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Razorbacks’ rally overtakes Mississippi State to win series
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Powered by three two-run homers, including Peyton Holt’s go-ahead blast in the sixth, No. 5 Arkansas (42-10, 19-8 SEC) scored nine unanswered runs to overcome a six-run deficit and pull out a thrilling 9-6 series-clinching win against No. 14 Mississippi State (33-18, 15-12 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.
With Sunday’s victory, the Razorbacks have now won 10 consecutive SEC home weekend series since last season and 22 of their last 23 SEC home weekend series since the 2019 campaign. Arkansas, which has not lost a series to the Bulldogs in Fayetteville since 2007, is also 13-2 against Mississippi State with five consecutive weekend series wins since 2019.
Sunday’s win also ensured that Arkansas stays within one game of Kentucky in the overall SEC race and maintains its two-game lead over Texas A&M in the SEC Western Division with three games left to play in the regular season.
Mississippi State scored five runs in the second and added another in the third, opening a 6-0 run advantage to begin the series finale. Arkansas starter Mason Molina was tagged for four runs on four hits and a walk in his lone inning of work.
Gage Wood took over in relief of Molina and turned in three innings of two-run ball with three strikeouts, settling the game down and giving Arkansas an opportunity to regroup. The Hogs did exactly that, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth before tacking on three more in the fifth on Jayson Jones’ two-run shot and Jared Sprague-Lott’s RBI groundout.
Trailing 6-4 in the sixth, Hudson White cranked a two-run homer into the Hog Pen in left to tie the game. Later in the inning, Holt stepped up to the plate with two outs and mashed the Razorbacks’ third two-run home run of the day.
Holt’s go-ahead blast, his fourth homer of the season, gave Arkansas an 8-6 lead, leaving Mississippi State in stunned silence. Holt finished 3-for-4, including a double and homer, with two RBI to raise his season slash line to .325/.431/.458.
Ben McLaughlin extended the Hogs’ edge to three in the bottom of the seventh with his sacrifice fly, scoring Sprague-Lott from third. His RBI capped the Hogs’ nine-run rally, which began in the fourth and concluded in the seventh.
Christian Foutch (1.0 IP), Will McEntire (2.0 IP, 1 SO) and Gabe Gaeckle (2.0 IP, 3 SO) combined for five scoreless innings in relief of Molina and Wood, silencing the Bulldogs after their early six-run outburst. McEntire earned his second win of the series to improve to 5-0, while Gaeckle logged his seventh save of the season – and sixth of the multi-inning variety.
Up next, the Hogs will close out the regular season in College Station-Bryan, Texas. First pitch in the three-game series between SEC West Division foes Arkansas and Texas A&M is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2.
Coil’s solid relief not enough to overcome early hole for Hogs
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Parker Coil spun 3.1 scoreless innings in relief and Wehiwa Aloy collected his second multi-hit game in as many nights, as No. 5 Arkansas (41-10, 18-8 SEC) dropped game two against No. 14 Mississippi State (33-17, 15-11 SEC), 8-5, Saturday night at Baum-Walker Stadium to set up a series-deciding rubber game tomorrow afternoon.
Despite the loss, Arkansas stayed within one game of Kentucky (36-11, 19-7 SEC) in the overall SEC race and maintained its two-game lead over Texas A&M (41-10, 16-7 SEC) in the SEC West with four games left to play in the regular season.
The Bulldogs tagged Razorback starter Brady Tygart for four runs on three hits and five walks to take control of the game from first pitch. The junior righty fanned a pair in 1.2 innings of work before giving way to Ben Bybee and the bullpen.
Mississippi State continued to mash, however, adding four more runs to open an 8-0 advantage entering the bottom of the fourth. In 2.1 relief innings, Bybee allowed four runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts.
Trailing by eight, Arkansas responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth to shrink its deficit. Coil entered to start the fifth inning and brought the Bulldog offense to a halt, as he twirled 3.1 shutout frames with three strikeouts.
With Coil posting zeroes on the board, the Razorbacks inched closer with runs in the fifth and sixth. Peyton Stovall hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth before Kendall Diggs’ sacrifice fly in the sixth moved Arkansas within three.
Stovall, who finished 1-for-5 with two RBI, is slashing a team-leading .348/.411/.578 with nine home runs and 37 RBI on the year. The Razorback captain also leads the team in hits (56) despite missing 12 games due to his preseason injury.
Cooper Dossett (0.1 IP), Stone Hewlett (0.1 IP, 1 SO) and Jake Faherty (1.0 IP, 2 SO) were as good as Coil, emerging from the bullpen and combining for 1.2 scoreless innings in relief to give the Hogs an opportunity to get back into the game.
Arkansas left nine runners on base and finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, as Mississippi State’s bullpen did not allow a run over the final three frames and secured the 8-5 win to force tomorrow’s series-deciding rubber game.
Offensively, Aloy led the charge for Arkansas, finishing 3-for-5 with a career-high-tying two doubles. For the season, the Razorback star shortstop is now slashing .284/.382/.487 and leads the team in home runs (11) and RBI (50).
The Hogs, who have won nine straight SEC home weekend series since last season and 21 of their last 22 SEC home weekend series since 2019, look to clinch yet another SEC home weekend series win tomorrow afternoon. First pitch in series finale between Arkansas and Mississippi State is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday on the SEC Network.
You can listen on HitThatLine in selected markets or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home. The pregame show with Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter starts at 1:30 p.m.
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Despite Smith’s rough start, Hogs come back to down Mississippi State
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Hudson White’s team-leading four RBI and Gage Wood’s bases-loaded save in the ninth helped No. 5 Arkansas (41-9, 18-7 SEC) gut out a 7-5 come-from-behind win against No. 14 Mississippi State (32-17,14-11 SEC) Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium in the series opener between SEC Western Division foes.
With Friday’s win, Arkansas stayed within one game of Kentucky (36-10, 19-6 SEC) in the overall SEC race and extended its lead over Texas A&M (41-9, 16-9 SEC) in the SEC West to two games with five games left to play in the regular season.
“Just a gritty win by our team,” Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said later. “We get up three and get within one out of getting out of a jam and they got a big hit by Hines on a slider that didn’t slide as much as normal. Give him credit, he did a great job of keeping that ball fair. We were just hanging in there. Hit a home run an inning or two later and took the lead and gave it right back to them in the eighth. Holding them to two in that inning was big. Because, I don’t know, they scored two runs and maybe got one hit somewhere in there.”
Razorback ace Hagen Smith lasted five innings, allowing three runs on four hits and four walks with 11 strikeouts. The junior left-hander recorded his program-record 10th double-digit strikeout game of the season but snapped his streak of consecutive quality starts at eight, failing to go at least six in a game for the first time since against McNeese on March 9.
“It wasn’t one of his better ones,” Van Horn said about Smith. “He threw 30 pitches in the first inning and they didn’t score on him. And like Hagen seems to be able to do, his stuff is so good, he went through the middle of that order and got us back in the dugout. But that’s through 30 pitches. The second inning he threw six and we’re like, ‘OK, we’re back on track.’ He just didn’t have the command that he normally does. “We’ve kind of been waiting for it, honestly, because he’s been so good and so consistent. Maybe he’s got that behind him and he can move on now. He’s been better obviously and he’s a lot better than that. But it was just that night and Mississippi State did a good job of fouling off some pitches and getting his count up.”
After exchanging zeroes through Friday night’s first two innings of play, Arkansas opened the scoring with a three-spot in the bottom of the third. Jared Sprague-Lott, who finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a solo homer, scored on a wild pitch before White clobbered a two-run home run to the Hog Pen in left field, giving the Hogs an early 3-0 edge.
Mississippi State would answer with three runs of its own in the top half of the fourth to even the game at three apiece. Sprague-Lott’s solo blast – his seventh of the year – in the bottom of the fifth, however, put the Razorbacks back up, 4-3.
With Smith out of the ballgame after five, the Bulldogs went to work against the Razorback bullpen by scratching across a pair of runs in the top of the eighth. After a fielding error with one out, Mississippi State tied the game at four on a bases-loaded walk before opening a 5-4 advantage – its first and only lead of Friday night’s game – on a sac fly to center.
Will McEntire, who earned the win to improve to 4-0, entered in relief of Gabe Gaeckle, who charged with two unearned runs in his 1.1 innings, and wiggled out of the jam to bring the Razorbacks back to the plate in the bottom of the eighth.
The Hogs, who have shown a knack for responding all season, did exactly that. Wehiwa Aloy’s one-out RBI single tied the game at five before White, who finished 2-for-4, drove in the go-ahead runs on his two-RBI single later in the inning.
With Arkansas ahead by two in the ninth, Mississippi State loaded the bases with no outs against McEntire. Gage Wood relieved the veteran right-hander and stranded all three inherited runners by inducing a pair of infield pop-ups and recording a strikeout to secure his second save of the season and lock down Arkansas’ 7-5 series-opening win.
The Hogs, who have won nine straight SEC home weekend series since last season and 21 of their last 22 SEC home weekend series since 2019, look to clinch yet another SEC home weekend series win tomorrow night. First pitch in game two between Arkansas and Mississippi State is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, May 11, on SEC Network+.
You can hear the game, starting with the pregame at 5:30 p.m. with Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter on HitThatLine in selected markets and on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
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