Category: Arkansas baseball

Razorbacks take fourth straight series from South Carolina

Arkansas can win its second SEC baseball title in three years thanks to a series victory over South Carolina.

Arkansas is in the driver’s seat to win the Southeastern Conference regular season baseball title.

Behind a complete game effort from freshman Hunter Hollan and timely hitting from John Bolton, Parker Rowland and Caleb Cali, the Razorbacks took down South Carolina on Sunday, 5-1.

The No. 3 ranked Hogs will trek to Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday to begin the final regular season series against Vanderbilt.

Arkansas has a half game lead over LSU in the Western Division, and a game lead over Florida for the overall crown.

Hollan threw 113 pitches and retired 20 of the final 21 Gamecock batters in order to end the game. The southpaw struck out 10 and only walked one.

One more victory will clinch 20 SEC victories for only the third time in program history, joining the 1999 and 2021 teams.

A SEC title would also be the third of the Dave Van Horn era, as he also won championships in 2004 and 2021.

The only thing the Gamecocks mustered was a third inning home run to left from Will Tippett.

Ben McLaughlin put the finishing touches on the contest with a home run to right center in the eighth.

Arkansas falls to South Carolina in game two

Despite Saturday night’s loss, Arkansas still has a half-game lead in the SEC standings going into the series finale.

Brady Tygart was as good as advertised, but South Carolina was just a little better.

The Gamecocks took the second game of the series on Saturday night at Baum-Walker Stadium, 3-1.

Sunday’s rubber game will be the final regular season home contest.

Will McEntire relieved Tygart and ran into some trouble early but eventually settled down and held the visitors in check.

The problem was the Razorback bats never got untracked off Gamecock ace Jack Mahoney.

They did score a run late on a Jace Bohrofen RBI single but it was to no avail.

Despite the loss, Arkansas maintained a half-game lead in the SEC thanks to LSU’s loss to Mississippi State and a game lead on both Vanderbilt and Florida.

Arkansas baseball vs. South Carolina – Game 2: How to watch, stream, listen

Arkansas looks to capture the series with No. 7 South Carolina tonight with Brady Tygart on the mound. Here’s how to watch all of the action.

The No. 3 Diamond Hogs handled business in Game 1 of their weekend season with South Carolina on Friday night, defeating the No. 7 Gamecocks 4-1.

Behind a solid outing from the Razorback bullpen and the hot bat of [autotag]Kendall Diggs[/autotag], Arkansas took sole control in the SEC standings. Tonight, they’ll have the chance to capture another conference series win.

Coming off of back-to-back sweeps against Texas A&M and Mississippi State, the Diamond Hogs are hitting their stride at the right time once again. This coincides with the team finally getting back healthy after suffering numerous key injuries across the roster.

Stud RHP [autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag], who missed the majority of the season with a sprained UCL, will make his third start tonight since returning from injury. In his last outing, Tygart looked great in two innings of worked. He allowed no hits, no runs and struck out one batter against Mississippi State last weekend.

Here’s how fans can catch all of tonight’s action between the Hogs and Gamecocks.

Arkansas edges past South Carolina in opener

The Razorbacks improved to 29-3 at home and won their 18th SEC game with a 4-1 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks Friday night.

It’s Kendall Diggs’ world and we’re just living in it.

A pitchers duel ensued at Baum-Walker Stadium the first five innings, but No. 3 Arkansas was able to outlast visiting No. 6 South Carolina and take game one of the three-game series, 4-1.

The win gave the Razorbacks the sole lead in the Southeastern Conference standings with five games to go before the SEC Tournament in Hoover.

Hagen Smith hurled for 5 and 2/3 innings, surrendering only a single run and four hits while striking out seven Gamecocks. He did walk three.

Kendall Diggs laced an RBI single to right in the third inning to open the scoring, plating Peyton Holt.

South Carolina didn’t score until the fifth inning, and the Razorbacks took the lead back the following frame. After Jace Bohrofen drew a lead off walk, Ben McLaughlin moved him to third with a single, and then Caleb Cali hit into a double play but it scored Bohrofen.

Diggs again came through in the seventh. The Gamecocks loaded the bases and he ripped another base knock to right, driving in both John Bolton and Holt.

Gage Wood relieved Smith in the sixth and recorded the final 10 outs for his second win of the year. His first came against Alabama back in late March.

The series continues at 6 p.m. tonight. It is Dominic Fletcher Shirsey night and it is a red out.

Arkansas baseball vs South Carolina – Game 1: How to watch, stream, listen

Arkansas will have its last series at home this year starting Friday. But the Diamond Hogs are seeking to host an NCAA Regional, too.

The nation will have its eyes set on Baum-Walker Stadium with the top-ten matchup between the third-ranked Diamond Hogs and No. 7 South Carolina this weekend.

Both teams are fighting for the top spot in the conference, sharing the same record (36-12). What separates the two is the conference record. Arkansas tied with Vanderbilt for the best record in the SEC (17-7).

The Gamecocks have been a surprise this year but can no longer be viewed as an underdog. They have quality series under their belt, defeating LSU 13-5 and sweeping Florida.

The last time Baum-Walker Stadium hosted a top-10 series was in 2021, when the No. 1 Diamond Hogs swept No. 9 Florida to the end the season.

Here is how to catch the action.

Hagen Smith back to rotation for Arkansas against South Carolina

Hagen Smith has been Arkansas’ best and most consistent pitcher this season. He’ll start against the Gamecocks on Friday.

Hagen Smith’s stay in the Arkansas rotation will last at least one more weekend.

Arkansas’ sophomore left-hander had spent a bulk of the SEC portion of the Razorbacks’ schedule in the bullpen. Coach Dave Van Horn moved him back to the rotation last week against Mississippi State. The Diamond Hogs won that game, 6-2, and swept the series.

Van Horn said Thursday that Smith would stay in that spot in the team’s final series at Baum-Walker Stadium this year against South Carolina. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Arkansas owns a half-game lead over LSU for the SEC West lead. South Carolina is three games behind Vanderbilt and in third place in the SEC East. The Hogs are ranked third and the Gamecocks seventh.

Smith has been Arkansas’ best pitcher by far this season. He’s pitched in 13 games with seven starts and his 2.56 earned-run average is best on the team in his 52 innings. He has 28 more strikeouts (79) than any other pitcher on the roster and opponents are batting just .181 against him.

SEC Baseball Power Rankings: Hogs back in top three

Only two weeks remaining in the SEC baseball regular season, and it’s a five-team race for the top seed. 

Only two weeks remaining in the SEC baseball regular season, and it’s a five-team race for the top seed.

The SEC will likely have eight teams in the tournament, and all eight have an opportunity to make it to the College World Series. The SEC regular season has been a gauntlet, and those that make it out will be well prepared.

We’ll have to wait until these last two weeks of games to determine who will make it out. Six conference games on the schedule could turn into a back-to-back sweep if somebody isn’t careful.

As for the Diamond Hogs, they have two tough conference series to end the season, but they are currently riding a six-game win streak against SEC opponents.

Diamond Hogs up to No. 3 in the nation in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

LSU is the only SEC team ranked ahead of Arkansas in the poll. The Diamond Hogs lead the Tigers in the standings.

Polls haven’t meant anything in more than a decade. But ask any fan if they feel something when the weekly ones are released, and they would, if being honest, tell you yes.

For Arkansas baseball that’s definitely the case.

The Razorbacks jumped three spots on Monday in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, going from No. 6 to No. 3 following a weekend sweep of Mississippi State. Now, the only SEC team ahead of Arkansas is LSU, a team who dropped one spot, alternating with Wake Forest.

The SEC owned four of the top five spots in the poll and five of the top 10. Behind Arkansas was No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Florida. South Carolina was No. 7, while Kentucky was ranked 16th and Tennessee 20th.

Arkansas will host Vandy from Friday to Sunday at Baum-Walker Stadium in the penultimate series of the regular season. The Diamond Hogs own a 1/2-game lead over LSU for first in the SEC West.

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Arkansas’ sweep of MSU, LSU’s loss to Auburn vault Diamond Hogs into first

Kendall Diggs and Jace Bohrofen had massive days as Arkansas swept Mississippi State on Sunday.

With just two weekends left in the regular season, Arkansas finds itself back on top of the SEC West.

By sweeping Mississippi State on Sunday with an 11-6 win combined with  Auburn’s upset of LSU, the Diamond Hogs re-took first-place in the SEC West, a 1/2-game up on the Tigers.

The Razorbacks took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the fourth on the strength of Jace Bohrofen’s two-out, three-run double. Then, in the fifth, Kendall Diggs cleared the bases with a grand slam and Bohrofen followed him with a solo shot.

That was more than enough for Arkansas’ fourth pitchers. Hunter Hollan went only 3 2/3 innings and allowed four runs, but Cody Adcock, Zack Morris and Parker Coil limited the Bulldogs to just two runs and two hits the rest of the way.

Arkansas’ win was its sixth straight and sixth series win in eight such in the SEC. Sunday’s victory also allowed the Razorbacks to pick up their second SEC sweep of the season.

The Diamond Hogs will play their final series of the season at Baum-Walker Stadium from Friday to Sunday against South Carolina. USC is ranked No. 5 in the country. Arkansas is sixth.

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Diamond Hogs run-rule Mississippi State in Game 2, take series

Brady Tygart pitched in his second game since returning from injury and Arkansas was sharp.

The Arkansas baseball team played one of its most complete games of the season Saturday to take the series against Mississippi State.

Arkansas collected 11 hits and picked up strong efforts from Brady Tygart and Will McEntire on the mound to take Game 2, 14-2, in just seven innings. The victory was the Diamond Hogs’ fifth in a row and, combined with Auburn’s defeat of LSU, moved the team to just 1 1/2 games back of the Tigers in the SEC West.

The Razorbacks damaged every pitcher Mississippi State tried. They were never retired 1-2-3 in an inning and scored runs in five different frames. A five-run seventh inning was enough to end the game early after MSU didn’t score in the bottom.

Tygart pitched his second game since March 1 after returning from injury. He started and went two innings, giving up just a walk. McEntire finished the final five and struck out four.

At the plate Kendall Diggs had the best day. He went 3 for 4 with a home run, five RBI and two runs. Caleb Cali and Brady Slavens also homered.

Arkansas will go for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.

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