NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For the first time in more than 30 years, the Razorbacks have swept the Commodores in Nashville.
Second-ranked Arkansas (26-3, 8-1 SEC) scored five runs, including solo blasts from Charles Davalan and Logan Maxwell, in the eighth to pull away from No. 14 Vanderbilt (20-8, 4-5 SEC) and leave town with a 7-3 win Sunday afternoon.
It was the Hogs’ first sweep of the Commodores since 2005 as well as its first sweep in Nashville since 1994.
With Sunday’s series-sweeping win, Arkansas, now 8-1 in league action, will start 8-4 or better in SEC play for the eighth consecutive season (2017-25, excluding the 2020 campaign). The Hogs’ streak marks the best stretch of starting 8-4 or better in SEC play by a team in the league since LSU accomplished the feat in eight consecutive seasons from 1991-98.
Davalan’s two-homer, three-RBI performance powered the Razorback offense, while Landon Beidelschies (5.0 IP, 3 R, 4 SO) and Ben Bybee (4.0 IP, 0 R, 7 SO) combined for 11 strikeouts over nine innings of three-run ball on the mound to carry Arkansas to its series-sweeping win Sunday afternoon.
Brent Iredale (2-for-4) and Nolan Souza (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) also turned in big days at the plate, helping set the stage for the Hogs’ five-run rally in the eighth to win the game.
Arkansas took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Davalan’s first of two home runs.
The Razorback outfielder’s two-run shot to left field was the only damage Vanderbilt starter Connor Fennell would allow, limiting the Hogs’ explosive offense to just two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out a career-high 10 in five innings of work on the mound.
The Commodores took their first and only lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth on a three-run homer to go ahead, 3-2.
Beidelschies worked five strong innings before turning the ball over to Bybee in the bottom of the sixth.
Arkansas and Vanderbilt exchanged zeroes until the eighth, when the Razorbacks broke through against Commodore reliever Alex Kranzler.
Davalan’s leadoff solo shot, his second of the day and ninth of the season, evened the game at three before Logan Maxwell stepped up and swatted the go-ahead homer, his eighth of the year, down the line in left.
The Hogs did not stop there, however, tacking on three more thanks to a run-scoring wild pitch and Souza’s two-out two-RBI double to cap their five-run rally in the eighth and open their 7-3 advantage. The four-run lead was more than enough for Bybee, who finished his outing with a career-high seven strikeouts and earned the win to improve to 3-0.
Up next, Arkansas heads to CHI St. Vincent Field at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, Ark., on Tuesday, April 1 for a midweek matchup against Grambling.
First pitch between the Hogs and Tigers is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
