Fayetteville, (Ark.) ? Arkansas had two separate four-run innings and held Kentucky scoreless over the first seven innings to beat the Wildcats, 9-4, Friday night in Fayetteville, Ark. The loss dropped UK to 19-17 on the season and 5-11 in Southeastern Conference play. The Razorbacks improved to 27-13, 11-5 SEC.
?I thought we pitched pretty well tonight, but we just didn?t get a lot of other things done,? UK head coach John Cohen said. ?There are a lot of areas that we need to get better in, but we?re working on that and we?ll get it done.?
Arkansas got to UK starter Kalen Gibson for four runs in the bottom of the second as Haas Pratt doubled and Scott Bridges and Casey Rowlett delivered consecutive singles to start the inning. Afte a walk loaded the bases, Devin Day singled to score Bridges. A walk to Jake Dugger forced Rowlett home and Toops scored on a fielder?s choice to put the Razorbacks up, 4-0.
The Razorbacks added four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, chasing Gibson from the mound in the process. Arkansas batted around in the inning and took advantage of two UK errors to take an 8-0 lead. The big hit came from Danny Hamblin, a single to score Toops and Day.
Kentucky loaded the bases in the top of the fifth with the help of two walks, but was unable to push anything across against Brannon.
Kentucky did manage a pair of runs in both the eighth and ninth innings. Jake Kungl drove in two runs with a double in the eighth, cutting the UK deficit to 9-2. Michael Bertram?s single in the ninth scored John Shelby and Jesse Barber, to provide the game?s final margin.
Gibson (4-2) suffered the loss for Kentucky, allowing eight runs, seven earned, in 4 1/3 innings on nine hits. Arkansas starter Clint Brannon (3-1) picked up the win for the Hogs. Bertram and Kungl had two hits each for Kentucky and both drove in two runs. Danny Hamblin was 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Razorbacks.
The two teams are scheduled to continue the three-game series on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. (ET) in Fayetteville. Kentucky?s Seth Stanley (5-1) and Arkansas? Charley Boyce (5-1) are the probable starting pitchers. All the action can be heard live in Lexington on 96.1 FM and at www.ukathletics.com. Live stats also will be available on the web site.
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