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.