Strong pitching, big fourth inning paces Razorbacks past LSU in SEC

Arkansas only scored in one inning against LSU, but putting up five in the fourth was enough with Hagen Smith and Hunter Hollan on the mound in a 5-4 win in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., on Thursday afternoon.

They struck out 17 Tigers, walked one batter each and now will have Friday off, which was likely why Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn put so much importance into the getting the win. They should be in fairly good shape the rest of the way.

LSU stranded eight baserunners and out-hit the Hogs, 11-6, but that one inning cost them the game against a couple of pitchers throwing well lately.

Caleb Cali and Peyton Holt were 2-for-4 at the plate. Holt continues to filling well for the injury Peyton Stovall and was just another of the typical wins for the Hogs at the end of the year when they’ve simply taken advantage of opportunities and played solid defense in the field.

Things started great for Smith, striking out the first two LSU batters in short order, then three straight (and short) singles put the Tigers out in front 1-0 before he got the third out with another strikeout. Tavian Josenberger led off the bottom of the first with a walk, then nearly got caught wandering off base on a fly-out and a sharp liner to shortstop before Jared Wegner struck out to end the inning.

Smith sails through the second with two strikeouts (five total through first two innings), then a slow groundout to third finished it.

In the third inning, Smith ran his strikeout total to seven and retired LSU in order. Parker Rowland led off the bottom of the inning getting hit in the foot,

Smith ran into trouble in the fourth inning after giving up a couple of singles, he struck out two batters before loading the bases and Van Horn immediately went to Hollan, who just pitched a complete game Sunday. He bounced a 2-2 pitch to the backstop, allowing another run to score. He struck out the next guy, but the Tigers took a 2-0 lead.

The Hogs didn’t waste any time answering. Wegner led off the bottom of the inning getting hit by a pitch, then after a groundout, Brady Slavens, Cali and Peyton Holt hit three straight singles gave the Hogs their first lead, 3-2. The Hogs kept going, batting around. Rowland got a walk, scored and Jace Bohrofen delivered a single and scored two runs for a 5-2 lead.

Hollan got into a little trouble starting the seventh inning by letting a pair of LSU players on base with a single and a walk and one out. He then got his fifth strikeout and a ground ball to Cali at third to get out with no damage.

LSU chipped away in the eighth with a leadoff coming home on a one-out single, cutting the Hogs’ lead to 5-3, but Hollan escaped that with no more damage and the Tigers left with three outs.

Hollan got a quick out in the ninth, then gave up a homer to left field by Dylan Crews to the cut the lead to 5-4. He struck out the next batter on three straight pitches and after nearly hitting Tommy White with a pitch, then a grounder to Harold Coll at shortstop to wrap up the 5-4 win.

Halftime Pod Presented By Eastside Liquor- May 25, 2023

Guest- Bob Holt

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Since watching the Hogs’ designated hitter at the plate, what he’s seen from the Kansas City-area player Henry enjoys watching.

Democrat-Gazette’s Tom Murphy on Razorbacks baseball, is KJ best in SEC

Looking at baseball in SEC Tournament plus Athlon’s ranking of quarterback KJ Jefferson among others in SEC.

Democrat-Gazette’s Richard Davenport on Texas’ Ron Holland on market

Apparently Texas forward Ron Holland is officially on the market and could Razorbacks be his next landing spot in college?

Call or text, 877-377-6963

11:15 – Bob Holt

Hogs Beat Ags In Hoover Classic; 100 Days Until Arkansas Football; Hogs vs LSU Today; Hagen vs. Skenes

Call or text, 877-377-6963

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Razorbacks walk off Texas A&M yesterday, will play LSU today

Tye and Tommy break down the win over the aggies yesterday, preview what’s ahead for the hogs in the SEC tourney, plus basketball and football news. Richard Davenport, Tom Murphy and Clay Henry join the show!

#Arkansas #ArkansasRazorbacks #Hogs #Hawgs #WPS #ArkansasRazorbacksPodcast #GoHogs #HitThatLine #WooPigSooie #RazorbackPodcast #ArkansasPodcast #HogPodcast

Diggs delivers a walk-off homer, Wegner’s grand slam lifts Hogs past Aggies

HOOVER, Ala. — Kendall Diggs hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to propel second-seeded Arkansas (40-15) to a thrilling 6-5 win over 10th-seeded Texas A&M (33-24) on Wednesday afternoon at The Hoover Met.

With the win, Arkansas advances to play third-seeded LSU at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 25. Left-hander Hagen Smith will get the start on the mound for the Razorbacks and go up against Tiger ace Paul Skenes. The winner of tomorrow’s game between Arkansas and LSU will advance to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday, May 27.

Diggs’ homer, his 11th of the year, was his second walk-off hit of the season. The Razorbacks’ designated hitter came through with a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 11th to lift Arkansas to a 10-9 win over Illinois State on March 1.

Texas A&M built an early 4-0 lead on Wednesday afternoon, tagging Arkansas starter Cody Adcock for three runs on two hits and two walks over his two innings of work. The Aggies added their fourth run against Razorback reliever Zack Morris in the top half of the fourth, but that would be the veteran left-hander’s only blemish of the afternoon.

Morris went five innings in relief of Adcock, racking up five strikeouts and limiting the Aggies to just one run on three hits and a walk. His strong performance on the mound set the table for the Hogs’ come-from-behind heroics.

Trailing 4-1 in the seventh, Arkansas loaded the bases with one out for Jared Wegner, who hammered the very first pitch he saw and swatted a go-ahead grand slam over the wall in left to put the Hogs ahead, 5-4. It was his 13th home run of the year, Arkansas’ fifth grand slam of the year and the Razorbacks’ first grand slam in the SEC Tournament since 2018.

Texas A&M, however, tied the game at five apiece in the top of the ninth with a one-out solo shot. Will McEntire, who relieved Morris to start the eighth, silenced the Aggies after that, collecting three strikeouts in his four innings of work.

The Razorbacks’ walk-off heroics in the 11th allowed McEntire to improve to 7-3 on the year. Diggs homered on the fourth pitch he saw from Texas A&M pitcher Ty Sexton, picking up his team-leading 57th RBI on his game-winning swing.

Diggs and Peyton Holt, who had a pair of singles, both finished with a team-high two base knocks. Wegner, meanwhile, tallied a game-high four RBI and raised his season total to 48, good for second most among all Razorback batters.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.