HOOVER, Ala. -- There wasn't room for Arkansas Razorbacks first baseman Chad Spanberger on the All-SEC teams this week.
There wasn't room for Spanberger inside the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Thursday night, either.
On a night when three Razorback pitchers combined for the first no-hitter in SEC Tournament history and Jax Biggers tied a school record with two triples, Spanberger was the standout.
Spanberger belted three home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in seven runs to power No. 13 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville to a 12-0 mercy-rule rout of No. 23 Auburn in an elimination game.
Spanberger became the first player to hit three home runs in the SEC Tournament and the first with seven RBI.
"We came out and wanted to jump on them early," said Spanberger, who has 17 home runs, including six in the past four games.
"We took charge early, and obviously it's because Chad hit a solo homer in the first and a two-run homer in the third and we were off and running, and then in the fourth with the grand slam," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We felt like we were in really good shape there."
Auburn Coach Butch Thompson said Spanberger's home runs came on a fastball, a change-up and a curve.
"It's not what you throw but where you throw it," Thompson said. "I think the first eight runs are all because of Spanberger. He gets all the credit. That's definitely a guy you classify as a don't-let-him-beat-you guy."
Auburn outfielder Daniel Robert said he'd never seen a home run show like Spanberger put on.
"That was impressive," Robert said.
Dominic Taccolini, Matt Cronin and Josh Alberius combined for a seven-inning no-hitter, the school's 13th and the first since 2006.
Cronin (3-0) pitched a season-high three innings to notch the victory.
"I think the pitchers were going out and competing, and we were around the zone for the most part, although we walked quite a few," Cronin said.
Van Horn said he first took note of the no-hitter in the fourth, then in the sixth inning, when the senior Alberius came in.
"We're thinking, hey, this would be kind of neat," Van Horn said.
Arkansas (40-16) advanced to tonight's late game to face the loser of Florida vs. Mississippi State in an elimination game.
Auburn (35-24), which won a home series against the Razorbacks earlier this year, went 1-2 in Hoover.
"That was about as complete a ballgame as I've seen against us in my time here," Thompson said. "The grand slam was the dagger. and I didn't see us respond after that."
Spanberger was left off the two All-SEC teams voted on by conference coaches behind league player of the year Brent Rooker of Mississippi State and LSU's Greg Deichmann.
"Yeah, they deserved it of course," Spanberger said. "But I mean, there's a personal little burn there, to come out and show you're just as good as them."
Spanberger homered in his first three plate appearances and came to bat in the fifth with runners on second and third and an opportunity to hit a home run "cycle" when Thompson called for an intentional walk to load the bases. The fans responded with loud booing. Luke Bonfield followed with a walk to force in a run for an 11-0 Arkansas lead.
In the seventh, Spanberger had another shot at the home run cycle, but he grounded into a fielder's choice with runners on first and second and nobody out.
Biggers became the first Razorback since Bobby Wernes to hit two triples in a game and Jake Arledge had a 3 for 4 night to help Spanberger pace Arkansas' 14-hit attack.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 3 (Game 1)
The SEC player of the year made sure Mississippi State wouldn't remember its early game at the SEC Tournament on Thursday as a parade of blown scoring chances.
Brent Rooker drove a 1-1 slider from Cannon Chadwick into the gap in left-center field for a game-tying double in the ninth inning, then scored the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk to propel Mississippi State past No. 13 Arkansas 4-3 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The Bulldogs (36-22) got their first victory against the Razorbacks (39-16) this season, improved to 2-4 against Arkansas at the SEC Tournament and advanced to a winner's bracket game at 11 a.m. today against Florida. The Razorbacks faced Auburn in an elimination game Thursday night.
Chadwick retired Rooker -- the SEC leader in batting average, home runs and RBI -- twice during the Razorbacks' three-game sweep earlier this season. But after Ryan Gridley led off the ninth Thursday against reliever Kevin Kopps with a single, Rooker didn't miss his pitch on the right-hander's third offering.
"He threw a slider down, and [Rooker] did a nice job staying on it and hit it in the alley," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said.
"We'd seen that guy in the series early in the season and the scouting report was just a slider/cutter guy, so ... I didn't think he wanted to throw me a fastball for a strike," Rooker said. "I was just going to sit on breaking balls the whole at-bat.
"The first one was for a ball, the second was a good pitch for a strike. The last one was left up a little bit, and I just put a good swing on it and hit it in the gap."
Left fielder Jake Arledge hit shortstop Jax Biggers with the relay, and Biggers' throw home beat Gridley, but catcher Grant Koch could not hang on to the short hop to make the tag.
Jake Mangum greeted Josh Alberius with a bunt single, then Alberius hit Hunter Stovall with a pitch to load the bases. Cody Brown drew a walk against Evan Lee to force in Rooker with the winning run.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville built a 3-0 lead through two innings for Trevor Stephan on Luke Bonfield's two-run home run and Jack Kenley's RBI double, but the Hogs missed out on other scoring chances.
"The game got away from us early when we left so many runners out there," Van Horn said. "We had a leadoff double and didn't score. We had runners at first and second, nobody out, and we didn't score."
The Razorbacks left two runners on base in the third and fifth innings and did not score after Eric Cole's leadoff double in the seventh.
The Bulldogs outhit the Hogs 12-5, left 12 runners on and hit into three double plays before their consistent pressure paid off.
SOUTH CAROLINA 10,
MISSOURI 2
South Carolina freshman Carlos Cortes hit three-run home runs in consecutive innings Thursday to lead the Gamecocks past Missouri, which was eliminated from the tournament.
Cortes’ six RBI tied the single-game record for the SEC Tournament, but Arkansas’ Chad Spanberger collected seven against Auburn in the tournament’s following game. Cortes has 12 home runs this season, with 10 coming against SEC teams.
“These guys just don’t want to quit,” Cortes said. “They don’t want to die. There are some seniors that might not get a chance to play baseball ever again and I know they want it bad. We all want it bad. That’s the mentality.”
Cortes’ first home run came in the top of the fifth, scoring Danny Blair and Justin Row, who had both reached base on singles. Missouri Coach Steve Bieser called reliever Bryce Montes De Oca from the bullpen, and he closed out the inning.
Montes De Oca allowed 3 singles, Cortes’ second home run and 4 RBI to the first 5 batters he faced in the sixth, extending South Carolina’s lead to 10-1. Wil Crowe (6-5) got the victory for South Carolina after allowing 1 run on 4 hits with 9 strikeouts over 6 innings. “It was good to get back out here and be able to pitch for the first time ever in the SEC Tournament,” Crowe said.
AT A GLANCE
All times Central TUESDAY’S GAMES
South Carolina 7, Vanderbilt 4 (11) Missouri 12, Texas A&M 7 Auburn 5, Mississippi 4
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Mississippi State 3, Georgia 0 Kentucky 7, South Carolina 2 LSU 10, Missouri 3 Florida 5, Auburn 4
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 3
South Carolina 10, Missouri 2
Missouri eliminated
Arkansas 12, Auburn 0 (7)
Auburn eliminated
LSU 10, Kentucky 0 (7)
TODAY’S GAMES
Florida vs. Mississippi State, 11 a.m. South Carolina vs. Kentucky, 3 p.m.
Arkansas vs. Florida/Mississippi State loser, 6:30 p.m.
Sports on 05/26/2017