Diamond Hogs rout Rebels, then drop nightcap

Arkansas first baseman Brady Slavens (left) celebrates with hitting coach Nate Thompson as he rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam during a game against Ole Miss on Friday, April 7, 2023, in Oxford, Miss.

What started as a bombastic day at the plate for No. 5 Arkansas with a blowout win turned into a frustrating split doubleheader with a loss in the nightcap at Ole Miss on Friday.

The Razorbacks clobbered the Rebels 11-2 in the afternoon opener behind Brady Slavens’ grand slam in a six-run fifth inning and a two-run homer from Caleb Cali.

The Razorbacks (24-6, 7-4 SEC squandered scoring opportunities and left runners all over the bases in the nightcap and fell 7-4. Arkansas fell back into a tie with LSU atop the SEC West, while Ole Miss (18-12, 2-9), the defending College World Series champions, avoided a sweep.

The rivals will face off in a rubber match today at 2 p.m. at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss.

Arkansas trailed 7-2 entering the ninth before Tavian Josenberger walked and Peyton Stovall launched a two-run home run, his fourth of the season and first since March 4 against Wright State. That shot extended the Razorbacks’ streak to 26 consecutive games with a home run.

Left-hander Hunter Hollan (5-1) silenced the Rebels’ bats in the opener as the transfer senior allowed just three hits in six scoreless innings and was backed by a 15-hit attack.

Slavens went 3 for 4 in the opener with 5 RBI, while Josenberger, Jared Wegner, Jace Bohrofen and Cali all added two hits each.

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The defining moments in the nightcap came in the second and sixth innings.

Arkansas loaded the bases with no outs against Xavier Rivas (5-2) in the top of the second on Jace Bohrofen’s single and back-to-back walks by Kendall Diggs and Cali.

When Slavens singled to make it 1-0, still with no outs, the Rebels’ bullpen quickly got busy as the Hogs had a chance to break it open.

However, Rivas induced a fly ball to medium depth right field from Parker Rowland. Diggs tagged up at third and started home but he stopped and retreated as TJ McCants’ throw came toward the plate. John Bolton struck out on three pitches and Josenberger struck out after a six-pitch battle to leave the bases loaded.

“We had a chance to really, really break it open in the second and didn’t take advantage of it,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “We scored one run. I think that probably ended up costing us the ball game.”

Kemp Alderman walked to open the bottom of the second against Hagen Smith (5-1). Ethan Lege followed with a routine high pop into right-center field. The right fielder Bohrofen appeared to have a bead on it but he pulled up at the last moment as the center fielder Josenberger approached, and the ball dropped for a gift double. Reagan Burford’s ground out allowed Alderman to score with the tying run.

“The ball that dropped in the outfield? Yeah, that run scored,” Van Horn said. “So that cost us a run. … That’s ridiculous. That’s all I have to say about it.”

The Rebels took their first lead of the day in the fourth on Lege’s RBI single to make it 2-1, but the Hogs got the run back on Diggs’ two-out RBI double into the right field corner, plating Wegner, who had reached on a walk.

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Ole Miss broke it open in the fifth inning, aided by another unsecured pop up.

Before that, Ethan Groff golfed a low pitch over the left field wall to give the Rebels a 3-2 lead with his fifth homer, then Calvin Harris was hit by a pitch to chase Smith. Slavens could not squeeze Alderman’s foul pop and he made the Hogs pay with a single to right. Harris scored on a wild pitch, Anthony Calarco walked, then Lege crushed a Cody Adcock pitch over the left field wall to give the Rebels a 7-2 lead.

“We said it between the games when we went inside, the first game was disappointing as once again we just don’t play well in game one in any of the phases,” Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said. “But the beauty of this league is that — and it happens all the time — that somebody gets beat up in game one and ends up coming back and winning game two and we did. So you credit Xavier. It starts on the mound and he was terrific.”

Hollan was the story in the opener, rebounding from a rocky start last weekend against Alabama to shut down the Rebels on 3 hits over 6 innings, with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts.

The rangy lefty dropped his ERA a half run from 3.50 to 3.00.

Cali’s two-run homer in the second inning, his fourth, gave Hollan all the runs he would need, but the Razorbacks piled it on with a six-run fifth inning to put things out of reach.

Stovall’s RBI ground ball brought home Bolton, who had singled, then Bohrofen laced a single to bring in Josenberger and make it 4-0.

Diggs drew a walk to load the bases then Slavens pulled an 0-2 pitch over the right-field for a grand slam to double the lead at 8-0.

Ole Miss snapped the shutout bid in the eighth on Alderman’s two-run homer against Dylan Carter, who worked two innings.