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.