Arkansas starter Hunter Hollan pitched a complete game five-hitter as the third-ranked Razorbacks defeated sixth ranked USC 5-1 Sunday in Fayetteville to win the SEC series two games to one. Hollan struck out ten and walked one in running his record to 7-2. Eighty of his 113 pitches went for strikes.
Hollan allowed four hits combined in the second and third innings and just one more the rest of the game.
The Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a Will Tippett home run. The Razorbacks responded against USC starter Matthew Becker in the bottom of the inning to tie the game with a leadoff single and one-out double. They took the lead with a two-run single in the fifth and tacked on insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings.
Becker (4-2) pitched 5.2 innings and allowed four runs on six hits while striking out seven. He did not walk a batter. James Hicks finished the game and gave up the final run on four hits.
The loss drops the Gamecocks to 37-14 overall and 15-11 in the SEC. They are in third place in the SEC East and have the fifth best overall league record with a three-game series left at home against Tennessee starting Thursday. The top four teams avoid the play-in day of the SEC Tournament.
Since sweeping Florida in late April, the Gamecocks have lost three straight SEC series. They are 2-7 in their last nine SEC games.
