FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – TJ Pompey hit a solo walk off home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning and the Arkansas Razorbacks defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 5-4 in the first game of a Southeastern Conference series Friday night.
MSU relief pitcher Maddox Miller gave up the long ball to Pompey on a 3-2 count.
It was a tough position for the Bulldogs to be in, but head coach Brian O’Connor did not have a problem with having Miller on the mound in that situation.
“My heart breaks for Maddox Miller. He earned that opportunity to pitch in that inning. In a tie game, it’s tough to go to Ben Davis on the road when you are starring at a doubleheader and Maddox has done such a great job for us. He’ll pick himself back up and be ready to go (Satuday).”
After Arkansas took a 2-0 lead with run in the first inning and another in the third, MSU got an RBI single by Ace Reese and a sacrifice fly by Reed Stallman in the fifth to tie the game at 2-2.
The Razorbacks got a pair of runs with one each in the fifth and sixth innings to regain the lead at 4-2, then the Bulldogs tied the game again in the ninth when Drew Wyers was hit by a pitch and Tyler Woodson blasted a two-run home run.
Arkansas took advantage of its bat in the bottom of the ninth for the Pompey homer so the contest would not go into extra innings.
“Obviously, we wanted to find a way to win that ball game,” O’Connor said. “Trailing from behind pretty much the whole game, there were a number of guys that really stepped up, got some big clutch hits and some guys who got some big outs. It was certainly a tough loss. This is why playing on the road you need to be a little bit better and little bit tougher. You leave the game in the hands with the home team at the end and sometimes this could happen.”
MSU out-hit the Razorbacks 11-7. Aidan Teel and Bryce Chance had three hits for the Bulldogs, while Jacob Parker added two hits. Along with the home run by Woodson, Chance had a double for the only other extra base hit.
Ryan McPherson was the starting pitcher for MSU and went the first six innings. He gave up four runs with three earned with no walks and eight strikeouts. McPherson was followed to the mound by Jack Gleason, Dane Burns, Braden Booth and Miller.
The two teams will now play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. to wrap up the series.