FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas got a boost from an unexpected source Saturday afternoon.
In the bottom of the seventh, Alabama coach Brad Bohannon pitched a little fit with home plate umpire Mark Winters and got thrown out of the game, then mocked the Hog Call on his way back to the dugout still jumping up and down.
Not to be completely out-done, Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn had a few choice words for Winters, too, but didn’t get thrown out, although he would also get in a few shots. It wasn’t his only chance, but that came a little later with Van Horn.
The Hogs got a three-run homer from Caleb Cali in the eighth inning to break up all the nonsense going back and forth all afternoon for a three-run inning after Jace Bohrofen’s solo shot to take a 9-6 win and even the seekend series at a sun-splashed Baumer-Walker.
After Cali’s homer, something was said by Winters behind the plate and Van Horn came out of the dugout yelling, but didn’t manage to get himself thrown out.
Alabama knocked Hogs’ starter Will McEntire around for 3.1 innings for seven hits and four earned runs for a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Dylan Carter finall got them out of the inning and lasted 2.1 innings before yielding to Cody Adcock , who got one out before Van Horn brought in Hagen Smith.
Smith, who usually comes in behind Hunter Hollan on opening night, didn’t see the field in that ugly 12-1 loss Friday night, and gave up five hits over the last three innings, but just 2 runs and walked a guy.
You got the feeling when Smith came in it was his game to figure out the rest of the way in the seventh inning.
The Hogs’ leadoff hitter, Tavian Josenberger, had another solid day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of hits and RBI. He also had a chance to score a third run but was thrown out at home on a headfirst slide.
“I closed my eyes and when I opened them I saw I never got to the plate,” Josenberger said of his seventh-inning attempt.
Van Horn got a review on that play on Josenberger possibly being blocked at the plate on the slide, but it didn’t work out.
“I don’t know if they couldn’t see enough or what,” Van Horn said later.
The Hogs also got a three-run homer in the fourth inning to break open what was a 4-0 lead by the Crimson Tide and some life. It was looking grim for the more than 10,000 folks that showed up Saturday afternoon.
Now it’s a crucial Sunday game for the series. The Hogs are 5-3 in the SEC (22-5 overall) while the Crimson Tide fell to 3-5 in conference play (21-5 overall).
That final game will be at 2 p.m. Sunday on the SEC Network and ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
