Dogs rally from nine runs down to beat Arkansas

FAYTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - Georgia erased a nine-run deficit to storm past Arkansas 15-11 Saturday to gain a split in the series in front of a Baum Stadium crowd of 6,796.

The Bulldogs (7-7, 1-1 SEC) trailed 10-1 after five innings and then juniors Bryce Massanari (4-for-4, 2 home runs, 4 RBI) and Gordon Beckham (4-for-6, 3 RBI) led an offensive explosion over the final four frames to hand the Razorbacks their first loss at home this year. It marked the second time in the David Perno era that Georgia has rallied back from a nine-run margin. At the 2006 SEC Tournament in Birmingham Ala., Georgia trailed South Carolina 9-0 after the second inning and went on to win 16-10.

"I have never been prouder of a team than this one today," said Perno as the Bulldogs pounded out 15 runs on 19 hits on the day. "We've had some tough ones this year, but I credit everyone in our dugout for sticking together and believing we could come back and we did. They key was stopping Arkansas because they were scoring in every inning early on and then Nick Montgomery, Justin Earls and Joshua Fields came on and slowed them down and put up some zeros."

Arkansas (12-4, 1-1 SEC) jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the first off Bulldog starter Stephen Dodson. Chase Leavitt led off with a base hit and scored on a double by Brett Eibner. Logan Forsythe (4-for-5, 2 RBI) reached on a bunt single and then first baseman Andy Wilkins (2-for-4, 3 RBI) made it 4-0 with his sixth home run of the season.

In the third, Arkansas looked to build on its lead as Forsythe singled and Wilkins doubled to start the frame. However, Dodson retired the next three Razorbacks, allowing just a sacrifice fly to Aaron Murphee to minimize the damage as the deficit climbed to just 5-0. The Razorbacks took advantage of a throwing error by Massanari in the fourth to score a run and later Forsythe smashed a two-run home run to make it 8-0. Dodson was lifted in favor of Montgomery.

Georgia got on the board when senior Ryan Peisel (3-for-6, 2 RBI) led off the fifth with a home run, his fourth off the year. However in the bottom of the frame, Murphee connected for his 13th home run, a two-run blast to put Arkansas up 10-1.

The Bulldogs took advantage off a two-out error by Forsythe to score four runs in the sixth inning to close the gap to 10-5. Massanari and Beckham had run-scoring doubles while Michael Demperio extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a run-scoring single to key the rally off Arkansas reliever Dallas Keuchel. The Arkansas left-hander was chased in the seventh when the Bulldogs continued to rally back. Massanari drilled a two-run home run to dead center to make it 10-7. After a walk to designated hitter Joshua Fields, Arkansas looked to senior closer Travis Hill. He was greeted by run-scoring doubles by Adam Fuller and Peisel to bring the Bulldogs to within one at 10-9.

After Demperio reached on a walk, Beckham tied the game with an RBI-single to right field that Leavitt misplayed and allowed Demperio to score. Sophomore Rich Poythress's run-scoring single capped the scoring and Georgia was now in front 12-10. The teams exchanged runs in the eight as Massanari launched his second home run of the day, this time off Justin Wells. In the ninth, Georgia pushed across two more insurance runs on three hits and a Razorback error.

Montgomery (1-0) picked up the win while Hill got the loss to fall to 1-1, allowing four runs on four hits in 0.2 innings. Fields notched his third save, recording the final four outs including striking out the side in the ninth.

The rubber game of the series begins at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday. Georgia will start junior left-hander Nathan Moreau (0-0, 2.20 ERA) while the Razorbacks counter with 6-7, 240-pound freshman right-hander James Mahler.