ARLINGTON, Texas — Four Razorback homers were no match for the Horned Frogs’ offense as No. 8 Arkansas (1-1) stumbled to an 18-6 loss against No. 15 TCU (2-0) on Saturday night in the College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field.
Jared Wegner, Hudson Polk, Kendall Diggs and Jayson Jones each swatted their first home runs of the season in the setback. Wegner, a graduate transfer from Creighton, racked up a team-leading three hits with a team-high three RBI, falling a triple shy of the cycle.
Wegner’s three-run homer came in the bottom of the first inning after Arkansas found itself in an early 3-0 hole. His home run was a no-doubter to left center, leaving the bat at 111.9 miles per hour and traveling 442 feet.
The Horned Frogs retook the lead in the top half of the second, but Polk would quickly erase the one-run deficit with one swing in the bottom half of the frame. The Oklahoma transfer deposited a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left, evening the score at four apiece.
From there, however, it was all TCU as the Arkansas pitching staff was tagged for 14 runs over the final five innings of Saturday night’s contest. Razorback pitchers combined to walk 11 batters and allow 19 hits in the game.
Diggs provided some offensive fireworks in the bottom of the sixth, launching a solo home run to right. Jones, a true freshman from Savannah, Texas, who made his collegiate debut in the ballgame, socked his first career home run – a solo shot to left – in his second career at-bat, which came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
On the mound, veteran Zack Morris turned in the Razorbacks’ best pitching effort of the night. The left-hander emerged from the bullpen in relief of starter Will McEntire and thew 3.1 innings of two-run ball with a pair of strikeouts.
Arkansas will conclude its season-opening weekend in the College Baseball Showdown tomorrow afternoon against No. 9 Oklahoma State. First pitch from Globe Life Field is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, on FloBaseball.
