Tag: Arkansas Vanderbilt

Hogs given 75% chance to beat Vandy in SEC Tournament

ESPN’s computers say the Hogs will extend their season Wednesday.

The last time Arkansas played Vanderbilt, the result was one of the most depressing of the Razorbacks’ basketball season. And that’s saying something.

But the computers at ESPN don’t see that happening again. Arkansas is being given a 75% chance to knock off the Commodores in the first of the SEC Tournament when the teams meet for a rematch Wednesday.

Arkansas enters the conference tourney as the No. 12-seed, whereas Vanderbilt is No. 13. They tip at 6 p.m. from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and the winner will get 5-seed South Carolina on Thursday at about 2:30 p.m. The Gamecocks beat both teams during the regular season by double-digits.

The Hogs have to win the SEC Championship to make a fourth straight NCAA Tournament after finishing the regular season 15-16 overall and 6-12 in SEC play. Both marks yielded the team’s worst winning percentages since the 2008-09 season.

Arkansas has a shot, even if it’s a long one. Coach Eric Musselman’s team has plenty of talent on paper, having been picked to finish in the top four in the SEC during the regular season. Injuries and inconsistency put the Hogs on the back foot to start SEC play and every time it appeared Arkansas had fixed some things, a blight appeared. A blight like Vanderbilt, which beat the Razorbacks by three in Bud Walton Arena at the end of February.

Diamond Hogs collapse, allow Vanderbilt rally to tie series

Arkansas still may be the nation’s best team. But Friday’s collapse against Vanderbilt stung.

Arkansas may be the SEC’s best team, which, in turn, makes it perhaps the nation’s best team.

But even the best make mistakes.

The third-ranked Razorbacks lost to No. 6 Vanderbilt on Friday in the second game of the series, 10-8. Arkansas carried an 8-2 lead into the eighth inning in Nashville.

The Commodores struck for eight in the frame, sending 11 hitters to the plate. They had just five hits, as two walks and hit batter helped things along. Gage Wood entered to start the inning for Arkansas despite the man he replaced, Zack Morris, had given up just a single walk and no hits while striking out six in his three innings of work.

Wood record just one out. All five of Vanderbilt hitters who reached against him – via three hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch – scored. Cody Adcock gave up two more runs and didn’t record an out in his relief and Parker Coil allowed one before finally getting Arkansas out of the inning.

The Razorbacks’ lead came early as they scored three runs in the first. Back-to-back solo home runs for Vanderbilt followed in the second before Arkansas scored five straight.

Peyton Holt, Brady Slavens and Caleb Cali combined for eight of Arkansas’ 11 hits, six of the eight RBI and six of the eight runs.

The rubber game between the two teams is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m.

Arkansas baseball vs Vanderbilt – Game 3: How to watch, stream, listen

The season finale rubber match between the Diamond Hogs and Vandy Boys.

Saturday’s series finale between Arkansas and Vanderbilt holds implications. Especially after Friday’s Game 2.

In that game, Arkansas held a 8-2 lead up until the Vanderbilt boys put together a big eighth inning, giving them a 10-8 comeback victory.

The loss prevented the Diamond Hogs from clinching the SEC regular season title, giving them only a half-game lead over LSU and one game lead over Florida. Florida suffered a 6-4 loss to Kentucky, while LSU clinched their series against Georgia with an 8-4 victory. 

The Hogs will need to win the final game of the season to claim the SEC season title. If they can’t capture the victory, they will need losses from both Florida and especially LSU.

Giving up multiple runs in one inning has hurt the Hogs in the past. This will be something Dave Van Horn has to address before the NCAA Tournament, and hopefully, it doesn’t continue to haunt them in the future.

Arkansas baseball vs Vanderbilt – Game 2: How to watch, stream, listen

Arkansas looks to clinch the series over Vanderbilt with a game two victory.

Arkansas Razorbacks opened their series against Vanderbilt with an 8-2 victory. 

Hagen Smith and Will McEntire split the work on the mound, combining for nine innings pitched, allowing six hits, and striking out 13 batters. Smith earned the win, while McEntire earned the save.

The Diamond Hogs are the first team in the SEC to have 20 conference wins this year, only the fourth time since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992.

All nine Arkansas batters tagged Commodore starter Patrick Reilly for four runs on one hit, four walks, one hit batsman, and two errors in the first inning. Brady Slavens hit a two-run blast to right field that traveled 398 feet.

The star of the lineup was Peyton Holt, who is taking over for the injured Peyton Stovall at second base. Holt led the team with three hits, his second three-hit game of the season.

Diamond Hogs take series opener against Vanderbilt

The Diamond Hogs used a fast start to put the Commodores away early in Thursday night’s series opener.

The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (39-13, 20-8) used a hot start to strike first in their weekend road series with No. 12 Vanderbilt (35-16, 17-11) on Thursday night.

Vanderbilt starting pitcher Patrick Reilly had an abysmal start, walking four batters in the first inning. The Diamond Hogs were able to capitalize on Reilly’s terrible start and jump out to a 4-0 lead.

Peyton Holt continued his stretch of incredible play, going 3-for-4 with a double, walk and an RBI. Brady Slavens was able to record his ninth home run of the season in the first inning and finished 2-for-4.

Hagen Smith started for the Razorbacks and was able to pick up his eighth win of the year after striking out seven hitters and allowing just two runs on five hits in five innings of work. Will McEntire recorded his second save of the year after striking out six hitters and only allowing one hit over the final four innings.

The win on Thursday night gave Arkansas its 20th conference win of the season, which is the third time its reached that milestone under Dave Van Horn. Arkansas will try to clinch the series tonight at 7:00 p.m. with Brady Tygart expected to be on the mound for the Diamond Hogs.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=131]

Remember Jared Wegner? He’s back for Arkansas baseball

Arkansas outfielder Jared Wegner hasn’t played in a month. He’ll be back against Vandy as the Diamond Hogs seek to clinch SEC title.

You’ll be forgiven if you are a so-called Arkansas baseball casual and don’t quite remember Jared Wegner. The fly-by-night, I-don’t-pay-attention-until-the-NCAA-Tournament crowd might not know him.

But if you’re a Diamond Hogs fans – not even a hardcore one, at that – Wegner’s scheduled return Thursday against Vanderbilt has you excited.

The Arkansas outfielder, a transfer from Creighton, hasn’t played since mid-April after suffering a fractured thumb. At the time, he was the Razorbacks’ leading hitter in just about every category. Still, heading into the series opener against the Commodores, Wegner is still second on the team in home runs (12) by just one, third in RBI (44) by just one and he steals leads in slugging and on-base percentage.

Coach Dave Van Horn’s only question is where to plug him back into the lineup. The Razorbacks have been dynamite in his absence, taking first-place to Nashville. Arkansas is one game ahead of Florida and 1 1/2 games ahead of LSU in the West. The top four finishers in the SEC get double-byes at the SEC Tournament next week. The Hogs can’t finish any worse than fourth no matter what happens with Vanderbilt.

First pitch Thursday from Vandy is scheduled for 6 p.m. Expect Wegner in the lineup.

[lawrence-auto-related count=1]

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

Arkansas travels to Nashville for a three game series against Vanderbilt to end the season.

We’ve reached the last weekend of the SEC season, and the Diamond Hogs have another nationally-ranked matchup for the consecutive week.

Last week, Arkansas won the series after winning two games against South Carolina, the top team in the SEC East before the series. However, thanks to the Hogs, Florida is now the division’s leader.

Vandy is second in the east after being swept by the Gators last week.

The Hogs can claim the top seed in the SEC Tournament with a series win, one game ahead of the Gators. A sweep would be ideal and surely give them the top seed no matter what the Gators do. No matter what, the Hogs have to win at least two games this weekend if they want a chance at the top seed.