BATON ROUGE, La. — It’s official. No nine run leads are safe this season if the Arkansas Razorbacks are involved.
Exactly one week after blowing a nine-run lead against Georgia, the Razorbacks turned the tables and did the same thing to LSU in an unbelievable, 14-13 win in 10 innings in front of 4,026 at Alex Box Stadium.
Down 9-0 after just three innings, Arkansas (14-7, 2-3) began its rally. Scoring six times in the fourth, the Diamond Hogs got themselves back in the contest. Then with some great relief pitching from Justin Wells and a go-ahead home run by Tim Smalling, Arkansas was able to complete the incredible comeback.
“That has to be one of the greatest victories I’ve ever been a part of,” Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said. “I mean we were getting our butt kicked, they scored the first nine runs of the game I think all with two outs. It just didn’t look like anything was going to go our way.
“Then all of a sudden, we chipped away, chipped away.”
LSU (13-7, 1-4) saw the same thing happen to it that happened to Arkansas one week ago. Despite the big lead, the Tigers’ pitchers began to struggle finding the zone. Add that in with five LSU errors and the Diamond Hogs found themselves in a ballgame after all.
“They booted a ball in one inning, Ben (Tschepikow) got a big hit down the line that cleared the bases. And we thought we had a chance,” Van Horn said. “Then they would punch in a couple. It just went back and forth.
“We just said somehow we’ve got to put up a zero on the bottom of that board. And when we finally did, we just grabbed some momentum. Then we scored a couple of runs and then they don’t score and that’s when we in the dugout thought we could win the game. We just kept thinking we’ve got a shot, we’ve got a shot. And sure enough we got a shot.”
Wells gave up five runs early in his relief of Shaun Seibert. But after the fifth inning, the junior was magnificent in allowing just one more LSU hit.
“I think it was (Wells’) game to win,” Van Horn said. “He was loose and he just pitched his butt off. I’m so proud of him and the whole team.
“I mean it almost brought tears to my eyes. That was an unbelievable win, on the road.”
For the Tigers, it was an almost unbearable loss. The kind Arkansas had already experienced once this season.
But this time, it was the Razorbacks’ turn to rally in a huge way.
“I don’t have a lot of experience of having losses like that, so it’s kind of hard to find the words you would say to the kids,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “But let me just say this, I give Arkansas all the credit in the world. I mean after a tough, hard-fought game last night they fall behind 9-0. And their kids never quit for a second and they played to the very end.
“I admire them, I really do, and I hope someday our program and our team can someday develop that same kind of fighting spirit that Arkansas displayed today.”
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VERNON'S SIDEBAR ON JUSTIN WELLS
BATON ROUGE, La. — It’s official. No nine run leads are safe this season if the Arkansas Razorbacks are involved.
Exactly one week after blowing a nine-run lead against Georgia, the Razorbacks turned the tables and did the same thing to LSU in an unbelievable, 14-13 win in 10 innings in front of 4,026 at Alex Box Stadium.
Down 9-0 after just three innings, Arkansas (14-7, 2-3) began its rally. Scoring six times in the fourth, the Diamond Hogs got themselves back in the contest. Then with some great relief pitching from Justin Wells and a go-ahead home run by Tim Smalling, Arkansas was able to complete the incredible comeback.
“That has to be one of the greatest victories I’ve ever been a part of,” Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said. “I mean we were getting our butt kicked, they scored the first nine runs of the game I think all with two outs. It just didn’t look like anything was going to go our way.
“Then all of a sudden, we chipped away, chipped away.”
LSU (13-7, 1-4) saw the same thing happen to it that happened to Arkansas one week ago. Despite the big lead, the Tigers’ pitchers began to struggle finding the zone. Add that in with five LSU errors and the Diamond Hogs found themselves in a ballgame after all.
“They booted a ball in one inning, Ben (Tschepikow) got a big hit down the line that cleared the bases. And we thought we had a chance,” Van Horn said. “Then they would punch in a couple. It just went back and forth.
“We just said somehow we’ve got to put up a zero on the bottom of that board. And when we finally did, we just grabbed some momentum. Then we scored a couple of runs and then they don’t score and that’s when we in the dugout thought we could win the game. We just kept thinking we’ve got a shot, we’ve got a shot. And sure enough we got a shot.”
Wells gave up five runs early in his relief of Shaun Seibert. But after the fifth inning, the junior was magnificent in allowing just one more LSU hit.
“I think it was (Wells’) game to win,” Van Horn said. “He was loose and he just pitched his butt off. I’m so proud of him and the whole team.
“I mean it almost brought tears to my eyes. That was an unbelievable win, on the road.”
For the Tigers, it was an almost unbearable loss. The kind Arkansas had already experienced once this season.
But this time, it was the Razorbacks’ turn to rally in a huge way.
“I don’t have a lot of experience of having losses like that, so it’s kind of hard to find the words you would say to the kids,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “But let me just say this, I give Arkansas all the credit in the world. I mean after a tough, hardfought game last night they fall behind 9-0. And their kids never quit for a second and they played to the very end.
“I admire them, I really do, and I hope someday our program and our team can someday develop that same kind of fighting spirit that Arkansas displayed today.”
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