Category: Arkansas baseball

For the fifth time in six seasons, the Arkansas Razorbacks are SEC West division champions.

The Diamond Hogs overcame a fast start from Texas A&M and scored three runs in the eighth inning for a 6-3 come-from-behind victory at Blue Bell Park in College Station Friday night.

It’s the ninth division title in program history for the Razorbacks (43-11 overall, 20-9 SEC).

Getting it was anything but easy.

Texas A&M (43-11, 18-11) got on the board with two first-inning runs against Arkansas starter Gage Wood. Jace LaViolette reached on a throwing error from Peyton Stovall on a groundball to second base, then Braden Montgomery hit a two-run home run for a quick 2-0 Aggies lead.

The Razorbacks answered with single runs in the second and third innings. After singles from Hudson White and Ryder Helfrick, Peyton Holt notched Arkansas’ third hit of the second inning, an RBI single through the left side off Aggies starter Brad Rudis that cut the lead to 2-1.

An inning later, with Rudis already chased after the three hits he allowed in the second, Wehiwa Aloy tied the game with a 400-foot solo home run to left-center off Texas A&M reliever Justin Lamkin.

The Aggies went back ahead in the bottom of the third when LaViette singled home Gavin Grahovec for a 3-2 lead. Wood maintained his composure and would not allow another run to score. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits to go with five strikeouts in five innings.

Arkansas tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth on an RBI single from Ben McLaughlin before their big inning in the eighth.

The Razorbacks got four consecutive hits to start the inning. A leadoff single from Stovall was followed by a double from Aloy down the left field line off reliever Josh Stewart.

White then delivered the crushing blow, a three-run homer to left that gave Arkansas the lead for good at 6-3. White’s home run was his fifth of the season and fourth in the past seven games.

McLaughlin followed White with a single for the Razorbacks’ fourth straight hit to open the inning but was stranded when Tanner Jones retired all three batters he faced in relief of Stewart.

A somewhat unexpected name helped the Razorbacks close things out on the mound. Mason Molina, one of the team’s weekend starters, made his first relief appearance of the season in the seventh inning after Parker Coil hit Travis Chestnut with a pitch to open the frame.

Molina (4-2) then proceeded to retire all nine batters he faced over the final three innings to earn the win. The left-hander struck out two and allowed only two balls to leave the infield.

Stewart (1-2) suffered the loss for the Aggies in 1 2/3 innings. Arkansas finished with 11 hits and limited Texas A&M to seven. One night after allowing the winning run to score on a walk-off walk, Razorbacks’ pitching did not allow a base on balls all night Friday.

Stovall (3-for-4) led Arkansas at the plate with three hits. Aloy (2-5), White (2-3) and McLaughlin (2-4) added two hits apiece.

Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m CDT and can be seen on SEC Network and the ESPN app.

Three 11th-inning walks doomed No. 2 Arkansas in a 1-0 loss to No. 4 Texas A&M in the opener of the final SEC regular-season series for both schools Thursday night at Blue Bell Park in College Station.

After first pitch was delayed by rain for 90 minutes, the game became every bit a pitchers’ duel as they get between two ace left-handers. Arkansas’ Hagen Smith and Texas A&M’s Ryan Prager were the featured performers, and neither disappointed.

Smith became the Razorbacks’ all-time strikeout leader when he rung up Ali Camarillo looking for the second out of the fifth inning. It was Smith’s 11th strikeout of the night, passing Nick Schmidt’s previous record of 345 strikeouts from 2005-07.

Smith’s night ended after six strong innings. The Bullard, Texas native, who was named a semifinalist for the 2024 Dick Howser Trophy earlier in the day, allowed just two hits and finished with 14 strikeouts. Smith left after recording all three outs in the sixth by way of the strikeout. He threw 98 pitches, 63 strikes.

Prager wasn’t quite as dominant for Texas A&M, but he threw seven scoreless innings and held the Razorbacks to five hits and one walk. He struck out nine batters and didn’t allow an extra base hit, throwing 101 pitches (72 for strikes).

Arkansas threatened in the second inning after getting back-to-back singles from Ryder Helfrick and Hudson White with two out. Both runners were stranded when Prager struck out Jayson Jones to end the threat.

In the sixth, Peyton Stovall led off with a single and Jared Sprague-Lott followed with a walk to give the Diamond Hogs runners at first and second with no one out. Prager escaped trouble by getting Wehiwa Aloy to ground into a double play before striking out Ben McLaughlin to retire the side.

While both teams threatened, things stayed scoreless until the 11th. After Caden Sorrell made a game-saving catch against the wall in left earlier that inning to keep a run off the board, Gavin Grahovac drew a one-out walk against Jake Faherty, the Razorbacks’ fifth reliever of the night. Jace LaViolette then singled through the left side, allowing Grahovac to go from first to third.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn called for Parker Coil to face switch-hitting Braden Montgomery. Batting from the right side, Montgomery struck out on three pitches for the second out. Jackson Appel was walked intentionally to load the bases and prompt another pitching change.

Will McEntire entered as the Razorbacks’ third pitcher of the inning and seventh of the night to face Ted Burton. The right-hander fell behind 2-1 in the count, then missed with two straight fastballs down in the zone to walk in the winning run.

Faherty (0-1) suffered the loss while Evan Aschenbeck (5-1) earned the win with four scoreless innings of relief. Aschenbeck allowed four hits but didn’t allow a walk and struck out four batters.  The two pitching staffs combined for 33 strikeouts; 20 by Arkansas pitchers, 13 by Texas A&M.

Arkansas outhit Texas A&M, 9-5, but left 10 on base. LaViolette (2-for-5) and Travis Chestnut (2-4) had four of the five Aggies hits. McLaughlin (2-5) and Ty Wilmsmeyer (2-4) had two hits for Arkansas.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be seen on SEC Network.

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn wants an SEC title. And like he has done in the past, he showed Wednesday that he’s not afraid of mixing things up to get what he wants.

Van Horn is altering his second-ranked Diamond Hogs rotation for the team’s final SEC series at Texas A&M. Ace Hagen Smith will start Thursday’s opener, but Van Horn is inserting reliever Gage Wood into the rotation for Game 2. Wood has struck out 44 batters in 29 2/3 innings with only one of his 19 appearances coming as a starter.

That means either Brady Tygart of Mason Molina – or both – will be removed from the rotation for at least the set against the Aggies.

Molina carries a 4.44 earned-run average on the season and struggled last time out against Mississippi State, pitching less than two innings. Tygart has pitched poorly in each of his last two starts, allowing 17 baserunners and nine earned runs in 5 2/3 innings against MSU and Kentucky.

Arkansas is a game behind Kentucky for the regular-season crown and tied with Tennessee for second-place. Texas A&M is a game behind the Razorbacks and Volunteers. The top four finishers in the SEC receive a bye for next week’s SEC Tournament.