COLUMBIA, S.C. - Tripp Kelly hit his third home run in as many games and Tim Whittaker homered for the second day in a row as No. 5 South Carolina completed a sweep of a three-game Southeastern Conference series with Arkansas with a 9-3 win Sunday at Sarge Frye Field.
Ranked fifth by Baseball Weekly and Collegiate Baseball, the Gamecocks (16-2, 3-0 SEC) earned their second three-game sweep of the Razorbacks (10-9, 0-3 SEC) all-time and first since 1993. UA lost for the fifth time in its last six games and seventh time in last nine contests.
Chris Spigner (4-0) scattered yielded one run on seven hits, walked three and struck out four to earn the victory. UA starter Scott Roehl (1-1) gave up seven runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out four in his first collegiate defeat.
Whittaker and Kelly hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the third as the Gamecocks expanded a 1-0 lead to 4-0. Whittaker's home run was his seventh of the season; Kelly's was his fourth.
UA got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth when Michael Conner led off with a single, stole second base and scored on Andrew Wishy's double. In the bottom of the inning, USC turned a leadoff error into three unearned runs and a 6-1 advantange.
The Razorbacks plated single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to cut the lead to 7-3, but Marcus McBeth put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run homer off UA reliever Jon Murphy for the final 9-3 margin. McBeth's home run was his eighth of the year.
Arkansas will travel to Wichita, Kan., Tuesday to face Wichita State at 5 p.m. CT. The Razorbacks return to Baum Stadium at George Cole Field this weekend to host Georgia in a three-game SEC series beginning with Friday's 4 p.m. CT contest.
