Hogs beat Vols to split series

Arkansas pitcher Keaton McKinney pumps his fist in victory after the Razorbacks' 7-3 win over Kentucky on Sunday April 12, 2015.
Arkansas pitcher Keaton McKinney pumps his fist in victory after the Razorbacks' 7-3 win over Kentucky on Sunday April 12, 2015.

— Arkansas salvaged a rain-soaked weekend Sunday.

The No. 20 Razorbacks beat Tennessee 5-2 in seven innings at Baum Stadium to split a two-game weekend series. Arkansas was attempting to win its seventh consecutive SEC series, which would have been a program record.

Game Sketch

Line Score: Arkansas 5-9-1; Tennessee 2-3-0

Records: Arkansas 30-19, 15-11 SEC; Tennessee 20-25, 8-18 SEC

WP: Keaton McKinney (5-1)

LP: Hunter Martin (1-3)

Save: Dominic Taccolini (1)

Turning Point: Dominic Taccolini worked around two runners in scoring position in the top of the fifth inning to maintain a 3-2 Arkansas lead.

Notable: Sunday's game was seven innings in compliance with SEC rules.

The teams were unable to play a scheduled doubleheader Sunday because of a three-and-a-half hour rain delay. Saturday's game was rained out and the Volunteers won 5-4 Friday night.

Arkansas scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead for good Sunday. Clark Eagan and Andrew Benintendi both had RBI hits in the inning to break a 1-1 tie.

Benintendi had three hits to raise his season batting average to .405. The center fielder has hits in nine of his last 11 at-bats and was 6-for-7 in the series against the Volunteers.

Tennessee pulled within 3-2 on Parker Wormsley's RBI in the top of the fifth inning. The Volunteers had runners on second and third base, but Arkansas reliever Dominic Taccolini got leadoff hitter Nick Senzel to ground out to end the inning.

Arkansas put the game away by scoring a run in the fifth and sixth innings. Brett McAfee's RBI single scored Benintendi, who had a double in the fifth inning, and Rick Nomura hit a leadoff home run in the sixth.

Keaton McKinney earned the win on the mound for Arkansas. McKinney, the reigning SEC pitcher of the week, allowed two runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings, and struck out two batters.

The Razorbacks have won six of the last seven times McKinney has started a game.

Arkansas will play at Creighton on Tuesday before finishing the regular season with a three-game series at Georgia beginning Thursday.

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