Diamond Hogs’ hustle does in Tennessee in 10th
Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2008
A season-high crowd of 8, 070 gleefully filed out of Baum Stadium Saturday after Ben Tschepikow’s hustle gave Arkansas a 5-4, extra-inning win over Tennessee, clinching the three-game series for the Razorbacks ahead of today’s 1: 05 p. m. finale.
A seemingly innocuous, two-out pop fly in Arkansas’ half of the 10 th turned into a calamity for Tennessee (22-16, 9-8 ) when shortstop Danny Lima couldn’t locate the ball against the backdrop of the azure sky.
Oblivious to Lima’s plight, Tschepikow took off from first base the moment Brett Eibner’s bat hoisted the towering pop up into shallow center field. Before Lima could find the ball and his bearings, Tschepikow rounded third and barreled toward home plate to score the winning run.
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said he waved the four-year junior home, but Tschepikow said he was running too hard to see Van Horn’s signal.
“ We’re always taught in practice to go hard with two outs, ” said Tschepikow, a former multi-sport standout at Fayetteville High. “ I wasn’t stopping until somebody told me to stop. I didn’t hear ‘ stop, ’ so I kept going. ”
Tschepikow’s teammates had to apprise him of his heroics after his head-first slide at home plate. The haste of his trip around the bases allowed no time to take in what was transpiring.
“ Like I said, I wasn’t going to stop until somebody told me to stop, ” said the plucky second baseman. “ I didn’t even now we won the game until I slid into home plate. I thought [Lima ] caught it. It didn’t really register until someone told me we won the game. ”
Van Horn couldn’t tell if Lima made the catch. The crowd’s reaction informed his decision to send Tschepikow home.
“ It’s a high pop-up, the sun’s bothering him, the wind’s blowing and Ben never broke stride, ” Van Horn said. “ I thought what the heck, so I just kept waving him. I never saw the ball hit the ground. I just heard everybody scream. I don’t know what happened. It was just great hustle by Ben. ”
Lima’s pratfall gave Eibner a single and the game-winning RBI. Lima added to his league-leading error total earlier in the inning, when his error allowed Tschepikow to reach base and become the game-winning run.
The 10 th-inning drama was preceded by two Ryan Cisterna home runs. Cisterna’s second homer caromed high off the hitter’s eye in center field. The two-run shot gave Arkansas a 4-3 lead through seven frames and was the third one of the series for the junior catcher.
Cisterna’s seventh-inning home run Friday night was the difference in Arkansas’ 5-4 victory. He and designated hitter Jeff Nutt are both in the midst of seven-game hitting streaks.
“ He threw me two fastballs, and I put a good, short swing on them and good things happened, ” Cisterna said. “ I’m just so happy we won that game. That was big. ”
The victory marked the first time Arkansas has won the opening two games of an SEC series in more than a year. A win today will give Arkansas (22-16, 7-9 ) its first league sweep since it took three games from Florida last April.
Cisterna’s slugging was in support of junior right hander Justin Wells. Making his third SEC start, Wells pitched the longest outing of his career. His nine innings of work weren’t enough to earn the decision. After allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks, Wells gave way to James Mahler in the 10 th.
Mahler pitched around a pair of two-out hits to garner his second victory of the season. Cisterna’s counterpart was also effective. Hard throwing lefty Bryan Morgado struck out 11 Razorbacks and walked none in eight-anda third innings, yielding four runs on seven hits.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
