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Big inning, homers more than enough for Hogs downing Ole Miss, 12-3

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Big inning, homers more than enough for Hogs downing Ole Miss, 12-3

OXFORD, Miss. — No. 3 Arkansas (17-2, 1-1 SEC) swatted back-to-back-to-back homers in the top of the fifth inning to spark an eight-run frame and blast its way past No. 13 Ole Miss (15-3, 1-1 SEC), 12-3, Saturday night at Swayze Field.

The win was coach Dave Van Horn’s 900th in 23 seasons at the helm of the Razorback program. With the win, the Hogs improved to 17-2 overall through their first 19 games for the eighth time in the Van Horn era (2003-pres).

Arkansas, winners of seven consecutive SEC Opening Weekend series, will look to clinch the series win Sunday afternoon when it squares off against Ole Miss at 1:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

The Razorbacks have not lost an SEC-opening series since the 2016 season and have not lost a regular-season series to the Rebels since the 2019 campaign.

Five Arkansas home runs, highlighted by the back-to-back-to-back blasts by Charles Davalan (4-for-6, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI), Wehiwa Aloy (1-for-5, HR, RBI) and Kuhio Aloy (1-for-5, HR, RBI) in the fifth, were the difference in Saturday’s contest.

Razorback starter Gabe Gaeckle, making his first Saturday start of the season, turned in four innings of work, overcoming adversity to limit the Rebel offense to two runs on one hit and three walks while striking out a career-high eight batters.

Brent Iredale’s sacrifice fly in the top half of the first gave Arkansas an early one-run lead, but Ole Miss promptly responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame.

Gaeckle settled down after his shaky first and posted three consecutive shutout innings before the Razorback offense broke the game open with an eight-spot in the fifth.

Nine consecutive Arkansas batters reached safely to begin the fifth inning.

After Justin Thomas Jr. (1-for-3, R, RBI) led off the frame with a single, Davalan connected on the go-ahead two-run home run to give the Razorbacks a 3-2 lead.

Davalan’s blast knocked Ole Miss starter Riley Maddox, who was tagged for three runs on four hit and two walks in four innings, out of the game.

Rebel right-hander Will McCausland entered in relief, and the Razorback offense went to work.

Wehiwa Aloy homered to dead center before Kuhio Aloy, his younger brother, hit his team-leading eighth home run to left field, extending Arkansas’ advantage to 5-2.

The Hogs were just getting started, however, as Iredale was then hit by a pitch before consecutive singles by Logan Maxwell (3-for-5, 2 R, HR, RBI) and Rocco Peppi (1-for-4, R, RBI) as well as an RBI double by Cam Kozeal (3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, RBI) pushed the lead to 7-2 before an out was recorded in the inning.

Ole Miss right fielder Mitchell Sanford dropped a routine fly ball off the bat of Ryder Helfrick, allowing Peppi to score, and Thomas Jr.’s sacrifice fly in his second at-bat of the inning scored Kozeal from third base as Arkansas went up, 9-2.

The lengthy eight-run frame concluded Gaeckle’s day, and he turned the ball over to Parker Coil.

The left-hander, who earned his first win of the season, twirled two innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts in relief before giving way to righty Aiden Jimenez, who struck out a career high-tying six over three shutout innings to earn his first save of the year.

Ahead 9-3 in the top half of the ninth, Arkansas tacked on three more runs for good measure. Maxwell led off the inning with his fourth home run of the season before Nolan Souza drilled a solo shot to right in his lone at-bat of the game.

Davalan’s third and final RBI of the night came on a two-out, two-strike single that beat the shift through the left side and sealed the Razorbacks’ commanding 12-3 win to even the SEC Opening Weekend series at a game apiece.

His four-hit performance raised his season slash line to .352/.465/.592 with five home runs and 18 RBI through 19 games.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.

Text from Calipari announces Fland working out, ready to return

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Text from Calipari announces Fland working out, ready to return

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Just like that, Arkansas and John Calipari got folks interested in things again with a surprising text.

ESPN’s Seth Greenberg, on the air during halftime of Alabama and Florida’s semifinal matchup at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, dropped the contents of a text from Calipari he got.

“Boogie Fland is working out and expected to go full practice tomorrow,” Greenberg said. “Unless he gets a setback they expect him to play in their next game. Also said most important thing is Boogie just wants to be part of the solution. He wants to help these guys and he respects all they’ve accomplished.”

That last part is big because once Fland went down with a hand injury that required surgery after the Georgia game on Jan. 22.

After losing six straight SEC games to start league play, a win over the Bulldogs was the first on and launched them on a run that has them expected by most experts to be in the NCAA Tournament that will be announced on Sunday evening.

Fland averaged 15.1 points per game and now the only player on the team ranked higher than that in points per game was Adou Thiero. He missed the SEC Tournament and is still questionable.

Fland would be a welcome return for the Hogs who really need warm bodies at this point with a roster down to just six players.

Razorbacks’ linebacker Quincy Rhodes, running back Braylen Russell

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks’ linebacker Quincy Rhodes, running back Braylen Russell

What they’ve seen in spring practice drills following first workout inside Razorback Stadium on Saturday.

Razorbacks’ Dave Van Horn recapping 10-6 loss against Ole Miss

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks’ Dave Van Horn recapping 10-6 loss against Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — Despite Kuhio Aloy’s three-hit day as well as homers from Logan Maxwell and Charles Davalan, third-ranked Arkansas (16-2, 0-1 SEC) dropped its SEC opener to No. 13 Ole Miss (15-2, 1-0 SEC), 10-6, Friday at Swayze Field.

With the loss, Arkansas’ season-long 12-game winning streak was snapped.

It is also the Razorbacks’ first SEC Opening Day loss since the 2021 season, when Alabama defeated Arkansas, 16-1, at Baum-Walker Stadium to open league play.

The Hogs, winners of seven straight SEC Opening Weekend series, and Rebels will play game two of the series at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Saturday’s game, originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m., was moved back due to the threat of inclement weather.

Ole Miss scored runs in each of the first six innings, tagging Arkansas starter Zach Root for seven runs on 10 hits and two walks over three innings of work. The left-hander struck out three but struggled to contain the Rebels’ hot hitting.

Ryder Helfrick (1-for-3, 2 RBI) collected his first of two RBI in the top half of the second inning, singling through the right side with one out to score Brent Iredale from third and cut the Razorbacks’ early deficit to 2-1.

The Rebels, however, answered with two more runs in the bottom of the frame, extending their lead to three.

When Arkansas scored again in the top of the third on Maxwell’s RBI groundout to shrink its deficit to 4-2, Ole Miss responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame before tacking on two more in both the fourth and fifth innings.

After Rebel starting pitcher Hunter Elliott departed the ballgame, the Hogs strung together a rally in the sixth inning and came out with a pair of runs. Aloy (3-for-5, 2 R) led off the inning with a single, his second of the game and third base knock of the afternoon, before Iredale drew a walk and Rocco Peppi (2-for-4) singled to load the bases for Helfrick.

The Razorback catcher collected his second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly to right, cutting the deficit to six.

Cam Kozeal then stepped into the batter’s box as a pinch hitter for Nolan Souza and singled home a run on the very first pitch he saw from Ole Miss reliever Mason Morris to move Arkansas within five runs entering the bottom half of the sixth.

In relief of Root, Dylan Carter (1.2 IP, 2 R, 2 SO) and Tate McGuire (1.1 IP, 1 R, 1 SO) combined for three innings and allowed three runs while striking out three.

The Rebels’ 10th and final run came on an RBI single in the sixth.

Maxwell’s solo home run, his third of the season, in the top of the seventh inning, and Davalan’s solo blast in the top of the ninth were, ultimately, too little, too late to power the Hogs’ comeback.

Davalan finished the game with a pair of hits and a pair of runs scored, raising his season slash line to .323/.450/.538 with four homers and 18 RBI in 18 games.

Aloy, meanwhile, improved his team-leading slash line to .473/.561/.982 with seven home runs and 31 RBI in 15 games on the year. The sophomore leads the team in RBI and is tied for the lead in hits (26), doubles (7) and total bases (54).

Right-hander Ben Bybee locked down the game’s final two innings. The junior, who recorded the Razorback pitching staff’s only 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon, did not allow a hit in his outing and finished with a pair of strikeouts.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.

Ruscin & Zach March 14

Derek Ruscin
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Ruscin & Zach March 14

Plenty of conference tourney talk, SNL, Bum of the week and more. (You are safe from baseball talk here. This is a baseball free zone.)

Aaron Torres looking at Razorbacks’ tournament hopes after loss to Ole Miss

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Aaron Torres looking at Razorbacks’ tournament hopes after loss to Ole Miss

With injuries leaving Hogs down to essentially six players in SEC Tournament who he’s seen starting to emerge.

Eastside Liquor Halftime Podcast: 3-14-25

Christian Johnston
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Eastside Liquor Halftime Podcast: 3-14-25

Guests: Aaron Torres and Robert Teague

Halftime is LIVE

Christian Johnston
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Halftime is LIVE

Call or text the Lewis Automotive Hotline at 877-377-6963

Razorbacks’ Raylen Sharpe, Stephen Dix on Spring Practice

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks’ Raylen Sharpe, Stephen Dix on Spring Practice

What they’ve seen in first week of drills with ton of new faces from Sharpe on the offense and linebacker Dix coming back for another year with the Hogs.

Late three-pointer by Ole Miss ends Hogs’ run at SEC Tournament

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Late three-pointer by Ole Miss ends Hogs’ run at SEC Tournament

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The second round of the 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament began with a thrilling matchup that came down to the buzzer between 9-seed Arkansas and 8-seed Ole Miss on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

Sean Pedulla, who ended with 10 points on the day, was the hero for the Rebels’ after draining a 3-point basket with 1.3 second sleft on the clock to claim the 83-80 win over the Razorbacks.

Arkansas was coming off a opening-round thriller of its own over 16-seed South Carolina, 72-68, that advanced them to face Chris Beard and the mighty Rebels, who received a first-round bye.

Ole Miss, coming off a epic win vs. 4-seed Tennessee that ended the regular season, brought that mometum to Bridgestone Arena Thursday. It was on full display right away as leading scorer Malik Dia (19 points, eight rebounds) sparked the Rebels to a 9-0 run, their longest game-opening run this season, at the outset.

Leading Arkansas scorer Jonas Aidoo, who dropped 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out late in the game, finally got Arkansas on the board three minutes into the game with a turnaround jumper.

The Razorbacks trailed until a 8-0 run, sparked by Aidoo, gave Arkansas their only lead of the half. After that, it was all about the Rebels who never let off the gas pedal, creating a lead that topped out at 15 points.

Ole Mss led Arkansas, 42-34, going into halftime.

The Rebels, who lead the SEC with a +5.5 turnover ratio, forced seven Razorback turnovers that translated into nine points, while only giving up four of their own in the first half. They also utilized the paint, outscoring Arkansas, 20-12.

But the seasoned John Calipari, who came in this game with 25 SEC Tournament wins, knew exactly what to say at halftime to hype up his Hogs.

Arkansas slowly began to chip away at Ole Miss’ lead with two different 5-0 runs led by Aidoo and Trevon Brazile, cutting down the lead to one. Brazile gave the Razorbacks their first lead of the second half with a 3-point basket.

That lead continued to rise to seven points until Beard called a 30-second timeout to bring together his Rebels, which was exactly what they needed.

With 7:35 left in the game, Matthew Murrell led a 8-0 run to put the Rebels back into contention.

The final minute of the game had everyone on the edge of their seats.

Up by one, DJ Wagner swooshed in a jumper to extend Arkansas’ lead by three, 80-77, but Dre Davis came down the court to hit a layup and-one to tie it up for the Rebels.

A foul by Dia sent Arkansas’ Trevon Brazile to the free-throw line with seven seconds left, but Brazile missed both to keep the game tied, 80-80.

Pedulla then hit the 3-point game winner 1.3 seconds remaining on the clock to clinch a Rebels’ victory. Remarkably, Pedulla had missed all six of his 3-point attempts in the game prior to draining the long game-winner.

Up Next

Ole Miss advances to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2021 and will face 1-seed Auburn on Friday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Arkansas is eliminated from the 2025 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament and will await to hear of its postseason fate.

Information from SEC Sports is included in this story.

Finding Value 3.15.25

Christian Johnston
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Finding Value 3.15.25

Topics: Value Plays; The Whitmore Stakes; and the Buy/Sell features The Virginia Derby

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