College World Series : Texas Rallies to Beat Arkansas in 10th, 8-7

Doug Hodo drilled a single in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday night, and Texas rallied from a seven-run deficit to eliminate Arkansas in the College World Series with an 8-7 victory over the Razorbacks.

In Saturday’s first game, Greg Ellena’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth gave Miami a 6-5 victory over Mississippi State and eliminated the Bulldogs.

No. 3 Texas, 64-12 for the season and 4-0 in the double elimination tournament, played No. 6 Miami (62-16 and 3-1) Sunday night. A victory over the Hurricanes wold give Texas the championship. A win by Miami would set up a championship game tonight.

No. 5 Mississippi State went out at 50-15 and 2-2. No. 4 Arkansas finished 51-15 and 2-2.

In Saturday’s nightcap, Texas’ Bill Bates led off the bottom of the 10th with a triple to left center. The Razorbacks intentionally walked Dennis Cook and David Denny to load the bases, setting the stage for Hodo’s game-winning hit through a drawn-in infield.

Arkansas jumped to a 7-0 lead by scoring one run in the second, three in the third, two in the fifth and one in the sixth. The big blow was Mike Loggins’ two-run homer in the third.

Razorback starter Howard Hilton allowed three singles and no runs through five innings. The Longhorns got to Hilton for one run in the sixth and five in the seventh to make it 7-6.

In the bottom of the ninth, Texas tied the game when Denny led off with a walk and scored on Rusty Richards’ ground out.

Tim Deitz (5-2) took the loss for the Razorbacks. Cook, who relieved in the sixth, allowed only one run and two hits in four innings to improve his record to 5-1.

In the first game, Mississippi State held a 5-4 lead going into the ninth, but starter Jeff Brantley walked Jon Leake to open the inning. Bulldog Coach Ron Polk brought in right fielder Bobby Thigpen to pitch to Ellena, who belted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left-center.

Thigpen, who dropped to 1-4, had given the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead in the sixth when he belted a grand-slam home run off winner Rick Raether (6-2).

Miami had taken a 2-0 lead in the first inning on two Mississippi errors and a single by Chris Magno. The Hurricanes added a run in the fourth on Leake’s solo homer.

The Bulldogs added a single run for a 5-3 lead in the eighth when Gator Thiesen singled, stole second and scored on Rafael Polmeiro’s single.

The Hurricanes got a run back in the eighth when Chris Hart tripled and scored on a throwing error by Thiesen.