FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas center fielder Collin Kuhn out-homered Ole Miss 3-1 this weekend and matched the Rebels’ series total with five RBI to make sure the Razorbacks won the outright SEC West title and qualified for the SEC Tournament.
“He just killed us all weekend,” Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said. “He certainly was tremendous and had a huge impact on the series.”
The Razorbacks swept a doubleheader from the Rebels on Saturday, with Kuhn hitting one home run in each of the seven-inning games. His solo shot in the sixth inning of the opener provided an insurance run in Arkansas’ 2-0 victory, and he had a two-run home run and sacrifice fly for three RBI as the Razorbacks rallied to win 5-3 in the second game.
Kuhn’s home run in Thursday night’s game accounted for Arkansas’ only run in the Rebels’ 2-1 victory. All of his home runs came off fastballs he sent over the left field fence.
“With the wind blowing in from left, it knocked down a lot of balls in center,” Bianco said. “But he was able to pull some balls down the line and get them out of here.”
After hitting 4 home runs in 170 at-bats coming into the series, Kuhn hit 3 in 8 at-bats against Ole Miss.
“He’s a big-game player,” Arkansas catcher James McCann said. “He knew he had to help carry us this weekend, and he came out swinging. .... That’s one weekend he’ll never forget.”
Kuhn, a redshirt junior, said he realized the importance of the series for the Razorbacks. If they had lost either game Saturday, they wouldn’t have qualified for the SEC Tournament.
“The season is getting towards the end, and I knew we had to make a push as a team,” Kuhn said. “I tried to do everything I could to help us win.”
Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said Kuhn is “amazing” with his mental toughness.
“He’ll strike out and be frustrated and have a bad atbat, and then he’ll hit a home run,” Van Horn said. “Then he’ll have a bad at-bat and hit a home run. He doesn’t let it bother him. He’s just stayed strong.”
Blanking Rebels
Arkansas’ 2-0 seven-inning victory over Ole Miss in Saturday’s opener marked the first time the Rebels had been shut out in 68 games.
The Razorbacks also were the last team to do it to Ole Miss, beating the Rebels 7-0 last season May 9 when Mike Bolsinger and Jordan Pratt combined on a two-hit shutout.
Arkansas starter Randall Fant (3-3) went 6 1/3 innings in Saturday’s opener and retired 16 consecutive batters — starting with a double playgrounder in the first inning — before being relieved by Trent Daniel after allowing two singles in the seventh. Daniel and Barrett Astin then got the final two outs.
“After the first inning, my fastball settled down and I was hitting my spots real good and that was setting up my other pitches, and I was throwing them for strikes, too,” said Fant, who throws a fastball, slider and curveball. “I had confidence in all three of my pitches today.”
Fant allowed 5 runs on 8 hits in a 6-5 loss at South Carolina last Saturday.
“That wasn’t one of my best starts,” Fant said. “I wanted to come back and make sure I had a good outing.”
Practice pays off
When a DJ Baxendale pitch got by catcher James McCann in the seventh inning of Saturday’s second game, it looked as if Ole Miss might pull within a run with the tying run on third and one out.
But McCann got to the ball quickly and threw it to Baxendale, who tagged out Jordan King for the second out. Baxendale then got Austin Anderson on a groundout to end the Razorbacks’ 5-3 victory.
“It’s something we work on all fall,” McCann said of his throw to Baxendale. “It’s kind of a fun drill that we do. You expect to block everything, but that one got away and DJ did a heck of a job covering the plate.”
Twice as nice
SEC series are designed to play one game per day for three days, but doubleheaders sometimes result because of rainouts, as happened Saturday after Friday night’s game was postponed.
It was the Razorbacks’ first sweep of a doubleheader against an SEC team since 2007, when they beat Florida 14-4 and 7-1 on April 14 at Baum Stadium.
Earlier this season, Arkansas split a Sunday doubleheader at Kentucky, losing 3-1 and winning 5-1.
Give me a hug
James McCann was the first Razorback in line for the traditional postgame handshakes Saturday.
After shaking hands with each of the Ole Miss players, McCann then turned around and started going the opposite way in line and hugging all of his teammates.
“I’ve never done that before,” McCann said. “That was my way of telling everybody we did it. All year long our goal has been to win the West, and I was proud of my guys, proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
Bonus
Arkansas Coach Dave Horn will receive a $15,000 bonus for the Razorbacks winning the SEC West title, according to the terms of his contract extension announced three weeks ago.