save. “ But good deal, we were able to bounce back and complete the game. Duffy hit a bomb and I told him, ‘ Thank you for the bomb. ’

“ We needed this one for sure. This is Coach Polk’s last goround and we want it for him. There’s not a better man than Ron Polk. ”

From the get-go, striking out the side in the first, Bowen had better stuff than Wells, but the Razorback and former Texarkana College right-hander kept battling until Duffy’s two-out blast over the center-field fence.

“ It was a fastball low and away, ” Wells said, “ and he was sitting on it and he hit it. I thought it was a pretty good pitch. Just bad timing. ”

Wells fell behind on hitters including 29 first-inning pitches to just four batters, but it was when he was ahead in the count that that Razorback got tagged for Russ Sneed’s leadoff homer in the second, Duffy’s homer in the seventh, and Tyler Moore’s 2-run double during MSU’s 3-run third.

“ I’m disappointed we lost, ” Wells said. “ I had pretty good stuff but I just didn’t execute at times. When you are up in the zone, you get hit a little bit. ”

Mike Bolsinger, first warming up after Leavitt’s great third-inning catch prevented MSU’s 3-run fifth from being a 5-or-more fifth, retired the last two batters in the eighth and is ready to relieve tonight, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said.

“ Wells threw a couple of fastballs up, ” Van Horn said. “ Take away a couple of pitches, it’s a different game. But they could say the same thing. He battled. He just made some mistakes, and whenever he did, they hammered it.

“ We never could get the lead to get to Bolsinger and they got to Weatherford. ”

At least Tennessee helped keeping South Carolina a half-game back.

“ That’s good, ” Van Horn said. “ But we need to take care of business and get some Ws here. ”

Bowen struck out the side in the first but got struck for center fielder Brett Eibner’s 3-run home run in the second. Casey Coon had singled up the middle leading off and was forced at second on Andy Wilkins’ grounder to third.

The Bulldogs had a chance to turn two but first baseman Tyler Moore couldn’t scoop second baseman Jet Butler’s throw in the dirt. Bowen’s wild pitch advancing runners to second and third preceded Eibner’s opposite-field shot that first sailed over right fielder Grant Hogue’s head then cleared the fence as Hogue gave chase.

Sneed got one back for MSU, homering beyond Eibner’s leap at the fence in leftcenter.

MSU got 3 for a 4-3 lead in the third and would have had more but for Chase Leavitt’s sensational, outstretched catch of a liner tailing away from him towards the foul line in deep right. Leavitt’s two-out catch robbed Jason Nappi of a probable 2-run triple and possible 3-run inside-the-park home run.

Nick Hardy and Hogue stroked leadoff singles in the third and were doubled home by Tyler Moore after Mark Goforth’s sac bunt. Moore eventually scored on Sneed’s all-hands-safe forceout. Leadoff walks tend to haunt, and did haunt Wells in the fourth.

Nick Hardy worked the leadoff freebie and eventually was bunted to second and scored on Goforth’s one-out single to center.

Pitching four runs better than his 7. 66 ERA while striking out nine, Bowen dazzled the Hogs until Polk thought he was out of gas after Aaron Murphree singled and Leavitt walked with one out in the seventh.

Reliever Aaron Weatherford couldn’t hold the lead. Two wild pitches scored one run and advanced Leavitt to third to score on Tschepikow’s game-tying sacrifice fly.

The lead lasted two batters into the Bulldogs’ seventh when Duffy crashed a mammoth solo home run clearing the fence almost dead center.

In the Arkansas ninth, House doubled over left fielder Nick Hardy’s head right after Hardy made a great catch of Tim Smalling’s line drive.