Big homer keys rally to grab lead against Ole Miss in

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Wehiwa Aloy’s go-ahead three-run blast in the bottom of the sixth inning carried No. 1 Arkansas to a 5-2 series-opening win against Ole Miss Thursday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With the win, the Razorbacks improved to 9-1 in Southeastern Conference play for the first time in program history. It marks Arkansas’ best 10-game start in league play since joining the SEC ahead of the 1992 season.

Arkansas also extended its winning streak at Baum-Walker Stadium to a program-record 19 games with Thursday night’s win. The Hogs improved to 21-1 (.955 winning percentage) inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker this season.

Hagen Smith turned in his team-leading sixth quality of the season in Arkansas’ series-opening win, firing six innings of two-run ball with 11 strikeouts. The left-hander carded his team-best sixth double-digit strikeout game of the campaign.

For the season, Smith now boasts a 1.74 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 41.0 innings of work over eight starts. The Bullard, Texas, native, who has allowed just eight runs all year, is limiting opposing hitters to a meager .144 batting average.

Ole Miss opened Thursday’s scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the third, but Smith would not fold. The Razorback ace allowed just two runs on four hits and a season-high four walks to improve to a team-leading 6-0 on the year.

Arkansas cut its deficit to one in the bottom half of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Jared Sprague-Lott, who would come up big again in the four-run sixth inning. After back-to-back leadoff walks by Peyton Stovall and Ben McLaughlin, Aloy swatted the go-ahead three-run homer, his team-leading seventh of the year, to right to put the Hogs ahead, 4-2.

Sprague-Lott capped off the Razorbacks’ four-run inning with his one-out solo homer, which he pinged off the left field foul pole. His third home run of the season extended Arkansas’ lead to 5-2 and put Smith in line for his sixth win.

Veteran right-hander Will McEntire emerged from the bullpen in relief of Smith and tossed 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. McEntire, who lowered his season ERA to 1.78 in 35.1 innings, passed the ball off to left-hander Stone Hewlett, who faced one batter and recorded the final out via strikeout on six pitches to earn his second save of the year.

Arkansas goes for its fourth consecutive regular-season weekend series win against Ole Miss in tomorrow night’s showdown. First pitch between the Razorbacks and Rebels is 6:30 p.m. Friday on SEC Network+.