Presented by Weichert Realtors – The Griffin Company
WATCH: Hogs drop 2 of three at Kentucky, Mystik Dan wins Kentucky Derby, T-Wolves take game 1
Call or text in
877-377-6963
Hogs drop two in a row, series against Kentucky on Sunday
LEXINGTON, Ky. — No. 2 Arkansas (40-9, 17-7 SEC) dropped the rubber game against No. 8 Kentucky (35-10, 18-6 SEC), 7-4, Sunday afternoon at Kentucky Proud Park to suffer only its second weekend series loss of the season.
With Sunday’s setback, the Razorbacks lost a series to the Wildcats for the first time since 2012 and took a road series defeat in Lexington for the first time since 2011. Despite the series loss, Arkansas retains its lead atop the SEC Western Division standings going into next weekend’s home series against divisional foe and nationally ranked Mississippi State.
After missing his previous start due to an injury, Mason Molina made his return to the mound and fired three innings of three-run ball with three walks and three strikeouts. The junior left-hander departed after throwing 40 of 67 pitches for strikes and turned the ball over to right-hander Will McEntire, who was pitching for the second time in the series.
Kentucky tagged McEntire, who recorded only two outs in the fourth, for three runs to open a 6-0 lead entering the fifth. Arkansas, which did not record a hit over the first four innings, responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth after Hudson White, who finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk, tallied the Razorbacks’ first base knock of the game.
Wehiwa Aloy’s one-out single scored White from second base before Jared Sprague-Lott’s one-out sacrifice fly brought home Peyton Stovall, who logged his fourth consecutive multi-hit game, from third to cut the Hogs’ deficit to four.
Stovall came around to score again in the seventh on Kendall Diggs’ two-out RBI single, helping Arkansas close the gap to three. The Razorback second baseman would hit a leadoff solo shot in the top of the ninth to finish the afternoon 3-for-5, including a double and homer, with three runs scored and raise his season slash line to a team-leading .362/.426/.586.
Stovall, who missed the first 12 contests of the season due to a broken foot, leads the Razorbacks in hits (55) and is second on the team in doubles (10), home runs (8) and runs batted in (35) through his 37 games in action.
Right-handers Christian Foutch (1.1 IP, 1 SO) and Gabe Gaeckle (3.0 IP, 0 ER) were strong in relief, combining to work Sunday’s final 4.1 innings. Gaeckle’s lone blemish was an unearned run, which Kentucky scored on an error in the bottom of the eighth, as the true freshman lowered his season ERA to 2.27 in 31.2 innings over 17 relief appearances.
Up next, Arkansas returns inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium to host Mississippi State in the final weekend home series of the season. First pitch between the Hogs and Bulldogs is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 10.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
White’s homer, Wood’s good relief outing not enough against Wildcats
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Despite Hudson White’s two-run homer and Gage Wood’s six strikeouts, No. 2 Arkansas (40-8, 17-6 SEC) lost to No. 8 Kentucky (34-10, 17-6), 11-3, Saturday afternoon in the game two of the series at Kentucky Proud Park.
The Razorbacks and Wildcats will now square off in a rubber game tomorrow afternoon in Lexington. First pitch in the series finale between second-ranked Arkansas and eighth-ranked Kentucky is noon CT Sunday, May 5, on SEC Network+.
White’s two-run blast in the top of the second inning put Arkansas ahead early. The Razorback catcher, who finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI and a walk, connected on his second home run of the season, and his first home run since Opening Day against James Madison on Feb. 16.
Staked with an early 2-0 lead, starter Brady Tygart, who had turned in quality starts in each of his previous two outings, lasted only three innings, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks before departing the ballgame. In relief of Tygart, right-handers Gage Wood (4.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 SO) and Koty Frank (0.2 IP, 3 ER, 1 SO) worked Saturday’s final five innings.Wood’s strong relief outing saw him toss a career-long 4.1 innings and match his career high in strikeouts (6). For the season, the sophomore owns a 2.81 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 25.2 innings over 17 appearances, including one start.
Peyton Stovall continued his tear at the plate, logging his third consecutive multi-hit game. The Razorback second baseman went 2-for-5 with an RBI on the afternoon to raise his season slash line to a team-leading .354/.421/.558.
The Hogs will go for their seventh consecutive series win against the Wildcats in tomorrow’s rubber game. Arkansas, which has not lost a series in Lexington since 2011, is seeking its fourth consecutive road series win against Kentucky.
Junior left-hander Mason Molina will start on the mound for the Razorbacks in game three at Kentucky Proud Park. With a win tomorrow to clinch the series, Arkansas can secure its best 24-game SEC start (18-6) in program history. The Hogs’ best 24-game SEC start in school history is 17-7, which they have achieved four times – 1999, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
You can watch Sunday’s game on ESPN+ or listen at HitThatLine or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.34 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Former Razorback James Teague on games pitchers play with runners
How pitch clock has changed the way pitchers have to deal with guys who get on base and affects throwing.
Smith, Diggs lead impressive series-opening win over Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. — This is starting to get a little bit normal for Arkansas. Another big outing from Hagen Smith with 14 strikeouts and strong offense led by Kendall Diggs with 4 RBI paced the Razorbacks to a 10-3 win Friday night to open a three-game series against Kentucky, the second-place team in the SEC this year.
“I saw a guy to not let them score,” Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn said later about Smith’s third ining when the Wildcats got a 1-0 lead. “We had just tied the game. They had a runner at third with one out and I brought the infield in. I don’t bring the infield in like that very much. I just had the feeling that if they did make contact, they were going to get jammed and I just didn’t want to give them a cheap run. There was a possibility they’d get a cheap hit. (Smith) didn’t need his infield. He just needed his catcher.”
It was the Razorbacks’ 40th win of the year while protecting their first-place lead in the SEC West.
Smith threw 101 pitches (70 strikes) while allowing a run, three hits and two walks with 14 punch outs for his ninth double-digit strikeout performance of the year. He has struck out 125 batters this season through 66 innings while holding an ERA of 1.36 with a perfect 9-0 record. He raised his career strikeout total to 325 and is 20 away from tying Nick Schmidt (345) for most strikeouts in program history.
Kentucky took the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on a two-out double by Ryan Waldschmidt to score Devin Burkes after he stole second base on a pickoff attempt. The Hogs responded in the top of the fifth with one out on an RBI ground-rule double by Peyton Stovall to left field to score Hudson White from third after he advanced on a wild pitch.
Smith faced a jam in the bottom of the fifth after allowing a leadoff walk to Nolan McCarthy. After Patrick Herrera laid down a sacrifice bunt, McCarthy advanced to third on a wild pitch with one out. Smith came back by striking out Burkes and Waldschmidt to keep the game tied, 1-1.
Diggs halted an 0-for-16 stretch in the top of the sixth with a one-out double to right center to score Peyton Holt and Ryder Helfrick and give the Hogs a 3-1 lead. Ross Lovich extended the lead to three on a pinch-hit double with two outs as Diggs scored from third to cap off the three-run rally.
Diggs struck again in the top of the seventh with two outs to start a six-run inning for the Razorbacks with a two-run single to center with the bases loaded scoring Ben McLaughlin and Jared Sprague-Lott while Holt moved to third. White singled through the left side to give the Razorbacks a 7-1 lead while the Hogs put up another three runs on the board on back-to-back bases-loaded walks by Stovall and Sprague-Lott and Lovich scored from third on a wild pitch.
“There was a couple of 3-2 walks that drove in a couple of runs and we also got a couple of big hits,” Van Horn said. “Guys were patient and tried to wait the pitcher out a little bit. The key when you put together an inning like that is you have to get some help. They usually make an error or walk and we got the walks. But we didn’t hit into a double play. We just laid off some borderline pitches when we were ahead in the count and that’s what spurred some guys on and got a couple of bit hits and some walks. There you go. I mean we popped six runs like that and finished the game off pretty much right there the way our bullpen’s been pitching.”
The Hogs will have a chance to clinch the series Saturday with a first pitch set for 1 p.m. Brady Tygart will be on the mound for the Razorbacks and the game will be televised on ESPN+. You can also here the game at HitThatLine.com and on the radio at 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Ruscin & Zach have keys to the game plus towel talk in Friday’s podcast
Keys to the game for the Diamond Hogs! Plus Friday towel talk, greatest TV finales of all time and things that we can all agree on.
Eastside Liquor Halftime Podcast: 5-3-24
With Phil Elson, Matt Jones & Big C
Aaron Torres & James Teague Join
Former Razorback pitcher Scott Tabor on regular season coming to close
With Hagen Smith closing in on program strikeout record, his view on where the Hogs sit getting ready for postseason.
WATCH: Halftime is LIVE. Hogs start series with Kentucky, Kentucky Derby starts tomorrow
Call or text in
877-377-6963
