The Arkansas baseball team looked great and not great somehow at the same time on Friday.
The top-seeded and fifth-ranked Diamond Hogs dispatched fourth-seeded Southeast Missouri State in the opening game of the Fayetteville Regional in the NCAA Tournament, 17-9. Arkansas will get the winner of Kansas State and Louisiana Tech on Saturday and the loser of the game between those two teams will play SEMO in an elimination game the same day.
Arkansas was ridiculous at the plate, clubbing 16 hits, nine of which went for extra bases. Six of those were home runs, including two from Hudson White and two from Ben McLaughlin. Those two players combined to knock in 11 of the Razorbacks’ runs.
It was hardly a walkover, though. After racing to an 8-0 lead, the Diamond Hogs saw SEMO tie things in the fifth inning. The Redhawks chased starter Mason Molina after 2 2/3 innings and did the same to Will McEntire after 1 2/3 innings. Both gave up four runs apiece.
Home runs from Wehiwa Aloy and Kendall Diggs in the bottom of the fifth gave Arkansas the last lead it would need and the team went ahead and tacked on seven more runs in the seventh and eighth to create a final score that was not exactly indicative of the tense nature.
And, of course, this being Razorbacks sports, social media had plenty to say. Let’s examine some of the most legitimate tweets.
Arkansas entered the 64-team NCAA Tournament with the lowest batting average among all the teams. But three weeks of baseball is all that matters from here.
What a monster game for a guy who, after a solid middle of the season, struggled a bit in the final weeks. Just what Arkansas needs now, though.
Hagen Smith is the best pitcher in the country. He may be the Golden Spikes Award winner. Arkansas has that going for it.
Southeast Missouri State proved it can rake. It’ll be a danger to whichever team they have to play Saturday.
The good news is that Gaeckle was fantastic and the reason Arkansas was able to hold off a charge. The bad is that he probably won’t go again until Monday (if a Monday game is needed).
The Missouri transfer did not have the season anyone anticipated, but a heck of a day at the plate could be something to get him going this postseason.
We have said it before about Dave Van Horn, but it bears repeating. The man knows which buttons to push for his teams.
Jake Uhlenhopp had a rough day calling balls and strikes. Definitely part of the reason the score was as wild as it was.
The nerves were very real for a very long time. And the weekend is hardly finished. But, hey, survive and advance. Also: go watch Ti West’s movies, like the one in this tweet.