Category: Arkansas baseball

Arkansas-LSU is college baseball’s best rivalry

Forget the Golden Boot. LSU owns it and always will. But in baseball? Yes, that’s the rivalry LSU-Arkansas rivalry and it’s glorious.

When the SEC expanded in football late last year and each team was provided two permanent opponents, a segment of the Arkansas football fan base clamored for LSU.

The segment was small, but many of the people within it had something in common: they were old.

Arkansas and LSU have played for the Golden Boot Trophy since 1996. The Tigers have claimed it 19 times. Arkansas, on the other hand, doesn’t even have 19 winning seasons 1996. The rivalry game mostly just came to fruition because of geographical border touching, though it bore fruit when a number of games in the late 1990s and early 2000s proved climactic, leading that aforementioned generation of people to hold tightly to game.

Arkansas-LSU is a rivalry, certainly. But it isn’t because of football.

The two teams are set to go for a three-game series inside Baum-Walker Stadium starting on Thursday with the Razorbacks the No. 1 team in the nation and LSU at No. 6. Both teams are considered national-championship contenders.

Which is nothing new. LSU has made nine College World Series and won two national championships since 2000. Arkansas has not captured a crown yet, but coach Dave Van Horn has taken the Diamond Hogs to Omaha, Nebraska, seven times since becoming Arkansas head coach in 2003. The teams are almost always next to each other in the SEC West pennant race and standings throughout the year.

LSU is a little more dinged entering the series this year. The Tigers have lost both their first two series in SEC play this year (Mississippi State and Florida), whereas Arkansas is sitting pretty atop the league with just one conference loss – Sunday’s finale against Auburn.

By no means will the winner of the series this weekend in Fayetteville seal up some sort of magical honor as the SEC’s best. The league is too deep, too tough to make such proclamations three weeks into conference play. It isn’t SEC basketball, after all. But for the purposes of the king of the mountain in the best baseball conference in the country, the Diamond Hogs-Tigers rivalry will provide some firepower.

Diamond Hogs change starting rotation on the mound vs. LSU

Actually, this might make Arkansas’ pitching even better.

During Wednesday’s press conference previewing this weekend’s series versus No. 8 LSU, coach Dave Van Horn told the media that there will be slight shake-up in the starting rotation.

Since the beginning of the season, the starting pitchers have played in the order of Hagen Smith on game one, then Brady Tygart, and finally Mason Molina. For the LSU series, Tygart and Molina will switch places.

Van Horn wants Tygart to have an extra day “to get right” after an uncharacteristic outing from the righty. Against Auburn, Tygart had trouble finding the zone, giving up 3 earned runs and a single-game career-high 5 walks in 3 2/3 innings.

Despite the performance, Tygart still has a 1.59 ERA on the season with 39 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings pitched.

There will be no drop-off in production on Friday, though. Molina is arguably the best third-day starter in the country. Other than a slightly higher ERA, he has a similar stat line to the other starters, recording a 2.57 ERA, 12 hits, 8 walks, and 47 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched.

Arkansas’ series against the Tigers starts Thursday, March 28, at 6:00 pm.

Diamond Hogs roll Little Rock, get set for LSU

After having a 15-game winning streak snapped, No. 1 Arkansas took out the hammers against Little Rock.

Poor Little Rock. The Trojans didn’t even stand a chance.

No. 1 Arkansas jolted their sister school from the capital city on Tuesday from Baum-Walker Stadium, 11-0, in seven innings. The win returned the Diamond Hogs to the black side of the ledger after seeing a 15-game winning streak snapped Sunday against Auburn.

Wehiwa Aloy did a bulk of Arkansas’ damage against the school formerly known as UALR. The Diamond Hogs shortstop went 3 for 3 with a walk, a home run, four RBI and two runs. The jack came in the sixth, an inning in which Arkansas plated six runs to reach the run-rule threshold.

Peyton Stovall, Will Edmundson and Jack Wagner also homered for Arkansas.

On the hill, Ben Bybee made his season debut for the Razorbacks after losing the start of the year with mono. Bybee needed only work three innings where he allowed just one hit while striking out five. Arkansas had given him a two-run lead already heading into the second after a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded bean-ball in the first.

The Diamond Hogs are now set for their toughest series of the season to this point. Arkansas will host No. 8 LSU for three games in Fayetteville on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Hagen Smith Earns his second SEC Pitcher of the Week honor

It’s surprising he hasn’t won it every week to be honest.

It’s honestly amazing how he hasn’t won this every week.

For the second time this season, Arkansas ace Hagen Smith earned Co-SEC Pitcher of the Week for his spectacular performance at No. 23 Auburn. The first of which he received after his monstrous, 17-strikeout performance against Oregon State.

Smith held the Tigers scoreless for six innings on Thursday, leading the Hogs to a 1-0 victory on the plains. In the process, he recorded his fourth game with double-digit strikeouts and his third with 12-plus.

If it wasn’t evident before then it surely is now; Smith has solidified himself as one of—if not the best pitchers in the country. The lefty has a 1.24 earned run average with 62 strikeouts on the season. However, if the James Madison game were removed, his ERA would go down to 0.32 for 60 Ks in 28 innings.

Smith is now tied for fourth on the all-time career strikeout list at Arkansas. His 12 strikeouts on Thursday brought his career total to 261.

Hoping to continue his dominant run, Smith is slated to start against No. 8 LSU on Thursday, March 28.

Hogs drop series final at Auburn

Arkansas failed to sweep Auburn, but an SEC series win is good enough.

I’ll take a 2-1 SEC  series all day, every day, and twice on Sundays.

Arkansas sweep attempt came up short Saturday afternoon. Auburn’s sixth-inning explosion put them over the top, winning 8-6.

Arkansas’ pitching staff showed some signs they were indeed human this weekend, giving up the most runs since their opening series against James Maddison.

Mason Molina did great, recording 4 strikeouts, 3 hits, 4 walks, and an earned run in 5 innings pitched. But on Saturday, the problem started when Molina left the game.

Cooper Dossett replaced Molina in the sixth and immediately gave up a leadoff home run to Auburn’s Mason Maners. Gabe Gaeckle replaced him after Dossett allowed a single on the following at-bat but immediately gave up a double and a walk to load the bases.

The Hogs gave up runs on another walk, a fielder’s choice, and finally, a bases-clearing homer by Copper McMurray for a six-run inning. To the pitching staff’s credit, McMurray was the Tiger’s best hitter, and the 3-RBI home run was the first and only hit of the series for the southpaw.

Regardless, a series win is a series win, and the Razorbacks are 2-0 in the SEC, which can’t be said for Arkansas’ next opponent.

No. 5 LSU will make the trip to Fayetteville this week for a battle of heavyweights.

The Tigers dropped their first series to Mississippi State and are currently 1-1 against Florida. They’ll be looking to make some noise against the No. 1 team in the country, especially if Florida can pull out the win today.

Diamond Hogs win back-and-forth battle to clinch series against Auburn

It was a long one… But what a ‘Helfrick’ of a game! Ryder Helfrick hits a go-ahead home run to push Arkansas past the Tigers.

It was a long one, but it was a great one!

For the first time this season, Arkansas had an off night on the bump. Auburn’s leadoff hitters reached base in 7 innings and nearly doubled Arkansas’ 5.64 H/9 average with 10.

Arkansas pitched by committee tonight, playing 6 different pitchers throughout the game. Brady Tygart had a hard time finding the zone against the Tigers, gave up a single-game career-high 5 walks with 4 strikeouts.

Kody Franks came in for relief and gave up 5 hits and a run in 2 innings. Gage Wood entered the match for 0.2 innings and loaded the bases with one out.

Luckily, the Razorbacks got out of the bottom of the seventh with a strikeout by Stone Hewlett and an outstanding effort by Ben McLaughlin to get a ground out at first.

Pitching isn’t solely to blame. Stolen bases and errors kept the Tigers in the game as much as the pitching did. But like all elite teams, Arkansas found ways to stay in the game while having arguably its worst performance of the season.

Arkansas hitters matched the Tigers run for run, including playing a little small-ball to tie the game in the top of the seventh.  Leadoff hitter Will Edmunson was hit by the ball on the first pitch he took.

Ty Wilmsmeyer singled on a bunt, allowing Edmunson to reach third on an error. Peyton Stovall then brought in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. After that, the real magic happened.

The game was delayed nearly 30 minutes when home plate umpire Jeff Head left after a foul ball hit him in the face in the bottom of the eighth. Auburn obviously took the break harder as the Razorbacks closed out the inning easily and moved on to the ninth.

On the second at-bat, Ryder Helfrick broke the tie with a dinger over Auburn’s big green wall. It was his first action at the plate since March 9 and his first hit since February 27.

Will McEntire got the call to ice the game and that was all she wrote. Hogs win 6-5.

With a win tomorrow, Arkansas can extend its winning streak to 15 games and sweep its second SEC series.

The Hogs grind out a win at Auburn, take game one

It was a good ol’ fashion pitcher’s duel to start thing off against the Tigers.

“Look at all those zeros.”

That’s what Thursday night’s color analyst Greg Olson said about the scoreboard going into the 9th inning. The first meeting between Auburn and Arkansas wasn’t a game for the offense-loving fans.

The only action of the day happened early in the game. In the top of the first, Wehiwa Aloy hit a single-run homer with two outs to put the Hogs on top. Catcher Hudson White was the best hitter to take the field tonight, going 3-4.

Besides Aloy and White, though, only Ben McLaughlin and Ty Wilmsmeyer recorded a hit for the Razorbacks, with one a piece.

Of course, Hagen Smith was the star of the show. The lefty has shut down every offense he’s faced, including arguably the best in the nation in Oregon State. Tonight, Smith had yet another double-digit strikeout performance.

However, things did get hairy in the sixth. Smith found himself in a bases-loaded situation after Auburn right-fielder Bobby Pierce reached first on a dropped fly ball and after he gave up a walk two batters later. But with two outs, every base was playable, and the Hogs easily got out of the inning with a ground out to first.

Will McEntire and Gabe Gaeckle combined for 5 more Ks in three innings to close the game.

Arkansas can take its second SEC series tomorrow with a win. Although, the hitters will need to step up to make that happen. The Diamond Hogs will need that production after this series anyway—especially at the top of the order—as they dive deeper into a punishing SEC Schedule. It might as well start against the Tigers.

Devo Davis has announced his plan to enter the transfer portal

After four years, Devo Davis is leaving the University of Arkansas and entering the transfer portal.

After four years of donning the Arkansas Razorbacks across his chest, Davonte “Devo” Davis announced that he would move on from his home-state school and enter the transfer portal.

Davis has been a fan favorite since his freshman year performance in March.  His suffocating defense kept Texas Tech’s Mac McClung from grabbing the final shot in Arkansas’ round of 32 match against the Red Raiders, and his clutch, game-winning shot against Oral Roberts secured the Razorbacks’ bid to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1996.

The state loved Devo, but he reciprocated that sentiment, too. In his message to Razorback Nation, he wrote,

Through years of practice and hard work, my goal was always to play for the Arkansas Razorbacks! It was a dream come true to wear a Razorback jersey and represent my home state.

I want to thank the Razorback fans, teammates and coaches for their support. I’m grateful for the amazing sponsors that gave me opportunities to partner with their brands.

From game clinching dunks, to hitting game winning shots in March, the memories will live with me forever.

with much thought and prayer, I’ve decided to enter the transfer portal and explore pro opportunities.

No matter where this journey takes me, Arkansas will always be home to my family and Me.

 

His tenure helped to foster a new era of success for the program, restoring the sleeping giant that Razorback basketball. In the process, the Jacksonville, Ark. native became just the ninth player in Arkansas history with 900+ points, 400+ rebounds, 200+ assists & 100+ steals in a Hogs uniform.

Davis led the Razorbacks to two Elite Eight and three Sweet Sixteen appearances and was named to the SEC All-defensive team his junior year. He was also honored off the court with three SEC Academic Honor Roll and four Department’s Honor Roll accolades.

Devo is the fourth player to announce his decision to leave Arkansas, along with Joseph Pinion, Denijay Harris, and Keyon Menifield Jr.

 

SEC Baseball Power Rankings: Week 5- Arkansas stays on top in the midst of chaos

Total Chaos in week 5, and it was just the opening weekend of SEC play…

“Embrace the chaos.”

It should replace the famed SEC saying, “It just means more,” for baseball after the crazy weekend we just experienced.

LSU and Tennessee lost their opening series, and Vanderbilt jumped up in the rankings with the other elite teams after it swept Auburn. Alabama and the Mississippi schools were outstanding this weekend, winning their series against top-20 teams. And after a promising beginning to the season, Georgia fell the most after being swept by Kentucky.

The only three teams not on the move this week were Arkansas, Mizzou, and Florida.

It’s important not to overreact to anything, though. This is baseball. Elite teams will lose, and the bottom dwellers will get their crumbs. Chaos will continue to happen, and it’s going to be incredibly fun to watch.

Arkansas baseball obliterates Tigers in SEC opener, winning final game 9-1

Arkansas didn’t just sweep Mizzou; they mopped, vacuumed, *insert any other household chore here*, and finally, took them out with the trash.

From now on, when you open a dictionary to the word “obliteration,” next to it will be the 2024 Arkansas/Mizzou series box score.

After holding the Tigers to just one run this weekend, the Diamond Hogs swept their SEC opener with a 9-1 win.

From beginning to end, the series was dominated by Arkansas, holding Mizzou to 24 consecutive scoreless innings. In game three, the Hogs held them scoreless and hitless until the 6th inning.

Thomas Curry’s leadoff shot to right field was the first and only Tigers run against the Razorbacks.

Mason Molina pitched an outstanding game again, striking out 10 batters in 5 1/3 innings and allowing a hit, a hit-by-pitch, and 3 walks.

After starting the season off terribly, Wehiwa Aloy is beginning to demonstrate what all the preseason hype was about. Today, he went 2/3 from the plate and drove in 3 runs.

As far as the rest of the hitters are concerned, they were tremendous. They scored a run in 5 of 8 possible innings. Only one run was from a home run, which is a more sustainable strategy than betting on the long ball every game.

Arkansas now looks forward to its next SEC series at Auburn. After a promising beginning to the season, the Tigers were just swept by Vanderbilt and now have to face the No. 1 team in the nation.

The Razorbacks will not play a midweek game but will start the series early on Thursday at 6:00 PM.