FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Charles Davalan racked up three hits, including the go-ahead three-run homer, and four RBI to blast unanimous No. 1 Arkansas (31-3) to a 7-3 win against Arkansas State (14-18) Tuesday night at Baum-Walker.
With the midweek victory, the Razorbacks improved to 31-3 overall on the year, marking their best 34-game start to a season in program history.
Arkansas also improved to 22-2 overall against in-state opponents since 1960 with Tuesday night’s win against Arkansas State, including a perfect 5-0 record in meetings against the Red Wolves.
Davalan’s team-leading 12th home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth helped the Hogs erase a 2-1 deficit.
After Arkansas State tagged Arkansas starting pitcher Tate McGuire, who struck out two over three innings in his second start of the season, for a pair of runs, the Razorback outfielder’s go-ahead three-run shot to left turned the game around.
Staked with a 4-2 lead entering the sixth inning, five Arkansas relievers combined for six innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts to close out Tuesday night’s 7-3 win.
Ben Bybee, the first pitcher to emerge in relief of McGuire, tossed a scoreless frame with a strikeout before giving way to Colin Fisher, who allowed the lone run in his 1.2 innings of work.
Dylan Carter (1.1 IP, 1 SO), Cole Gibler (1.0, 2 SO) and Carson Wiggins (1.0 IP, 1 SO) handled the rest of the ballgame after Fisher departed.
Carter inherited a runner but escaped the jam to pick up the win and improve to 4-0 on the year.
Carson Boles (2-for-4, 2B) and Nolan Souza (2-for-3, 3 SB) each logged multi-hit games in the win.
Souza became the first Razorback with three stolen bases in a game since Andrew Benintendi did so against Stephen F. Austin on April 15, 2015.
Kuhio Aloy hit his ninth home run of the season in the sixth to jumpstart the Razorbacks’ second three-run frame of the game.
Later in the inning, Davalan drew a bases-loaded walk to extend Arkansas’ lead to 7-3, raise his game-high RBI total to four and improve his season slash line to .410/.497/.712 with 12 homers and 41 runs batted in across 34 games.
Up next, the Hogs resume SEC play with a road trip to Athens, Ga., for a top 10 showdown against the Bulldogs.
First pitch in the series opener between top-ranked Arkansas and No. 7 Georgia is 5 p.m. Friday, April 11, on SEC Network+.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
