FAYETTEVILLE - With a doubleheader on tap, Arkansas coaches were looking for as much as they could get from starter Randall Fant Saturday at Baum Stadium.
The sophomore left-hander delivered with one of the best performances of his career.
Fant pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, retiring 16 consecutive batters at one point, as the No. 18 Razorbacks beat Ole Miss 2-0 in seven innings to tie the three-game series at a game apiece.
“I had confidence in all three of my pitches today,” Fant said. “I executed some pitches and our defense also played very good behind me.
“After the first inning, my fastball settled down and I was hitting my spots real good and that was setting up my other pitches, and I was throwing them for strikes, too.”
Fant struggled early on, allowing a base-hit and walking a batter to begin the game. The Rebels had runners at first and third base with just one out in the first inning, but Dominic Ficociello started a 3-6-1 double play to get Fant out of the jam.
The Texarkana native settled down after that, retiring 16 straight batters before Ole Miss third baseman Alex Yarbrough led off the top of the seventh with a base-hit. Matt Snyder added another single with one out and Fant was pulled in favor of Trent Daniel.
Daniel allowed a base-hit to Matt Tracy, but Yarbrough was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Jarrod McKinney for the second out of the inning.
“I know McKinney has a great arm,” Fant said. “I thought we had a good shot of getting him out at home plate.”
Barrett Astin struck out Rebels first baseman Will Allen to groundout to end the contest.
Arkansas (35-18, 14-15 SEC) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when James McCann’s sacrifice fly plated Bo Bigham.
Collin Kuhn’s solo home run to leadoff the bottom of the sixth inning gave the Razorbacks an insurance run. It was Kuhn’s second home run of the series after accounting for Arkansas’ lone run in a 2-1 loss Thursday night.
Ole Miss (30-24, 13-16) had just four hits, three of which came in the final inning. David Goforth picked up the loss despite pitching a complete game for the Rebels.
The two teams will meet in the series finale at 2:45 p.m., with both looking to clinch a spot in next week’s SEC Tournament. With a win, Arkansas could claim at least a share of the SEC West championship.
You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.
