COLUMBIA, S.C. - On the second leg of their first SEC road swing, the Razorbacks lost a disappointing match to the 14th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in Sunday's matchup, 4-2. With the loss, the Hogs fall to 10-6 and 2-3 in SEC play and are currently in third place in the SEC West. The Razorbacks have now dropped two straight contests and look to get back on the winning track with a spring break road swing to Georgia, Tennessee, and Jacksonville. The Gamecocks improved to 10-1 on the year and 3-1 in league play.
In doubles play, the Hogs' troubles continued as South Carolina quickly won the doubles point. At No. 1 doubles, Marcus Westman and Tom Eklund upended the Razorback dup of Aleksey Bubis and Matt Roberts, 8-4. Number two doubles saw Seth Rose and Carl Wermee clinch the doubles point with an 8-3 win over Eduardo Pacheco and Adrians Zguns. The Gamecocks were leading the No. 3 match when it was suspended as Angelo Niculescu and Geraldo Knorr led Rohan Gajjar and Talley Parker, 7-6.
Singles play wasn't as favorable for the Hogs either as the Razorbacks were down 3-0 in quick fashion. At two, Niculescu ended Pacheco's day, 6-2, 6-2 to give USC a 2-0 lead. Not long after, Ben Atkinson defeated Hunter Benson on six, 6-3, 6-4. With their backs to the wall, the Hogs responded as the next two matches off the court would be Razorback victories.
Gajjar defeated Eklund on four, 6-3, 7-6 to put Arkansas on the board. On court three, Zguns would become Arkansas first 20-match winner of the year, knocking off Westman, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, to pull the Hogs within one at 3-2.
The clincher would come on court five as Wermee defeated Roberts, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, to give the Gamecocks the 4-2 win. A bright spot for the Hogs found Aleksey Bubis leading Seth Rose 7-6, 1-6, 5-4 when the match was suspended.
The Hogs' will next face the University of Georgia when they travel to Athens on March 14.
