Iredale’s bat, Wood’s pitching lifts Hogs to win over Cougars

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Powered by Brent Iredale’s two-homer day, No. 5 Arkansas (3-0) mashed its way to a 5-2 win and an Opening Weekend series win against Washington State (0-3) Saturday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With the win, the Razorbacks have now clinched 30 consecutive non-conference home weekend series in a streak dating back to 2015.

The Hogs have not lost or tied a non-conference regular season weekend series at Baum-Walker Stadium since 2014, when Arkansas lost two-of-three games to South Alabama in its final non-conference home weekend series.

Iredale continued his hot start to the season, jacking a pair of solo home runs and collecting two more RBI. Through the first three games, the Sydney, Australia, native is slashing a team-best .545/.571/1.182 with two homers and seven RBI.

True freshman Zane Becker, making his collegiate debut, drove in the first run of the game on a two-out double in the bottom half of the second, scoring Kendall Diggs from second and putting the Hogs ahead, 1-0.

The lead would hold until the top of the fourth when Washington State broke through for a pair of runs against Arkansas starter Gage Wood.

It was the only damage Wood would endure all game. The junior right-hander worked five innings of two-run ball with a career-high seven strikeouts in his first outing of the season, putting Arkansas in position to clinch the weekend series.

Iredale led off the bottom of the fourth with his first of two solo home runs, evening the game at two apiece. In his very next at-bat in the sixth, the Razorback third baseman blasted another solo shot into the Hog pen to put Arkansas up, 3-2.

From there, the Arkansas bullpen silenced the Washington State offense. Dylan Carter (1.2 IP, 1 SO), Parker Coil (1.1 IP, 1 SO) and Carson Wiggins (1.0 IP, 1 SO) combined for four shutout innings with three strikeouts in relief.

Wehiwa Aloy connected on his first home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth to give the Razorbacks some more breathing room. The Wailuku, Hawai’i, swatted a two-run homer to right center, extending the lead to three.

Wiggins locked down the bottom of the ninth, securing his first career save in his highly anticipated debut. The true freshman’s first four pitches were each 100 mph, and he ended the ballgame with his first career strikeout.

Following an off-day tomorrow due to forecasted inclement weather, Arkansas vies for an Opening Weekend series sweep against Washington State on Monday. The four-game set concludes with a noon first pitch on ESPN+.