Wood gets Hogs off to strong start, Aloy leads bats in win

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gage Wood fired three shutout innings with four strikeouts in his first career start on the mound to lead No. 2 Arkansas (38-7) to a 12-7 midweek win over Missouri State (18-25) Tuesday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With Tuesday night’s win in the series opener against the Bears, the Razorbacks improved to 11-0 in midweek games and 30-2 at home this year, clinching their fifth 30-win season at Baum-Walker Stadium since the venue opened in 1996. Arkansas also accomplished 30-win seasons at Baum-Walker Stadium in 2018 (34), 2019 (33), 2021 (30) and 2023 (32).

Wood was sharp in his first start on the mound, facing the minimum over three innings and allowing just one hit. The Arkansas offense scored early and often with nine runs across the first three innings, thanks to a four-run first and third.

“Gage Wood came out and did a great job,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “Gave us three really good innings. We had built up a lead after the first inning. That second inning he came out and got them out quick. That’s big. We came in and scored another one and left one or two out there. But came back and scored four more in the third. We kind of cruised after that.”

Wehiwa Aloy (1-for-4, HR, 4 RBI) swatted his team-leading 11th home run in the bottom half of the first, connecting on his third grand slam of the year to put the Razorbacks up, 4-0, before recording an out. After Peyton Holt (2-for-5, RBI) added an RBI single in the second inning, Arkansas scored four more in the third, including RBI base knocks by Jack Wagner (1-for-4, RBI) and Hudson White (1-for-4, 2B, RBI), to open a commanding 9-0 advantage at Baum-Walker.

Missouri State would answer with four runs in the top of the fourth and three more in the top half of the seventh, but Arkansas, which used seven pitchers in relief, would maintain a healthy lead throughout Tuesday night’s ballgame. Ryder Helfrick (1-for-4, 2B, RBI) added to the Razorbacks’ edge with his run-scoring double, while Jared Sprague-Lott (2-for-4, HR, RBI) jacked a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to strengthen the Hogs’ advantage.

The Arkansas pitching staff combined for 15 strikeouts Tuesday night, led by Wood’s four punchouts. In relief, Cooper Dossett (0.1 IP, 4 R, 1 SO), Christian Foutch (0.2 IP, 2 SO), Stone Hewlett (0.2 IP, 2 SO), Will McEntire (1.0 IP, 1 SO), Parker Coil (1.0 IP, 3 R, 1 SO), Gabe Gaeckle (1.0 IP, 2 SO) and Jake Faherty (1.0 IP, 2 SO) contributed to the Hogs’ strikeout total.

Arkansas and Missouri State close out the midweek series tomorrow afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium, with first pitch between the Razorbacks and Bears is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday on SEC Network+. With a midweek series sweep against Missouri State, Arkansas can finish unbeaten in midweek contests for the first time since 2005.

You can hear the games on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home. The pregame show with Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter gets started at 3:30 p.m.