Hogs Take 2 of 3 From Rebels; Softball Clinches Share of SEC Title; Ridgeway and Busta Drafted; Favorite May Events and more; Siri Reads Eddie in Clarksville
Guest- Connor O’Gara
Democrat-Gazette’s Tom Murphy on Cowboys taking Hogs’ ‘Vanilla Gorilla’
Looking at Jerry and Stephen Jones’ fifth-round pick of John Ridgeway ito provide some depth for Dallas defensive line.
Halftime is LIVE. Draft recap, Hogs BSB, Razorbacks SB, MLB and more… 877-377-6963
11:30 – Connor O’Gara
Hogs Take 2 of 3 From Rebels; Softball Clinches Share of SEC Title; Ridgeway and Busta Drafted; Favorite May Events and more; Siri Reads Eddie in Clarksville Call or text, 877-377-6963
Bud Light Next Morning Rush Podcast: Ole Miss goes home unhappy, Ridgeway to the Cowboys
Tye & Tommy on taking the series against Ole Miss, more Hogs drafted, Tom Murphy and more!
Diamond Hawgs Podcast S2E24: Ole Miss Series Recap, Weekend MVPs, SEC Standings
Join Mason Choate and Robert Stewart as they break down the Hogs’ series win over the Rebels. Stick around as the guys name their weekend MVPs, take a look at how things stand in the rest of the conference and hear from Mackenzie Tole on her partnership with Razorback Baseball players and more in the world of NIL.
Hogs claim series with win over Rebels
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Tension hung over Baum-Walker Stadium, and boos rained down on the umpires as Arkansas freshman Brady Tygart walked the bases loaded Sunday afternoon.
Clinging to a one-run lead, he got Ole Miss first baseman Tim Elko to fly out to center field, and Arkansas hung on for a 4-3 win to clinch the series.
The Rebels struck first, making sophomore right-handed pitcher Jaxon Wiggins pay for walking the first batter of the game. With one out and a runner on second, Elko singled to left field to put the visitors on top.
Arkansas did not have an answer until the third inning, when it turned two extra-base hits into two runs. Sophomore third baseman Cayden Wallace doubled to lead off the frame, and graduate right fielder Chris Lanzilli drove him in with a two-run shot to left-center field.
With a one-run lead in the fourth, Wiggins allowed the first three Rebels to reach, the third of whom hit a two-run single to chase him from the game.
In three innings of work, he allowed three hits, three runs and three walks, striking out just two batters. Sophomore lefty Zack Morris got the call, retiring three of the four batters he faced to escape the inning without any further damage.
After two quick outs for Ole Miss right-hander Derek Diamond in the fifth, Lanzilli changed the course of the inning with an eight-pitch at-bat that culminated in an infield single.
Representing the go-ahead run, graduate catcher Michael Turner hit a laser beam of a home run into the right field bullpen, making it a 4-3 game.
Morris tossed two more scoreless frames, bringing his ERA to 1.00 and leaving after the sixth as the pitcher of record.
Freshman righty Brady Tygart, who threw 23 pitches in Saturday’s win, took care of the late innings in complicated fashion. He allowed a hit and four walks, but he racked up five strikeouts to notch his seventh save of the season.
Arkansas will be back in action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the Missouri State Bears come to town.
The contest will stream live on the SEC Network+.
Razorbacks walk off Rebels, level series
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Baseballs were flying out of Baum-Walker Stadium with ease Saturday night.
Arkansas and Ole Miss combined for five home runs, but it was the Razorbacks who had the upper hand, courtesy of freshman designated hitter Kendall Diggs’ walk-off, three-run blast that gave them a 6-3 victory.
Senior first baseman Brady Slavens gave the Hogs their first lead of the series, belting a solo homer to right in the first inning.
Their advantage was short-lived, though, as Ole Miss center fielder TJ McCants took left-hander Hagen Smith deep to center the very next frame to tie it.
Rebel slugger Tim Elko, who played with a torn ACL in 2021, unleashed a 446-foot bomb in the third to give his team the lead, but that was all that Smith surrendered.
In six innings, the freshman allowed seven hits and two walks to go with his eight strikeouts, earning a quality start and leaving the game in line for the win.
Senior center fielder Braydon Webb’s fifth-inning home run set his hurler up for his seventh victory of the year, but the Hogs lost the lead in the top of the eighth.
After working out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, senior left-hander Evan Taylor issued three walks to begin the eighth. Freshman righty Brady Tygart got the call to clean things up, inducing a 6-4-3 double play and fanning right fielder Hayden Leatherwood to escape with a 3-3 score.
After two walks and a visit from pitching coach Matt Hobbs to begin the ninth, Tygart struck Elko out and got left fielder Kevin Graham to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
Sophomore left fielder Jace Bohrofen got the line moving in the bottom of the ninth with a single. Webb walked to move him into scoring position, and Diggs went deep to right to send the locals home happy.
The rubber match between the Razorbacks and the Rebels is set for noon Sunday, and it will be broadcast on ESPN. The projected starting pitchers are sophomore right-hander Jaxon Wiggins for Arkansas and righty Derek Diamond for Ole Miss.
Hogs drop series opener to Rebels
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Ole Miss right-hander Dylan DeLucia had Arkansas’ number all night.
He worked into the eighth inning of Friday’s series opener, leaving with a 4-2 lead, which the Rebels held onto for the victory, as the Hogs dropped their second consecutive Friday night contest.
Arkansas leadoff batters singled in each of the first three innings, but not once were the Hogs able to score. Of the five hits they recorded in the early innings, one was doubled off, one was thrown out after rounding first base too hard, one was caught stealing and one was ruled out on a batter interference call.
Senior right-hander Connor Noland was able to keep the Rebels off the board for three innings, but they got to him in the fourth. Left fielder Kevin Graham led off with a double and scored on a single by designated hitter Kemp Alderman.
Ole Miss quadrupled its lead in the fifth with four hits in a five-batter stretch. First baseman Tim Elko made it 2-0 with a two-out double, and Graham drove in two more runs with a single. DeLucia retired eight consecutive batters between the fourth and sixth innings while the Rebels extended their lead.
Noland made it through eight frames, finishing his night with 11 hits, four runs and four walks allowed, and three strikeouts.
With nobody out and a runner on first in the bottom of the eighth, senior center fielder Braydon Webb took DeLucia deep to left field to cut the deficit in half. Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco yanked DeLucia in favor of righty Brandon Johnson, who retired the next six Hogs in order to earn his fifth save of the year.
The Razorbacks and Rebels are set to square off again at 7 p.m. Saturday night. Arkansas freshman left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith is in line for the start, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Ole Miss radio analyst Brad Henderson on weekend road series at Arkansas
How things have gone so sideways for Rebels this year as they face the SEC West-leading Razorbacks starting Friday night.
How to watch-listen to Hogs-Ole Miss this weekend at Baum-Walker
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The top team in the SEC Western Division will get a look at the bottom of it.
SEC West leader No. 5 Arkansas (32-9, 12-6 SEC) hosts Ole Miss (23-17, 6-12), the division’s bottom-dweller, in a three-game set this weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium. First pitch in the opener between the Razorbacks and Rebels is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, on SEC Network+.
Two of the three contests will broadcast on national television, including the series finale on ESPN – the only scheduled ESPN appearance for an SEC baseball game during the 2022 season.
Arkansas, winners of a conference-leading 11 consecutive SEC home series, vies for its first home series win against Ole Miss since 2015 this weekend.
Schedule
6:30 p.m. Friday: vs. Ole Miss • SEC Network+ • Listen • Live Stats
7 p.m. Saturday: vs. Ole Miss • ESPN2 • Listen • Live Stats
Noon Sunday: vs. Ole Miss • ESPN • Listen • Live Stats
Matchups
Game 1: Ole Miss RHP Dylan DeLucia (3-0, 4.40 ERA) vs. Arkansas RHP Connor Noland (5-2, 2.54 ERA)
Game 2: Ole Miss LHP Hunter Elliott (1-3, 3.19 ERA) vs. Arkansas LHP Hagen Smith (6-2, 3.83 ERA)
Game 3: Ole Miss RHP Derek Diamond (3-3, 6.29 ERA) vs. Arkansas RHP Jaxon Wiggins (5-1, 5.55 ERA)
Tune In
Friday’s game will stream on SEC Network+ with Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Troy Eklund (analyst) on the call, while Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Kyle Peterson (analyst) will take over on Saturday and Sunday’s nationally televised broadcasts. Saturday’s contest will televise in prime time on ESPN2, while Sunday’s series finale will broadcast on ESPN.
Fans can catch all the action through the ESPN app on smartphones, computers and tablets or via Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
The entire weekend series between the Hogs and Rebels can also be heard with with Phil Elson (play-by-play) and Bubba Carpenter (analyst) on the call online at HitThatLine.com or on ESPN Arkansas radio 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Series History
• Since 1960, Arkansas is 54-49 overall against Ole Miss, including a 24-22 mark in games played in Fayetteville.
• Arkansas enters this weekend seeking its first home series win against Ole Miss since 2015.
• The Hogs, who won last year’s series in Oxford, have won back-to-back series over the Rebels since the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
• Arkansas has not sweep Ole Miss in Fayetteville since the 1999 campaign.
Leading Off
• For the fourth time in the last five seasons, Arkansas holds a 12-6 mark or better in SEC play.
• The Razorbacks boast an SEC-leading 11-series home winning streak headed into the weekend. Arkansas, 8-1 in conference home games this season, has won all three SEC home series this year, including sweeps of LSU and Kentucky at Baum-Walker Stadium.
• Since the start of the 2018 season, Arkansas has only lost one home SEC series, posting a 17-1 SEC home series record in that span.
• The Hogs are ranked in the top 10 nationally in four categories: fielding percentage (4th, .984), hits allowed per nine innings (5th, 7.03), earned run average (6th, 3.27) and WHIP (9th, 1.21).
• Razorback ace RHP Connor Noland will take the mound in Friday night’s series opener. The veteran right-hander has been one of the best pitchers in the conference through 10 starts, owning a 3-1 record with a microscopic 1.93 ERA over 37.1 innings. Noland’s 74 strikeouts this season are second most among all SEC pitchers.
• RHP Brady Tygart was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List earlier this week. The Razorback closer, with a 1.59 ERA over 22.2 innings to go along with six saves, is one of only three true freshmen on the list for the award given to the nation’s top relief pitcher.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
