ATHENS, Ga. – Powered by Ryder Helfrick’s two-homer game and Wehiwa Aloy’s two-out heroics, No. 1 Arkansas (32-5, 12-3 SEC) staged a dramatic ninth-inning comeback to force extras.
It wasn’t enough to escape Athens with its first series win since 2015, suffering a 7-6 loss in 12 innings against No. 7 Georgia (31-7, 10-5 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Foley Field.
Friday’s loss, which snapped the Razorbacks’ SEC series winning streak at four, handed Arkansas its first weekend series loss of the season.
The Hogs moved to 12-3 through 15 games of league play but matched their best 15-game SEC start for the fourth time in program history, having also accomplished the feat during the 1999, 2010 and 2024 seasons.
Arkansas trailed 5-3 in the top of the ninth inning before Helfrick’s leadoff shot, his second home run of the game, cut the deficit to one.
Georgia retired the next two batters to bring Aloy to the plate, and the Razorback shortstop delivered by cranking the game-tying solo blast to center and evening the ballgame at five apiece in dramatic fashion.
Charles Davalan’s RBI fielder’s choice in the 11th gave the Hogs their only lead of the afternoon, but the Bulldogs would not go away.
Down to their last out with a runner on first in the bottom half of the frame, an RBI double tied the game at six and ended the day for Razorback reliever Aiden Jimenez, who spun 2.2 innings of one-run ball with two strikeouts.
True freshman Cole Gibler took over on the mound with two outs and the winning run on second base, but he induced an inning-ending groundout to second to send the game to the 12th tied at 6-6.
After Arkansas went down in order in the top half of the frame, Georgia clinched the series on a walk-off solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the 12th.
Helfrick (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI) and Aloy (2-for-6, HR, RBI) each finished with multi-hit games to lead Razorbacks offensively in Sunday’s series finale in Athens.
Landon Beidelschies started on the mound and worked five innings of four-run ball with six strikeouts before turning the game over to the bullpen, which featured strong appearances from Carson Wiggins (2.0 IP, 1 R, 4 SO) and Dylan Carter (1.0 IP, 3 SO) in addition to Jimenez and Gibler’s work in relief.
Up next, Arkansas returns inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium for a six-game homestand beginning with a midweek matchup against UAPB on Tuesday.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
