Arkansas clinched a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against South Carolina on March 21, securing its second Southeastern Conference weekend series of the season at Founders Park in Columbia.
The result is significant for Arkansas, as it marks their sixth consecutive regular season series win over South Carolina and keeps them near the top of the conference standings. The Razorbacks have not lost a series played in Columbia since 2016.
The game was closely contested, beginning as a pitchers’ duel between Arkansas starter Hunter Dietz and South Carolina’s Amp Phillips. Dietz threw 6.2 innings with two runs allowed and matched his career high with 12 strikeouts, while Phillips went seven innings and gave up just one run. Arkansas took an early lead on Damian Ruiz’s solo home run in the third inning—his third homer in four games—but South Carolina tied it in the fifth before taking a one-run lead in the seventh.
Cole Gibler pitched effectively out of relief for Arkansas, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts to keep his team within reach. In the ninth inning, Ryder Helfrick drew his third walk of the game and scored on a two-out throwing error to tie things up. In extra innings, TJ Pompey led off with a double and Nolan Souza singled before Camden Kozeal drove in what proved to be the winning run with an RBI groundout.
With this win, Arkansas improved to 4-1 in SEC play and will attempt to sweep South Carolina in Sunday’s finale scheduled for March 22 at 12:30 p.m., which will be broadcast on SEC Network+. Colin Fisher is set to start for Arkansas against Brandon Stone for South Carolina.
