McCann’s Home Run Downs LSU

FAYETTEVILLE - In a classic pitcher’s dual, Arkansas blinked first Saturday night, but LSU blinked last.

James McCann’s three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the No. 22 Razorbacks a 4-3 win over the No. 15 Tigers in front of an all-time record crowd at Baum Stadium.

Arkansas trailed 3-0 heading to the bottom of the ninth inning. Collin Kuhn led off the frame being hit by a pitch and scored on Sam Bates’ RBI single. Dominic Ficociello reached later in the inning on a base-hit, setting the stage for McCann’s one-out heroics.

“That felt good,” said McCann, the junior catcher. “That was big-time, especially beating LSU, our rivals. We wanted to win so bad.”

McCann had fouled off a pair of pitches prior to his home run, including one that sailed just to the left of the foul pole in left field.

“I thought he had taken a couple of good swings,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “He hooked the first one and then he hooked another one. That home run, he stayed on it. When it first left the bat I didn’t know if it was going to hook enough because of the wind, but it stayed fair. He knew that it was gone right when he hit it. He put his head down and started jogging.

“He’ll never forget that. Very rarely do you get a chance to do that. It was a clutch at-bat.”

The Razorbacks (22-8, 5-6 SEC) won their first SEC series after beating the Tigers 2-0 Friday night. The series win marks the program’s first over LSU since 2004 and first over the Tigers at home in a decade.

“It was a good win,” Van Horn said. “You’ve got to have a couple of those during the season. I feel very fortunate to win.”

A stadium record of 11,103 fans and a national TV audience were treated to some magnificent pitching for the majority of the contest between Arkansas freshman right-hander Brandon Moore and LSU freshman right-hander Kevin Gausman.

LSU (21-10, 3-8) scored its first runs of the series in the top of the ninth on Mason Katz’ 2-run triple. Katz later scored on a sacrifice bunt to give the Tigers a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead.

But the Razorbacks were able to do something few teams have done and that was solve LSU reliever Kevin Berry. The right-hander, who entered the game with 0.59 earned run average, lost his first game of the season by giving up four runs on three hits in the final inning.

“He just couldn’t get his slider down,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “That’s been his pitch all year. He’s pitched almost perfect for us all year.  He just couldn’t get the slider down for some reason. He left it up and the kid hit it out.”

The ninth inning rally salvaged what had been a frustrating game at the plate for Arkansas. The Razorbacks had reached base repeatedly throughout the night, but were caught attempting to steal a base to end three separate innings and stranded an additional five base-runners.

“Going into the ninth we told them, ‘They had their big inning; when are we going to have ours?,’” Van Horn said. “Thank goodness it happened for us.”

Arkansas’ pitching staff continued its superb play as the Razorbacks won their fourth consecutive game. Brandon Moore allowed just two hits in five scoreless innings in his first start since March 19.

“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I battled through it,” Moore said. “I did the best I could to get us through five.

“I never thought I’d be throwing in front of the record crowd at Baum Stadium, but I’m glad I did. It was fun and a great experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Trent Daniel worked 3 1/3 innings in relief. Daniel retired his first seven batters but began to labor in the ninth, allowing back-to-back base-runners to begin the inning. Katz’ RBI hit came off Razorbacks freshman closer Nolan Sanburn, who picked up the win after earning a save Friday night.

Gausman, who was recruited highly by the Razorbacks out of Centennial High School in Grandview, Colo., pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits.

“I thought he pitched incredible,” Van Horn said. “We didn’t think he was going to school. Now he’s throwing eight innings of shutout ball against us. He did a great job.”

The two teams will meet for the series finale Sunday with a first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Sophomore left-hander Randall Fant will take the mound for the Razorbacks, while senior right-hander Ben Alsup will pitch for the Tigers.

You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.