SEC BASEBALL : Grand slam in 9th starts House party
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — The fireworks started early Friday night, thanks to Arkansas freshman Jacob House.
House hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning to give Arkansas a 12-11 victory over South Carolina at Baum Stadium.
The crowd of 7, 116 who attended the game came hoping for an Arkansas victory and to witness a fireworks display after the game, and House provided both with one swing when he drove a pitch from Parker Bangs well over the wall in right field. A few fireworks went off while House rounded the bases, and the rest came after the game to the delight of the crowd. The home run was the fifth of the season for House, who has played in only 28 games. He entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Sean Jones against the righthanded Bangs, who took the loss 1 after allowing five runs in 2 / 3 innings. “I was just looking for a base hit and to get the next hitter up,” House said. “One win can change the season, change the series, and maybe this will be a big confidence booster to finish out this season strong.” Logan Forsythe hit two home runs and finished with four hits for Arkansas (29-20, 11-13 SEC ), which began the night in ninth place in the league standings and needs to have a strong weekend if it hopes to advance to the SEC Tournament. Kentucky and Tennessee are tied for the eighth and final spot for the SEC Tournament, and those teams are involved in a threegame series this weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.
Andy Wilkins also had four hits for Arkansas, which outhit South Carolina 19-11.
Arkansas trailed South Carolina (34-16, 13-12 ) by as much as 9-3 and the Razorbacks were still behind 11-8 in the ninth. Wilkins led off with his fourth consecutive single, and Brett Eibner walked. Jeff Nutt struck out, but Ben Tschepikow lined to left field for the second out. Chase Leavitt kept the inning going with an infield single to load the bases, then House unloaded with his grand slam.
“We kept battling and we just picked each other up,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “It wasn’t looking good but, with the way we finished it, it was a good win for our team.” The Razorbacks won the game despite allowing 11 runs for the third time in four games. Jones and Forsythe hit consecutive home runs in the first inning before the Gamecocks took the lead in the fourth. Arkansas starter Justin Wells gave up only five hits in five innings, but still left trailing 9-4. Wells wasn’t sharp with his pitches and contributed to his downfall with a throwing error in the second inning. South Carolina loaded the bases when Wells threw high to second base on a bunt, then he hit the next batter to force in a run.
2 Will Atwood went 6 / 3 innings for South Carolina, which hopes a strong finish in the regular season will ensure that it hosts an NCAA regional. Andrew Crisp and DeAngelo Mack hit home runs for the Gamecocks, who scored five runs in the fifth to take a 9-3 lead.
Arkansas pulled to within 11-8 on an RBI single by Casey Coon. The Razorbacks had chances to get even closer during the middle innings but left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings on strikeouts by Tschepikow and Jeff Nutt, a pinch hitter who inherited an 0-1 count from Ryan Cisterna.
Arkansas grabbed a 2-0 lead when Jones and Forsythe hit consecutive home runs in the first inning off Atwood. South Carolina eased ahead 4-3 in the fourth inning, then added five runs on only two hits in the fifth. Crisp hit a three-run home run in the fifth, and the Gamecocks took advantage of a throwing error by Forsythe to second on an attempted double play.
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