FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Jace Bohrofen came through with the go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to lift No. 7 Arkansas (31-11, 12-7 SEC) past Texas A&M (25-17, 9-10 SEC), 7-5, on Thursday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.
That’s the simple lead. Maybe the biggest play, though, was a throw from left fielder Hunter Grimes to catcher Parker Rowland that got a run-saving double play with the scored tied, 5-5.
“The moment wasn’t too big for (Grimes) and he knew before the ball was pitched exactly what he was going to do with it,” Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said later. “The good defenders are thinking about it and they’re thinking, ‘If they hit it to me, this is what I’m going to do.’ And there it was. He came firing in, momentum, caught it, released it as quick as you can. I mean, that’s about as good as it gets. Throw was about as nice as it could be. You could go all year, and you won’t see a play like that.”
Bohrofen’s game-winning blast helped the Razorbacks snap their season-long four-game losing streak. The Hogs will look to clinch their fourth SEC home weekend series win of the season in tomorrow night’s game against the Aggies.
He’s on a roll right now, hitting his 11th homer of the year.
“He hits lefties just as good as he hits righties if you look at the numbers,” Van Horn said. “Super job hitting a breaking ball. Maybe he felt like he was going to get it, or he just saw it. He didn’t hit it on the sweet spot, but he hit it solid, and we knew it was gone when it left the bat.”
Arkansas was all over Texas A&M starter Troy Wansing, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning. John Bolton’s RBI single with the bases loaded set the table for Peyton Stovall’s two-out, two-strike grand slam later in the frame.
Staked with a five-run lead, Razorback starter Hunter Hollan battled for four innings. The left-hander was lifted after allowing four runs on six hits and two walks as the Aggies fought back to close their deficit to one in the fourth.
Texas A&M tied the game in the top half of the fifth on a sacrifice fly after back-to-back single to start the inning. Reliever Dylan Carter would escape without further damage, however, before handing the ball off to Hagen Smith.
Smith was superb in relief, emerging from the bullpen in the sixth and tossing four shutout innings. The Razorbacks’ wildcard struck out four while allowing just two hits and issuing two free passes during his lockdown appearance.
Left fielder Hunter Grimes gave Smith a lift with the defensive play of the game. Grimes recorded an outfield assist in the top of the eighth, catching a fly ball in left and firing home to beat the runner and turn a run-saving double play.
Smith’s work on the mound as well as Grimes’ defensive wizardry in left paved the way for Bohrofen’s heroics at the plate in the bottom of the eighth. After Caleb Cali’s leadoff walk, the Razorback captain hit an 0-1 pitch over the wall in right to put Arkansas up for good.
Smith sat down Texas A&M in order in the top of the ninth to preserve Arkansas’ 7-5 series-opening win. The sophomore earned the win to improve to 6-1 and lowered his season ERA to a team-best 2.64 over 47 2/3 innings.
Bohrofen finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, a home run and two RBI to raise his team-leading slash line to .372/.494/.693 on the season. He also drew a walk, recording one of the Razorbacks’ 14 base on balls in the win.
First pitch in the second game of the series between the Hogs and Aggies is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday on ESPNU with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Chris Burke (analyst) on the call from inside Baum-Walker Stadium.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
