Hogs sweep Cowboys, clinching last non-SEC series

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No. 2 Arkansas (12-2) swept Saturday’s doubleheader against McNeese (8-7), holding off the Cowboys, 3-1, in game one before earning an 11-1 run-rule win in the nightcap at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With the pair of wins, the Razorbacks clinched their 30th consecutive non-conference home weekend series. Arkansas has not lost or tied a non-conference regular season weekend series at Baum-Walker Stadium since dropping two-of-three games against South Alabama during the 2014 campaign.

The Hogs will go for their second consecutive weekend series sweep in tomorrow’s finale against the Cowboys. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, March 10, on SEC Network+ with left-hander Mason Molina set to take the mound.

Game 1: No. 2 Arkansas 3, McNeese 1

Arkansas ace Hagen Smith struck out nine on 64 pitches over four scoreless innings in the Razorbacks’ 3-1 series opening win. The junior left-hander, working on a pitch count, allowed just one hit while issuing three free passes in the outing.

Wehiwa Aloy’s RBI single in the third, and Hudson White’s RBI double in the fourth was all Smith needed. Win the win, he improved to 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA, 40 strikeouts and a .107 batting average against in 17.0 innings on the year.

Smith raised his career strikeout total to 239 with Saturday afternoon’s pitching performance to move past Razorback great Kevin Kopps (232) for sixth most all-time in program history.

In relief of Smith, veteran Will McEntire fired two innings of one-run ball with a pair of strikeouts. True freshman Gabe Gaeckle, meanwhile, tossed the final 2.2 innings to earn his third save of the season, striking out three along the way.

Ben McLaughlin (2-for-4, 2B) and White (2-for-4, 2B) finished with multi-hit games to lead the Hogs’ offense. Peyton Stovall, making his season debut after breaking his foot in the preseason, went 1-for-4 in his return to the lineup.

Game 2: No. 2 Arkansas 11, McNeese 1 (8)

A one-run contest through four innings of play, Arkansas broke out for four runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and five more in the eighth to cruise to an 11-1 run-rule win against McNeese in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

The Hogs mashed four home runs in the nightcap, including Kendall Diggs’ game-winning solo shot in the bottom of the eighth. Jayson Jones (1-for-4, 1 RBI), Wehiwa Aloy (2-for-3, 4 RBI) and Stovall (2-for-4, 3 RBI) also went yard in game two.

Peyton Holt (2-for-3) and true freshman Nolan Souza (3-for-4), meanwhile, turned in multi-hit games in the Razorbacks’ lopsided series-clinching win. Through his first eight collegiate games, Souza, the Honolulu, Hawai’i, native, is slashing .400/.538/.600 (8-for-20) with four runs scored, two doubles, one home run, five RBI and two stolen bases.

On the mound, right-hander Brady Tygart was impressive yet again. The junior fired four scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, allowing just three hits while walking a pair of batters to lower his season ERA to a microscopic 0.90.

In relief, left-hander Parker Coil struck out three over 1.1 innings of one-run ball. Veteran righty Koty Frank punched out one and earned his third save of the season, retiring all eight batters he faced over the final 2.2 innings.