Another Hogs’ comeback falls short, setting up big hill to climb to final

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A late rally, including Peyton Holt’s two-run homer in the top of the ninth, was not enough to lead No. 5 Arkansas (44-15) to a come-from-behind win over Kansas State (34-24), as the Hogs suffered a 7-6 defeat Saturday night at Baum-Walker Stadium to set up three must-win games in order to advance from the NCAA Fayetteville Regional.

Arkansas will square off against SEMO in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 2, on ESPN+. The Razorbacks must secure a win against the Redhawks and then defeat the Wildcats twice to punch their ticket to the super regional round.

Friday night’s game began as an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel, as Arkansas ace Hagen Smith and Kansas State right-hander Jackson Wentworth exchanged zeroes through the first four innings. The Razorbacks opened the scoring in the top of the fifth, posting a two-spot on a run-scoring wild pitch followed by Hudson White’s one-out RBI single to center.

Kansas State’s response was immediate, however, exploding for six runs against Smith, the most he has allowed all season, in the bottom half of the inning. The biggest blow came off the bat of Kaelen Culpepper, who jacked a three-run home run to right center to give the Wildcats a 6-2 lead and silence a raucous Baum-Walker Stadium crowd of 11,213.

Smith departed the ballgame after five innings of work, allowing a season-high six runs on four hits and four walks while striking out seven. The junior left-hander, the program’s all-time strikeout leader, raised his season punchout total to 161 to break Arkansas’ single-season strikeout record, previously held by David Walling (155 strikeouts in 1991).

Ahead by four, Kansas State called on relief ace Tyson Neighbors in relief of Wentworth, who limited the Hogs to two runs on seven hits and three walks over 5.2 innings. The Razorback offense had much better success against Neighbors, tagging the Wildcat right-hander for four runs in six hits and a walk in his 3.1 innings of the work.

Jared Sprague-Lott hit a solo homer, his ninth of the season, in the seventh to cut Arkansas’ deficit to three before White smoked a double to left in the top of the eighth, collecting his second RBI of the night and bringing the Hogs within two runs. In relief of Smith, Ben Bybee emerged from the bullpen to toss three strong innings with four strikeouts.

The only blemish of Bybee’s relief outing was a two-out solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, which extended Kansas State’s lead from 6-4 to 7-4. The solo shot proved costly, as Holt’s two-run homer with one out in the top of the ninth gave Arkansas its fifth and sixth runs of the night and made it a one-run ballgame at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Neighbors would retire two of the next three batters following Holt’s home run to secure his ninth save of the season and clinch the 7-6 win over Arkansas, putting Kansas State in the driver’s seat of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional.

The Razorbacks outhit the Wildcats, 13-5, led by multi-hit performances from White (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI), Sprague-Lott (2-for-5, HR, RBI), Wehiwa Aloy (2-for-5), Holt (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Ty Wilmsmeyer (2-for-3, 2 BB). Arkansas stranded 13 base runners, however, hitting just .273 (6-for-22) with runners on and .273 (3-for-11) with runners in scoring position.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.