Tag: Jaxon Wiggins

Arkansas falls to Florida in finale, ending impressive streak

Two comeback efforts from the bat of Zack Gregory weren’t enough as the Razorbacks fall to Florida on Saturday, snapping an SEC series winning streak of 13.

Amazing things must come to an end, it is inevitable.

For the No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks (23-7, 8-4 SEC), their impressive streak of 13 straight SEC series wins dating back to the 2019 season came to a close on Saturday, with a 9-7 loss to Florida (21-11, 5-7 SEC), with the Gators taking two-of-three games from the Razorbacks at Florida Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla.

Down 7-4 entering the 6th inning, Arkansas cut into the lead thanks to an error and a bases-loaded walk to trim the Gator advantage to 7-6 and tied the game in the 8th inning on a solo home run by [autotag]Zack Gregory[/autotag]. However, Florida would respond by scoring two runs thanks to brothers Deric and Jud Fabian, giving the Gators the win.

After a quiet start to the game, both offenses found their groove. Florida grabbed an early lead, and Arkansas sent an equally brutal blow right back.

The Gators would begin the inning with two singles by Colby Halter and Sterlin Thompson respectively. The third single of the inning would score the first run of the game for Florida. Wyatt Langford singled up the middle to score Halter, giving Florida the 1-0 lead.

The Gators would waste no time expanding the lead, as BT Riopelle crushed his 9th home run of the season to clear the bases, and extend Florida’s lead to 4-0.

Arkansas took the four-run blow by Florida personally, as they responded by scoring four runs of their own in the top of the 4th inning. [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag] hit an RBI single with two outs in the inning to put the Razorbacks on the board. Zack Gregory’s first comeback attempt would be a double down the right field line to score Battles, as well as [autotag]Peyton Stovall[/autotag] and [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag], to tie the game at 4-4.

Langford would help the Gators once more in the 5th inning with a three-run home run in the 5th to give his team another lead, 7-4. Arkansas responded by scoring two runs in the top of the 6th to drop Florida’s lead to one run.

The hero of the game for Arkansas at the plate was Zack Gregory. Despite not grabbing the win, Gregory put the team on his back twice, erasing two Gators leads in key moments of the game. He, along with Battles, had multiple hits for Arkansas.

[autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag] took the loss for Arkansas out of the bullpen. In 2.2 innings of work, the freshman struck out four batters while allowing two runs on two hits. Starter [autotag]Jaxon Wiggins[/autotag] allowed nine hits and seven runs in 4.0 innings, striking out five batters.

Arkansas will look to begin a new streak next weekend at home against LSU. The previous streak dated back to May 16-18, 2019, when Arkansas lost two-of-three games to Texas A&M in College Station. That season was the last time that the Razorbacks participated in the College World Series.

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Arkansas falls in finale Mississippi State, takes series, anyway

Mississippi State salvages one win Sunday as Arkansas takes series against Bulldogs.

Mississippi State escaped with one win, anyway.

Arkansas won Friday and Saturday against the Bulldogs, but MSU plated a pair of runs in the 12th to take the series finale on Sunday, 5-3

Luke Hancock and Logan Tanner had back-to-back RBI singles in the 12th to provide Mississippi State with the winning runs. Before that, all three of the Bulldogs’ runs came on solo homers. Hancock and Tanner each had one and RJ Yeager added another.

Second-ranked Arkansas had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth when the Diamond Hogs loaded the bases with one out. But [autotag]Peyton Stovall[/autotag] and [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag] struck out on back-to-back at-bats, sending the game to extra innings.

Brayden Webb was the only Diamond Hogs player with more than a hit. He went 2 for 3 with a walk and a home run.

[autotag]Jaxon Wiggins[/autotag] worked five innings for the Razorbacks, striking out four and giving up just two runs. Mississippi State scored both of its runs off Kole Ramage, who took the loss.

Arkansas is back at it Tuesday when it hosts Central Arkansas for a one-off series at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Arkansas baseball vs Mississippi State: How to watch, stream, listen to Game 3 on Sunday

The Diamond Hogs are the No. 2 team in the country and could bump a spot higher with a sweep.

Arkansas baseball is looking for another sweep.

The Diamond Hogs will get an opportunity to send Mississippi State back to Starkville winless when the teams get underway in Game 3 of the series on Sunday from Baum-Walker Stadium at 2 p.m. Both previous games have seen Arkansas win in blowouts.

Jalen Battles’ two homers and Connor Noland’s excellent start propelled Arkansas in the first game, 8-1. In Game 2 on Saturday, the Diamond Hogs blasted four home runs and ran away, 12-5.

Sophomore right-hander [autotag]Jaxon Wiggins[/autotag] will go for Arkansas in the finale.

The two teams have played to a series sweep every regular-season meeting since 2015. Arkansas had won the series in odd-numbered years while MSU had won in even-numbered years, until 2022.

Van Horn’s 300th SEC win is series clincher over Missouri

Arkansas won their 12th straight SEC series by defeating Missouri on Sunday. The win was sentimental for Razorback fans, as Dave Van Horn claimed his 300th SEC win as head coach.

The No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks won their second consecutive conference series to open league play on Sunday, defeating Missouri, 6-4, winning two of the three-game series to move to 18-4, 5-1 in SEC play.

The win keeps Arkansas in the driver’s seat of the SEC West, as they hold on to a two-game lead over Auburn, Texas A&M, LSU, and Mississippi State through two SEC series weekends. Sunday’s win over Missouri holds sentimental value for Razorback fans, as the leader of their program grabbed his 300th SEC win.

Since Dave Van Horn took over his alma mater’s baseball program in 2003, the Razorbacks have won 768 games, have appeared in the College World Series six times, and have held the title of conference champions three times. Arkansas has also made the postseason in all but one season under the direction of Van Horn.

Arkansas needed to come from behind to grab the series win over the Tigers. Missouri got on the board first on a two-run home run by Luke Mann in the 2nd inning to jump out to a 2-0 lead. The Razorbacks tied the game at 2-2 in the 4th inning thanks to a bases-loaded single by Jalen Battles to score Chris Lanzilli, and a bases-loaded walk to Zack Gregory.

Arkansas placed the dagger in Missouri in the top of the 7th inning, when they pulled away by scoring four runs in the inning, taking advantage of two Missouri errors. After a leadoff walk to Cayden Wallace and Peyton Stovall reaching base on a throwing error by Missouri’s Luke Mann, Michael Turner gave the Razorbacks the lead on a single to score Wallace. The second error of the inning would be a balk by the Tigers’ Austin Troesser that scored Stovall, pushing Arkansas ahead, 4-2.

Braydon Webb delivered the final blow with two outs in the inning by doubling down the third base line to score Robert Moore and Michael Turner to give Arkansas the 6-2 lead.

The Tigers would grab two more runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to cut into the Arkansas lead, 6-4, on a Tre Morris RBI single and a fielder’s choice that allowed Carlos Pena to score.

Seven Razorbacks grabbed a hit in the contest, with Michael Turner grabbing two hits to lead the team. On the mound, Jaxon Wiggins had another solid outing by allowing four hits and striking out eight batters over 7.1 innings of work, grabbing his 4th win of the season.

After another solid outing on Sunday, Wiggins says that he is feeling great about his recent performances, and believes in his team ahead of their next series at Mississippi State.

“For me personally, I have all the confidence in the world,” Wiggins said on the SEC Network broadcast following Arkansas’ win. “As for the team, I have confidence in them, and I’m sure that they have confidence.”

The Razorbacks will host a two-game midweek set with Little Rock before hosting the defending national champion Mississippi State Bulldogs for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

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Weekend Rotation announced for Missouri series

The weekend rotation has been a thing of beauty this season. The trio of Noland, Smith, and Wiggins will look to get the job done again as the Razorbacks travel to Missouri for a three-game SEC series.

The No. 4 Arkansas Razorbacks are sitting atop the SEC Western Division standings following a three-game sweep of the Kentucky Wildcats to open conference play last weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Razorbacks played all three aspects well. The hot sticks that Arkansas’ lineup has been swinging lately remained constant, pitching limited Wildcats runs, and the fieldwork was nearly flawless. Because of that, they were able to win all three games against Kentucky by outscoring the Wildcats, 18-6.

Starting pitching played a key role in the conference-opening series, and the Razorbacks look to keep using what has been working.

Arkansas plans to use the trio of Connor Noland, Hagen Smith, and Jaxon Wiggins on the mound this weekend as they plan to travel across the border to face the Missouri Tigers, head coach Dave Van Horn announced Thursday.

The Razorbacks will call on Connor Noland to begin the series on the bump. After a strong outing against UIC on March 10, where he tied his career-high in strikeouts with 11, Noland followed that performance with a 6.1 inning game where he struck out seven batters and allowed just one earned run.

Freshman left hander Hagen Smith continues to show consistency on the mound. In his five starts this season, Smith has allowed no more than three earned runs, and has not issued more than three walks.

Sunday’s starter Jaxon Wiggins is coming off his strongest start of the season. In Sunday’s finale against the Wildcats, Wiggins struck out eight batters while walking four and allowing zero runs to score in the 3-1 victory.

The Razorbacks begin their three game series with Missouri on Friday at 6 p.m. CDT in Columbia, Mo.

Hogs Pitching Dominates on Sweep Sunday

Jaxon Wiggins may be the best Sunday starter in the SEC. After elite pitching from Friday starter Connor Noland and Saturday starter Hagen Smith, Wiggins showed he can be just as dominant in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Kentucky. That completes a three-game sweep and puts Arkansas alone in first place in the SEC West after one weekend of conference play. 

Jaxon Wiggins may be the best Sunday starter in the SEC. After elite pitching from Friday starter Connor Noland and Saturday starter Hagen Smith, Wiggins showed he can be just as dominant in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Kentucky. That completes a three-game sweep and puts Arkansas alone in first place in the SEC West after one weekend of conference play.

After taking a few weeks to wake up, the Arkansas bats have certainly begun to make some noise. The Hogs scored 45 runs in 5 games this week. Scoring runs will not be a longterm problem.

The pitching, though, has been the main storyline for the 2022 Razorbacks after 19 games. Wiggins pitched six strong innings, yielding only four hits while not allowing a run. He did issues four walks, but he backed that up with 8 strikeouts. The few times he was in trouble Wiggins was able to get out of it.

The bullpen was phenomenal all weekend, too, and Sunday was no exception. Even Taylor gave up a solo home run in one inning of work, while freshman Brady Tygart recorded a 6-out save in which he only allowed one base hit.

For the weekend Arkansas pitching allowed a total of 6 Kentucky runs (all earned) while striking out 32 batters. It was total dominance. As the Hogs begin running the gauntlet of SEC play, make not mistake: this team is ready.

Lion Tamers: Meet the Firm of Smith, Wiggins, and Ledbetter

Pitching coach Matt Hobbs and longtime skipper Dave Van Horn pushed a “next man up” mentality amongst the men of the bullpen after projected ace Peyton Pallette went down preseason with Tommy John surgery. The group has clearly embraced the challenge. 

The Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team has won 7 of its first 10 games, but you’d hardly know it by monitoring the levels of concern on Hog Twitter. Only one of the seven wins has been a true laugher (a 15-3 win over Omaha on Wednesday), and the losses have been marred by a dormant offense. The 2021 Hogs used gorilla ball and Kevin Kopps to ride to a 50-win season and near wire-to-wire #1 ranking. That squad pounded 109 homers to lead the SEC, outscoring their opponents by more than 3.5 runs per game.

The 2022 squad has a long way to go to reach those heights. Through 10 games the Sooieville Sluggers have only 8 home runs and are averaging just 5.5 runs/game – about 2 runs/game fewer than last season.

Yet they’ve scraped and clawed their way to those seven wins thanks to a deep and talented pitching staff. Pitching coach Matt Hobbs and longtime skipper Dave Van Horn pushed a “next man up” mentality amongst the men of the bullpen after projected ace Peyton Pallette went down preseason with Tommy John surgery. The group has clearly embraced the challenge.

Several performances jumped off the page over the weekend, but we’d be remiss if we failed to acknowledge the work put in by senior Connor Noland. He took the loss in a weird game on Friday, a result he earned but just barely. Noland has looked brilliant at times, and his steady presence at the top of the rotation gives Arkansas a chance each weekend. The loss to Southeastern Louisiana not withstanding, Noland’s control has set the tone. He throws strikes, strands runners, and looks like a Friday night guy. Hats off to the Greenwood product who has remade himself on the mound and looks ready to fulfill the lofty expectations laid out for him as a freshman.

Arkansas baseball doubleheader vs Southeastern Louisiana: How to watch, stream, listen

Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana will play two on Saturday after the Lions took the first game.

Arkansas and Southeastern Louisiana will play a doubleheader on Saturday from Baum-Walker Stadium.

The series was originally scheduled for Friday through Sunday, but with rain expected on Sunday, the teams decided to sneak in two games Saturday, instead. Both games will be nine innings.

First pitch from Fayetteville is scheduled for noon with the second game coming 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first.

Freshman lefthander Hagen Smith is slated to go for Arkansas in the first game. Jaxon Wiggins is scheduled for the second game.

Southeastern Louisiana won the first game of the set on Friday after scoring seven runs in the sixth inning, 7-3.

How to Watch

When: Noon

Where: Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville

Traditional TV: SEC Network+

Online live stream: ESPN.com/watch

For those seeking the radio broadcast of the game, you can find the complete list below. In Northwest Arkansas, KQSM 92.1 will be the broadcaster in 2022.

Arkansas radio affiliates

Batesville, KWOZ-FM, 103.3

Camden, KCXY-FM, 95.3

Crossett, KAGH-FM, 104.9

Crossett, KAGH-AM, 800

DeQueen, KDQN-FM, 92.1

DeWitt, KDEW-FM, 97.3

El Dorado, KMRX-FM, 96.1

Fayetteville, KQSM-FM, 92.1

Forrest City, KBFC-FM, 93.5

Fort Smith, KERX-FM, 95.3

Glenwood, KHGZ-FM, 98.9

Glenwood, KHGZ-AM, 670

Hot Springs, KTTG-FM, 96.3

Jonesboro, KEGI-FM, 100.5

Little Rock, KABZ-FM, 103.7

Magnolia, KZHE-FM, 100.5

Marshall, KBCN-FM, 104.3

Mena, KTTG-FM, 96.3

Mena, KENA-FM, 104.1

Monticello, KGPQ-FM, 99.9

Morrilton, KCON-FM, 99.3

Mountain Home, KOMT-FM, 93.5

Ozark, KDYN-FM, 96.7

Ozark, KDYN-AM, 1540

Searcy, KRZS-FM, 99.1

Texarkana, KKTK-AM, 1400

Wynne, KWYN-FM, 92.5

Arkansas takes season-opening series with win over Illinois State on Sunday

Eight of Arkansas’ nine starters reached base while Jaxon Wiggins and Kole Ramage limited Illinois State in the Diamond Hogs’ win.

Arkansas baseball salvaged a series win after dropping the season opener on Friday, beating Illinois State, 4-2, Sunday afternoon in Fayetteville.

Chris Lanzilli and Brady Slavens hit back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth to break a 1-all tie while Jaxon Wiggins and Kole Ramage worked around trouble over nine to limit Illinois State.

The Redbirds pulled within a run in the eighth when Ryan Cermak hit a solo home run off Ramage to start the inning. But Arkansas’ right-hander retired the next three to keep Illinois State at bay.

Arkansas built the lead back to two in the bottom of the inning when Jalen Battles doubled home Zack Gregory, who walked as the inning’s first batter.

Wiggins allowed seven baserunners and a run in his five innings of work, striking out five, as well. He worked himself into trouble in the second when he allowed back-to-back singles at the beginning of the inning and a wild pitch gave Illinois State runners at second and third. A fielder’s choice allowed the Redbirds to score first, but Wiggins induced a flyout and groundout to get out of it.

Ramage worked four innings in relief, striking out six and giving up two hits, including the solo homer.

Slavens went 3 for 3 with an RBI and a walk. Battles, Robert Moore and Peyton Stovall each had two hits with Moore crossing the plate twice and Stovall once.

Arkansas will travel to Round Rock, Texas, on the weekend for three games as part of the Karbach Round Rock Classic. The Diamond Hogs play Indiana on Friday, Stanford on Saturday and Louisiana on Sunday.

Pitching Matchups for Hogs v. Redbirds

After a stretch of unseasonably warm temperatures, Old Man Winter has once again gotten comfortable in Arkansas. Temperatures will bottom out in the teens across the Ozarks this weekend. At this time of year that can only mean one thing: college baseball season is upon us. 

After a stretch of unseasonably warm temperatures, Old Man Winter has once again gotten comfortable in Arkansas. Temperatures will bottom out in the teens across the Ozarks this weekend. At this point on the calendar that can only mean one thing: college baseball season is upon us.

The Arkansas Razorbacks will host the Illinois State Redbirds for a three-game set this weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Redbirds have been picked by league coaches to finish top half of the Missouri Valley Conference. Their starting first baseman, Jake McCaw, and starting centerfielder, Ryan Cermak, were both voted to the preseason all-league team. In his press conference yesterday, though, it was the Illinois State pitching staff that Arkansas’s skipper Dave Van Horn mentioned. Compared to the Hogs, DVH says ISU looks to be more settled on the mound.

You look at Illinois State, they got two of their starters back and their closer’s now their number three starter. So they know where they’re at.

You can watch Van Horn’s full Thursday press conference here.