FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Logan Forsythe’s sacrifice fly RBI in the bottom of the tenth scored Sean Jones from second base to lift Arkansas to an 8-7 win over Vanderbilt Friday night in front of 9,216 fans at Baum Stadium.
Jones was hit by a pitch to lead off the tenth and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Casey Coon. Forsythe then hit a deep fly ball to right-center that David Macias caught on the run. Jones tagged up from second and went home as Alex Feinberg’s throw from the cut off spot was misplayed at home plate to allow the game-winning run to score.
Vanderbilt dropped to 22-2 on the season and 2-2 in SEC play, while Arkansas improved to 18-6 overall and 3-1 in conference action.
The Commodores pushed the game to extra innings after getting out of a bases loaded jam with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Brian Walker fouled out on a squeeze bunt attempt and closer Casey Weathers struck out Jake Dugger looking after starting with a 3-0 count to send the game into extra innings.
Weathers (3-1) was charged with his first loss of the season after giving up one run on one hit in 2.2 innings of work with two strikeouts and a walk.
In a match up of two of the top pitchers in the SEC, both starters gave up five runs and walked four batters with eight strikeouts. David Price gave up six hits in six innings of work for VU, while Nick Schmidt gave up six hits in seven innings of action.
“We just didn’t pitch very well tonight and throw strikes,” said Price. “The crowd didn’t effect us, we will have a bad game every now and then. We will come back out and get after it tomorrow.”
The Commodores jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single by Shea Robin. Pedro Alvarez walked and moved to third on Ryan Flaherty’s double before Robin brought both in with two outs in the inning.
Arkansas came back in the bottom half to tie the game on a RBI single by Logan Forsythe and a RBI double by Jeff Nutt. The Razorbacks took advantage of two walks and a balk to extend the inning off of Price.
The Razorbacks took advantage of two Commodore errors to plate three runs in the second to take a 5-2 lead. Brian Walker walked to lead off the inning and after a Price strikeout, he moved to third on a single by Sean Jones. Price struck out the next batter before Logan Forsythe walked to load the bases. Walker and Jones scored on an error when catcher Shea Robin’s throw to third went into the outfield. Jeff Nutt followed with a RBI single through the left side to make it 5-2.
Vanderbilt came right back with three runs in the third to tie the game at 5-5. Dominic de la Osa singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Arkansas starter Nick Schmidt. Ryan Flaherty reached on a throwing error by Schmidt and Robin walked to load the bases. Matt Meingasner singled through the left side to score de la Osa to make it 5-3. A passed ball then scored Robin and Andrew Giobbi added a sacrifice fly RBI to tie the game.
Arkansas took a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the seventh off of reliever Stephen Shao. Back- to-back doubles by Logan Forsythe and Jeff Nutt plated the first run, while Tim Smalling’s RBI single brought in Nutt for the seventh run.
The Commodores rallied for the second time to tie the game in the eighth. Ryan Davis led off with a pinch-hit single and one out later moved to second on a single by Brad French. David Macias then came through with a double into the gap in left-center to bring home Davis and Alex Feinberg then followed with a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game.
The Commodores and Razorbacks will be back in action in the second game of the three game set tomorrow afternoon at 2:05 p.m. Sophomore right hander Nick Christiani (4-1, 3.18 ERA) will take the hill for VU, while right hander Duke Welker (4-0, 3.77 ERA) will start for Arkansas.
