HOOVER, Ala. - Arkansas finally got the big hit it had been needing Wednesday against Ole Miss, but Eric Fisher’s ground ball with the bases loaded hit teammate Jacob Mahan in the foot for the final out of the eighth inning instead of going into right field and giving the Razorbacks a two-run lead.
“When that happened, it was kind of in the back of my head, ‘This might not be our day,’ ” Arkansas center fielder Matt Vinson said. “But luckily for us, we got another shot and we won.”
Fisher was up again in the 10th with the bases loaded and two outs when Ole Miss reliever Matt Denny, who had just struck out Mahan, threw a slider in the dirt that catcher Stuart Turner couldn’t block.
Brian Anderson, who had hit a one-out double, ran home and scored on the wild pitch to give the Razorbacks a 2-1 victory in the SEC Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
“It just figures the game would end on a wild pitch - the most exciting play in baseball next to the sacrifice fly,” Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn said with a smile. “That’s what happened, but I can tell you, from our standpoint, we were glad to see it.”
Arkansas (36-19) advanced to play No. 2-ranked LSU at 4:30 p.m. today after winning its SEC Tournament opener for the first time since 2009.
“A win’s a win, we’ll take it,” Vinson said. “We’d have liked to get the job done on the bat before, but it didn’t happen.”
Arkansas reliever Jalen Beeks (6-1) earned the victory with two shutout innings after starter Barrett Astin matched his career long with 8 innings and held the Rebels (37-21) to 5 hits and 1 run on 90 pitches.
Astin, a junior right-hander from Forrest City, has pitched a combined 16 2/3 innings in five games against Ole Miss in three seasons and allowed to two runs.
“We’ve seen him now for so long,” Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said. “We’ll be happy when he leaves. He’s a warrior out there, just the complete package.”
Rebels left fielder Tanner Mathis said Astin “had everything working” with his fastball, slider, change up and curve ball.
“He just kept us off balance all day,” Mathis said.
Astin finished with four strikeouts and one walk.
“He kept the ball down,” Bianco said. “You swing over the top of so many pitches. He might not get a ton of strikeouts like some other guys in our league, but it’s just hard to barrel up too many balls against him.”
Van Horn said Astin could have gotten more strikeouts Wednesday, when he picked up 16 outs on ground balls.
“He can throw strikeouts when he needs to, but I like that he pitched to contact,” Van Horn said.
Mathis scored the Rebels’ only run when he reached on an infield single to lead off the game and advanced to third on two ground outs before coming home and Turner’s single.
Arkansas tied it 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Vinson singled, went to second on a groundout and scored on Tyler Spoon’s single.
The Razorbacks then left nine runners on base the rest of the game - including leaving the bases loaded twice - against Ole Miss starter Sam Smith and reliever Aaron Greenwood (3-5) before Denny’s wild pitch ended it.
“Matt was almost out of it. He got a big strikeout on Mahan,” Bianco said. “Then he tried to overthrow his slider. You’re playing for a strikeout, and it’s a tough situation to be in.”
Arkansas improved to 8-3 in one-run games this season after being 14-8 last year.
“We’ve played a lot of tight games,” Van Horn said. “We don’t get uptight. We’re used to it now.”
The Razorbacks had 11 hits, with Vinson going 3 for 5, Anderson and Dominic Ficociello both going 2 for 4 and Joe Serrano 2 for 5.
“I do feel like we’re swinging the bats a lot better, we just didn’t get the big hit today,” Van Horn said. “We actually got the big hit, but it found a foot instead of right field.
“That’s the way the game works sometimes. You just try to keep it under control.”
Van Horn was amused that Vinson and Astin talked about winning on a wild pitch being anti-climatic.
“The kids can say what they want, we were ecstatic as coaches because we didn’t have to use any more pitching,” Van Horn said. “It was good to get that game over with.”
At a glance At Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Ala.
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Arkansas 2, Ole Miss 1, (10) LSU 3, Alabama 0 Texas A&M 5, Vanderbilt 0 Mississippi St. 5, S. Carolina 3
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Alabama vs. Ole Miss, 9:30 a.m.
Vanderbilt vs. South Carolina, TBD
Arkansas vs. LSU, 4:30 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State, TBD
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/23/2013