Arkansas baseball upsets No. 1 Texas in dominant home sweep of rival
Arkansas baseball entered a series against Texas this week reeling and in desperate need of a series win. The Razorbacks had lost three straight series in SEC play and faced a tall task to break out of that slump against the No. 1 Longhorns.
Arkansas was not to be deterred however, winning the first two games on Thursday and Friday to clinch the series victory. It wouldn’t stop there, though, as it also went on to a dominant 13-8 victory on Saturday to complete the sweep. It marked the first time all season that a team had beaten Texas in a three-game series.
The Razorbacks pulled away with a big lead in the bottom of the seventh after a three-run homer from Charles Davalan. That made it a 12-7 advantage heading into the eighth inning.
Texas looked as if it could potentially chip into the lead after loading the bases in the top of the eighth. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, however, Arkansas tightened up on defense as Texas left all three runners stranded and did not come away with a run in the inning.
Arkansas added another run in the bottom of the eighth on a groundout from Reese Robinett to take a 13-7 lead into the final frame. Texas chipped into it a little bit with a solo home run from Jalin Flores, but that would be the only run it could muster as it went on to lose.
Landon Beidelschies got the start at pitcher for the Razorbacks and allowed four runs with four strikeouts in four innings of work. Dylan Carter picked up the win with 2.2 innings of work as he struck out two and allowed only one hit.
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The series win for Arkansas is its first since a sweep of Missouri in early April. The Razorbacks now sit at 40-9 (17-7 SEC) on the season and in second place in the conference standing behind the Longhorns.
Both teams went scoreless across the first two innings before Texas opened up a 3-0 lead after the top of the third. Arkansas answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 3-2 heading into the fourth.
After Texas added another run in the top of the fourth, the Razorbacks answered with four more to take its first lead, 6-4 going into the fifth. Texas refused to go away, though, retaking a 7-6 lead after scoring three runs in the top of the seventh. That’s when Arkansas answered with three runs of its own to take the lead for good.
Arkansas will hope to use the momentum from this series win against Texas to close out the regular season strong. The Razorbacks have the weekend to celebrate before they get back to work preparing for a three-game series against LSU beginning on Friday.