FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Luke Weatherford scored on a throwing error by Wally Pontiff in the bottom of the ninth as Arkansas upended top-ranked LSU for the second consecutive game, 5-4, Saturday night at Baum Stadium.
LSU (36-15-1, 17-9) dropped into a first-place tie in the overall SEC race with Georgia (35-15, 17-9), which defeated Vanderbilt 6-5 in 13 innings on Saturday. The Bulldogs own the tiebreaker for seeding in the SEC Tournament, as they defeated LSU two of three in March at Athens.
LSU (#1 Baseball Weekly, #2 Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball) still owns a one-game lead over Ole Miss (35-16-1, 16-10) in the SEC West, as the Rebels lost 7-1 at Tennessee today and are in danger of being swept in Knoxville.
The Tigers head into Sunday’s 1:07 p.m. game facing a sweep of their own, and if the Razorbacks (26-26, 10-16) are successful, it will mark the first time LSU has been swept in a three-game series since March 22-24, 1996, against Florida in Gainesville. Sunday’s game will be televised throughout Louisiana on the Guaranty Sports Network and can be seen in Baton Rouge on WGMB-Fox 44 (cable channel 6).
LSU has faced a sweep twice since that game, and won the series finale, defeating Alabama in 1997 and Georgia last year. Regardless of the outcome, Arkansas has already won just its second series in 10 tries against LSU since joining the SEC in 1992, with the other series win coming in 1999 at Fayetteville.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Weatherford singled, driving LSU reliever Roy Corcoran from the game and bringing in Brian Wilson.
Weatherford stole second, then Brian Kirby fought off a 1-2 count to draw a walk.
Michael Conner then hit a slow roller towards Ryan Theriot at short, and Theriot did not attempt a throw to first. Weatherford had rounded third too hard, and he appeared to be hung up between third and home. But Pontiff’s throw to Matt? Heath was in the dirt, and Weatherford slid home safely.
The Tigers entered the ninth trailing 4-2, but Todd Linden led off the inning with a single, then after pinch-hitter Heath flied out to left, Linden stole second and went to third on an infield hit by Johnnie Thibodeaux.
Josh Rankin relieved Gary Hogan Jr. on the mound for the Razorbacks, and with Ray Wright at the plate, Thibodeaux went to second on Brian Kirby’s passed ball. Wright walked to load the bases, and Rankin uncorked a wild pitch to score Linden and cut the margin to 4-3.
David Raymer’s sacrifice fly to deep right-center scored Thibodeaux with the tying run.
The Tigers appeared on their way to victory in the first, as they picked up a two-out run when Mike Fontenot was hit by a pitch, went to second on a single by Bryan Moore, then scored again on Linden’s base hit.
LSU starting pitcher Jason Scobie retired the Razorbacks in order in the first, but ran into trouble in the second, as he walked Michael Conner to lead off the inning then gave up a two-run homer to Andrew Wishy, who lined a shot off of the right-field foul pole.
The Tigers would not get a runner past first base again until the fifth inning, when Thibodeaux drew a leadoff walk, stole second and came home on a two-out double by Ryan Theriot to tie the game.
But the tie didn’t hold. Cody Clark and Jeff Hoefler led off with singles, and although Brett Hagedorn grounded into a double play, the Razorbacks still scored, as Brian Kirby was hit by a pitch and Conner’s infield single scored Clark with the go-ahead run. Hoefler’s RBI single in the sixth extended the Razorback lead to 4-2.
Arkansas starter Hogan pitched 8 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits, but got no decision. Lane Berry, the Razorbacks’ fourth pitcher of the night, earned his first win of the year.