By Scott Faldon
Times Record • sfaldon@swtimes.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Another day, another win in the bottom of the ninth inning for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks (23-8, 6-6 SEC) completed a sweep of No. 17-ranked LSU as Kyle Robinson’s sacrifice fly scored Bo Bigham for a 5-4 win Sunday at Baum Stadium.
With the sweep, Arkansas leapt into second place in the SEC-West one game behind Alabama (19-4, 7-5).
“We made up a lot of ground,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “We knew that we needed to win this series — at a minimum — and when we did that last night, the guys said they weren’t satisfied and they proved it a little bit.”
Saturday, Arkansas won 4-3 on James McCann’s three-run, walk-off home run. Sunday’s final hit wasn’t quite as dramatic.
Bigham started the Arkansas ninth with a double down the third-base line. Matt Reynolds reached on an error on his sacrifice bunt and Sam Bates got an intentional walk. With two strikes, Robinson lifted a fly ball to center field.
“I was just trying not to do too much. I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Robinson said. “A strikeout really wasn’t an option. It wasn’t pretty, but it was fortunate enough to work. I didn’t know (if it was deep enough). I was hoping Bo would tag, for sure.”
Bigham had tagged and slid home just ahead of the throw from LSU center fielder Mikie Mahtook. Van Horn was relieved, since LSU (21-11, 3-9) had the top of the order coming up in the top of the 10th.
“I knew we had the top of the order coming up (in the bottom of the ninth) and also knew what they had coming up in the 10th,” Van Horn said. “And I didn’t want to play a 10th inning. I’m just glad we got it over with it.”
While the top of the Arkansas order scored the winning run, it was the No. 9 hitter who did the most damage for the Razorbacks as Tim Carver totaled three RBIs.
In the bottom of the fourth with Jarrod McKinney at third, Carver was at the plate when Van Horn called for a suicide squeeze bunt. The pitch was low and outside, which left McKinney scrambling back to third where he slid in just before the tag.
While he was hitting below .200 at the time, Carver talked Van Horn into letting him swing away — instead of bunting. On the next pitch, McKinney drove the ball over the left field wall for a two-run homer.
“Tim did everything he could to get the bat on it,” Van Horn said. “I went down and talked to him and his comment to me was ‘I can get the run in. I’ll drive the run in.’ I told him to look for something soft and he got another slider and just hammered it.”
Carver, who later drove in a run on a ground out, said he thought the ball was gone when he connected.
“When I hit it, I had a pretty good feeling it was out but I was worried the wind was going to take it foul,” Carver said. “I’m pretty confident, but I’m struggling right now, I’m just trying to stay the course. This game usually evens itself out eventually.”
LSU tied the game in the top of the sixth on a grand slam homer by Austin Nola.
NOTES: Bigham’s ninth-inning double extended his hitting streak to 11 games. …Robinson’s ninth-inning RBI ended the Razorbacks’ drought against LSU. The Tigers had a six-series winning streak that dated back to 2004. … Arkansas center fielder Colin Kuhn was a late scratch from Sunday’s lineup due to a back injury. Alma’s Matt Vinson got his 13th start of the season in Kuhn’s place. … Sunday’s actual attendance was 7,842. For the three-game series against LSU, 28,657 were in the seats.
