Razorbacks clinch series Saturday, doing for sweep over Tennessee

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.  — No. 5 Arkansas (28-7, 10-4 SEC) continued its dominance of No. 16 Tennessee (23-12, 5-9 SEC), clinching another series win against the Volunteers with a 6-3 win on Saturday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Razorbacks, who have not dropped a regular-season weekend series against the Volunteers since 2005, have not lost a series to Tennessee in Fayetteville since 1996.

Under coach Dave Van Horn, Arkansas is now 29-14 overall against the Volunteers, including a commanding 14-5 record at home. Now they go for a sweep.

“We need to do everything we can to try to win that thing,” Van Horn said after the win. “We’ll just have to figure it out.”

Arkansas starter Will McEntire went toe-to-toe with Tennessee ace Chase Dollander and came out victorious. The Hogs’ veteran right-hander notched his third quality start of the season, twirling six innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts.

McEntire, who improved to 5-1 on the year with the win, allowed a leadoff home run to begin the ballgame but settled down after that, enabling the Razorback offense to quickly strike back.

“The conversations in the dugout were ‘Is he going to be able to start hitting some spots?’ Because if not, they’re going to score,” Van Horn said. “One of those guys got on on a walk. You know, if they hit you, they hit you. They’ve got guys that can hit. The wind’s blowing out and it should’ve been a hitters’ day, a hitters’ night.

“Then he just kind of flipped it.”

Tavian Josenberger’s 11-pitch walk to lead off the bottom of the first inning set the table for Jace Bohrofen’s fourth home run in as many games.

The Arkansas captain turned on a 3-1 pitch and jacked a two-run shot to right center to put Arkansas ahead, 2-1. His no-doubter extended the Razorbacks’ nation-leading home run streak to 31 consecutive games.

Bohrofen finished the game 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, raising his team-leading season slash line to .413/.541/.771 on the year. The Oklahoma City, Okla., native has swatted 10 homers and driven in 32 runs this season.

The Hogs’ maintained their one-run lead until the fifth when Ben McLaughlin singled home Caleb Cali from second. Tennessee clawed back with a solo homer in the top half of the sixth, but Arkansas dropped the hammer in the seventh.

A three-run inning put the Razorbacks firmly in control of the game. John Bolton, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, came around to score on an error on an attempted pickoff at third before Kendall Diggs’ RBI single brought home Peyton Stovall, extending Arkansas’ advantage to 5-2.

Cali’s two-out RBI single through the right side later in the inning helped the Razorbacks tack on one more, providing Arkansas closer Gage Wood with a four-run cushion.

Wood, who entered in relief of McEntire to start the seventh, locked down the final three innings of Saturday night’s 6-3 win. The true freshman allowed one run and struck out a career-high six to secure his team-leading third save.

Arkansas looks to complete its second sweep against Tennessee in Fayetteville in as many tries in tomorrow’s series finale at Baum-Walker Stadium.

First pitch in game three between the Razorbacks, who swept the last weekend series in Fayetteville in 2019, and Volunteers is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday on SEC Network+.