Aggies strike first, lightning follows

Dominic Taccolini of Arkansas delivers a pitch against Loyola Marymount during the first inning Saturday, March 7, 2015, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
Dominic Taccolini of Arkansas delivers a pitch against Loyola Marymount during the first inning Saturday, March 7, 2015, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Arkansas baseball team's midseason surge came to a soggy stop Saturday against top-ranked Texas A&M.

Forced into a day-night doubleheader because of a rainout Friday night, the Aggies thumped Arkansas 13-6 on Saturday afternoon at Olsen Field. In the nightcap, A&M built an 8-3 lead through six innings before the game was postponed because of rain and lightning.

The second game will be resumed at 12:05 p.m. today, and the series finale will be reduced to a seven-inning game starting at 3 p.m.

Arkansas (22-17, 7-9 SEC) arrived in College Station having won seven of its past eight games and three consecutive SEC series. A&M (35-3, 12-3) blunted momentum as the Aggies scored the first 11 runs of the opener.

Although the Razorbacks gave the home crowd a scare with six runs in the sixth, A&M's bullpen worked four scoreless innings to help the Aggies improve to 5-0 in SEC series openers and 9-0 in the first game of all weekend series.

"You talk about wins in the SEC, they are all a war and none of them are easy," Texas A&M Coach Rob Childress said. "It may look like it in the stands but I can assure you in the dugout, whether it's on the mound or offensively or defensively, none of them come easily."

Logan Taylor hit a three-run home run in the first inning of the opener and finished with five RBI to highlight a game that took 3 hours, 19 minutes to complete. Taylor doubled and scored in a two-run third and knocked in a run with a groundout in a six-run fifth inning, which finished with A&M up 11-0.

Arkansas made it interesting in the sixth, answering with six of its own thanks primarily to Michael Bernal's grand slam that chased starter Grayson Long (8-0).

Long had surrendered only one hit going into the sixth. Bernal's third home run of the season came with no outs in the inning, and Alex Gosser and Brett McAfee followed with singles off reliever Jason Freeman.

Left-hander Ty Schlottmann came in to get three consecutive outs, including SEC home run leader Andrew Benintendi, who struck out four times in five at-bats. Andrew Vinson finished off the Razorbacks, striking out six while not allowing a run or a hit over the final three innings.

The Razorbacks' Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters -- Benintendi, Tyler Spoon and Bobby Wernes -- were a combined 2 for 13, with Wernes' single the only ball that left the infield.

"Grayson was fantastic for five-plus innings," Childress said. "They made their run and they certainly got us back on heels, but we kept our composure. Schlottmann was fantastic and went through their big hitters in the lineup, and Vinson was fabulous the last nine outs of the game."

Arkansas starter Trey Killian (1-3) gave up 11 hits, five of which were doubles, both highs for the Razorbacks this season. The right-hander from Mountain Home had allowed 3 earned runs or less in 4 of his 6 starts going into Saturday, but he gave up 11 runs to the Aggies -- all of them earned -- while striking out 3 and walking 2.

The Razorbacks took a quick lead in the second game with a run in the first inning, but they didn't hold it long and wasted a good chance to get it back. Benintendi singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Spoon's infield single to make it 1-0.

A&M pushed ahead in the second on a two-run single with two outs by No. 9 hitter Michael Barash. Arkansas loaded the bases with one out in the third, but right-hander Ryan Hendrix, making his first start of the season, struck out the next batter and got a grounder to end the threat.

The Aggies made it 4-1 with two runs in the third, highlighted by Taylor's second home run of the day and his 10th of the season.

Arkansas chipped away with single runs in the fourth and fifth, when Chad Spanberger's RBI double made it 4-3 and chased Hendrix. Reliever Kyle Simonds took over and retired the next two batters to hold the lead.

Arkansas starting pitcher Dominic Taccolini lasted until the sixth inning, leaving with one out and two on. The Razorbacks opted for closer Zach Jackson at that early point but didn't get enough relief from its sophomore saves leader.

Jackson issued a walk to Barash and then struck out Blake Allemand, but with two outs Nick Banks launched a 2-0 pitch over the fence for a grand slam and an 8-3 lead.

Before the seventh started, coaches and umpires met and the game was delayed because of threatening weather. A&M's players had to race out of the dugout to help the field crew get the tarp down after high winds threatened to blow the cover into right field. Fans were instructed to leave the stands and seek shelter in their vehicles.

The decision to suspend the game was made at 11:15 p.m. after a delay of 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Sports on 04/19/2015

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