Ole Miss scored five runs in the eighth inning to pull away from Arkansas on Saturday night at Swayze Field.
The No. 3 Rebels defeated the No. 2 Razorbacks 13-6 to split a doubleheader. The teams are scheduled to play a Game 3 rubber match Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The winner of the series will not only take the SEC West lead, but likely the No. 1 national ranking after top-ranked Vanderbilt lost a series to Georgia on Saturday.
Ole Miss (24-7, 8-3 SEC) recorded 18 hits in the second game and never trailed. Hayden Dunhurst and TJ McCants had RBI singles in the first inning, and Hayden Leatherwood hit a three-run home run in the third to give the Rebels a 5-0 lead.
Arkansas starter Peyton Pallette (1-2) allowed 7 runs on 9 hits and struck out 5 batters in 4 innings. Pallette also walked a batter and hit two batters.
The Razorbacks pulled within 5-2 on RBI hits by Dylan Leach and Casey Opitz in the top of the fourth inning, but the Rebels scored two more against Pallette in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 7-2.
Arkansas (25-5, 8-3) chipped away for a while and pulled within two runs on a couple of occasions. Christian Franklin’s leadoff home run in the seventh inning cut Ole Miss’ lead to 7-5, and Cayden Wallace’s two-out RBI double in the eighth made the score 8-6.
But the Razorbacks missed on several opportunities to make the game tighter. Arkansas stranded two runners apiece in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, and left the bases loaded when Jalen Battles flied out to center field to end the seventh.
The Razorbacks stranded 12 runners in the second game and stranded 22 for the day. The Rebels stranded seven in the second game after leaving 13 runners on base in the opener.
In the second game, Ole Miss was 14 for 28 with runners on base and 10 for 19 with runners in scoring position.
Ole Miss’ big bottom of the eighth began with an error by Arkansas second baseman Robert Moore. The Rebels followed with four consecutive hits against Razorbacks relief pitcher Kole Ramage, including an RBI single by Kevin Graham, an RBI triple by Dunhurst and an RBI single by Justin Bench.
Ole Miss starter Doug Nikhazy (3-1) earned the win by throwing 5 2/3 innings. Nikhazy, who threw 104 pitches, allowed 2 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 7. Arkansas also scored two unearned runs against Nikhazy in the fourth inning.
Taylor Broadway pitched 2 2/3 innings to earn his eighth save for Ole Miss.
An announced crowd of 11,857 watched the game. It was the fourth-largest crowd ever recorded at Swayze Field. The teams played in front of the stadium’s sixth-largest crowd earlier in the day.
GAME 1
Arkansas scored all of its runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and rallied to defeat Ole Miss 7-3 in the first game of the doubleheader.
The Razorbacks scored three runs in the sixth inning to tie the game 3-3. Matt Goodheart had the team's first hit of the game to lead off the inning. Christian Franklin and Zack Gregory added RBI hits, and Casey Opitz hit a sacrifice fly to end a nine-pitch at-bat.
Franklin drew a bases-loaded walk and Goodheart scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to give the Razorbacks a 5-3 lead. Cayden Wallace's double off the wall in right-center field plated two runs with two outs in the eighth and extended Arkansas’ lead to 7-3.
Arkansas’ Kevin Kopps pitched the final three innings to earn his fourth save. Kopps extended his scoreless innings streak to 19 2/3 innings.
Ole Miss loaded the bases with one out against Kopps in the eighth inning, but he struck out Peyton Chatagnier and Kevin Graham to strand the bases loaded. The Rebels left the bases loaded three times and stranded 13 runners overall.
Arkansas middle infielders Robert Moore and Jalen Battles teamed to turn two double plays behind Kopps in the seventh and ninth innings.
The Rebels failed to bring the tying run to the plate for a second time against Kopps in the seventh when TJ McCants was thrown out at second base by catcher Casey Opitz, who fielded an errant throw by Moore that bounced off the wall along the first-base line.
Ole Miss led 3-0 after three innings. Hayden Dunhurst’s two-run double with two outs gave the Rebels the lead in the first inning. Graham added an RBI single in the third.
All three runs came against Arkansas starter Patrick Wicklander, who lasted four innings. The left hander allowed six hits and struck out seven.
Wicklander, Zebulon Vermillion, Ryan Costeiu and Kopps combined to strike out 16 Rebels. Costeiu earned his fifth win by recording the final out of the sixth inning.
Ole Miss squandered a strong start from Gunnar Hoglund, who was taken out after he threw 109 pitches in 5 1/3 innings. Hoglund allowed 2 hits and struck out 8, but struggled with a tight strike zone and walked 5.
Ole Miss pitching walked 11. That offset the Rebels' 14-8 advantage in hits.
Arkansas won for the ninth time this season when trailing by three or more runs, including for the third time in its last three SEC games. The Razorbacks overcame deficits of four runs in the seventh inning and five runs in the sixth to beat Auburn twice last weekend.