The Traveler

Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Chris Bryan The Razorback baseball team got drenched in Nashville, losing two games to Vanderbilt. The third game was canceled and will not be made up.

The Arkansas baseball team dropped two games to No. 9 Vanderbilt over the weekend in a rain-shortened series, the first series the Commodores have ever taken from the Razorbacks in the regular season.

After Friday's contest was rained out, the two Southeastern Conference rivals took the field for the first time Saturday at 3:05 p.m. and didn't finish the first game until Sunday afternoon.

Arkansas (15-11, 2-6 SEC) led 5-2 in the fifth inning when play was stopped for a five-hour rain delay. The game resumed at 9:45 p.m. Vanderbilt (18-6, 5-3) tied the score in the seventh inning, and the two teams battled through extra innings past midnight before a curfew was enforced.

Game one was postponed until Sunday at noon, when the Hogs were held scoreless in the top of the 12th inning. The Commodores scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th on an RBI double off the left field wall from Vanderbilt's Brian Harris.

Vanderbilt managed to weather the storm and come on strong after every break in the game.

The Razorbacks scored all five of their runs in the fourth inning. The rain delay came in the middle of the fifth inning, just a half inning before the game could have officially ended, with the Hogs on top.

The Commodores struck again after the game resumed Saturday night, and again at the beginning of the Sunday restart, winning the game 6-5.

Vanderbilt second baseman Alex Feinberg led the way for the Commodores, going 5-for-6 with 3 RBIs. The Vandy bullpen also pitched seven innings of scoreless relief, with 11 strikeouts against just four hits.

The Hogs also made three costly errors in the rain, resulting in two unearned runs for relief pitcher Justin Wells, who gave up three runs, one earned, in six innings.

Arkansas had a chance to take the lead in the 12th inning with runners on the corners and no outs, but Vanderbilt struck out two Razorbacks and forced a ground ball to end the inning.

The officials scheduled a seven-inning contest to begin shortly after the conclusion of the rain-suspended game. Game three of the series will not be made up.

Continued...

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