Tag: Zack Gregory

Hagen Smith’s incredible start lifts No. 6 Diamond Hogs over LSU

Arkansas freshman Hagen Smith is having one of the best freshman pitching seasons in recent memory.

[autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag] turned a performance for the ages on Friday.

Arkansas’ freshman left-hander, in Game Two against rival LSU, was brilliant and the sixth-ranked Hogs clinched the series victory of the Tigers with a 4-0 win at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Smith allowed just three total baserunners – one via walk and two with base knocks – in working seven innings and striking out seven in the process.

“Real impressive,” Arkansas coach [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag] said. “I mean, it’s hard to shut anybody out, especially a team with that lineup.”

Arkansas scored three runs in the third to take control on a solo home run from [autotag]Zack Gregory[/autotag] and a two-run shot from [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag]. [autotag]Chris Lanzilli[/autotag] added another solo homer in the fifth to finish off the scoring.

LSU didn’t get a runner to even second base until the eighth inning against Zebulon Vermillion. The Tigers left the bases loaded in the frame when Evan Taylor induced a flyout to end things.

Arkansas will look to get a sweep in the series on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Razorbacks shut out LSU to take series

The Razorbacks clinched the series over LSU by relying on the long ball and solid pitching.

In game one of the much-anticipated series between rivals No. 6 Arkansas and No. 12 LSU, the Razorbacks relied on solid pitching from Connor Noland, who carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning, and again on Brady Tygart late in the game to secure the win.

Friday’s game was much of the same, as freshman [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag] was dominant from the very beginning in Arkansas’ 4-0 win over LSU at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Arkansas (27-7, 10-4 SEC) got a solid outing from Smith on Friday, as he pitched arguably his best game against an SEC opponent in his young career. In the win over LSU (23-11, 7-7 SEC), Smith matched his season-high in strikeouts against SEC foes with seven and allowed a season-low two hits and zero earned runs in SEC play in seven innings of work.

[autotag]Zebulon Vermillion[/autotag] and [autotag]Evan Taylor[/autotag] finished the game and combined to allow one hit in the final three frames.

While Smith did his job on the mound, the Arkansas defense backed him up as well. The Razorbacks played errorless ball, and made elite plays such as this one from short stop [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag]:

All four of Arkansas’ runs came via the long ball, with two coming in the 3rd inning.

[autotag]Zack Gregory[/autotag] put the Razorbacks on the board with a solo home run to lead off the inning. He smashed the second pitch of the at-bat to left field to give Arkansas the 1-0 lead. [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag] walked later in the inning, setting up [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag] to extend the lead by nailing his 4th home run to lift Arkansas to a 3-0 lead.

To add insurance, [autotag]Chris Lanzilli[/autotag] joined the home run party by hitting a lazer to left field, pushing the Arkansas lead to 4-0. Lanzilli’s 47th career home run traveled 361 feet, and left his bat at a screaming 100 miles per hour according to Arkansas Baseball Player Development.

Arkansas will go for the sweep over LSU on Saturday. First pitch for the final game of the series is set for 2 p.m. CT.

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Stick of the Game: Gregory did everything he could at the plate Saturday

“(Gregory) did everything he could to help us win.” – Dave Van Horn following Saturday’s loss to Florida, in which Zack Gregory led Arkansas in two comeback efforts.

Talk about a tough break.

The No. 22 Florida Gators had to fight off two comeback attempts by Arkansas in their 9-7 win over the Razorbacks, both led by the bat of junior [autotag]Zack Gregory[/autotag].

Gregory reached base four times in the loss, going 2-for-2 at the plate with four RBI, a walk, and a hit by pitch. Arkansas head coach [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag] was pleased with the efforts of Gregory and wishes that he could have gotten more assistance from the rest of the lineup.

“(Gregory) did everything he could to help us win,” said Van Horn in Saturday’s postgame press conference. “He got hit by a pitch, he took a big walk. He fought, fought, fought, and finally doubled down the right field line on a full count to score three runs. Then, in his last at-bat, he hit the home run. He did everything he could, we just needed one more guy to have a day.”

After Florida delivered a punch in the form of a four-run inning in the 3rd, Arkansas responded by scoring four runs of their own in the top of the 4th, with Gregory being instrumental in the counter. With one run across in the inning, and the bases loaded, Gregory would show his patience by hitting a line drive down the right field line to clear the bags and tie the game at 4-4.

Arkansas found themselves in a hole again going to the 8th inning down 7-6. In their time of need, Gregory came through in the clutch yet again.

Gregory would hit a no-doubt home run over the right field wall to tie the game yet again, this time at 7-7 with one inning remaining.

“He got ahead in the count, he got what he was looking for and he hit it 450 feet with that wind behind it. It probably would have gone 420 feet without it,” says Van Horn.

Following Saturday’s game, Gregory is now batting .296 with four home runs and 12 RBI in 24 games. Saturday was the third time that Gregory has recorded multiple hits in a game this season, and has hit safely in six of his last seven games.

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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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Sticks of the Weekend: Battles, Wallace lead Razorbacks over Mississippi State

Arkansas’ bats played a key role in their third-straight series win over Mississippi State

The season continues to roll along for the No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks, as they took two-of-three from rival Mississippi State over the weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Razorbacks could not complete the sweep, as the Bulldogs scored two runs in the top of the 12th inning of Sunday’s finale to salvage a game in the series by defeating Arkansas, 5-3. But, the damage had already been done, as Arkansas outscored Mississippi State 20-6 in the first two games of the series to claim their 13th-straight SEC series win, and their third straight series win over Mississippi State dating back to 2019.

Hitting came at a premium for the Razorbacks in the series win, as they had solid production from [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag], [autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag], and [autotag]Zack Gregory[/autotag] in all three games, with [autotag]Brayden Webb[/autotag] and [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag] using their bats to create scoring opportunities on the weekend.

Battles grabbed up his first multi-home run game of the season in Friday’s 8-1 win over the Bulldogs, he would go on to grab two more hits over the weekend. Cayden Wallace added five more hits to his season total, with his most productive game of the weekend being Saturday’s 12-5 victory, where he went 2-for-5 with four RBI. Finally, Zack Gregory quietly had a solid weekend, as he hit solo home runs in Saturday’s and Sunday’s games.

Brady Slavens only played in two games against the Bulldogs, but he put in the work in the small opportunity he was given. Slavens went 3-for-6 with a double, home run, and four RBI. Brayden Webb did the majority of his work in the finale, as he was the only Arkansas batter to record multiple hits in Sunday’s loss. In the game, Webb hit his sixth home run of the season.

Diamond Hogs blast four home runs, take series from Mississippi State

Arkansas’ bats came alive in taking Game 2 from Mississippi State on Saturday. The Diamond Hogs go for a sweep Sunday.

Every Arkansas and Mississippi State baseball series since 2015 has resulted in a sweep. The 2022 series may be no different.

Arkansas won Game 2 between the two schools on Saturday night from Baum-Walker Stadium, 12-5, behind the strength of four home runs. The Diamond Hogs will go for the sweep Sunday at 2 p.m.

Arkansas scored runs in five straight innings, including four runs in the second and another four in the third. [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag] hit a two-run blast in the third. [autotag]Chris Lanzilli[/autotag] hit a solo shot in the fourth and [autotag]Robert Moore[/autotag] followed on the next at-bat with one of his own. [autotag]Zack Gregory[/autotag] sent the last ball over the fence in the fifth.

Slavens knocked in three runs total, going 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and his homer. He was only bested by [autotag]Cayden Wallace[/autotag], who went 2 of 5 with four RBI on a two-run double and a two-run single.

Mississippi State opened the scoring when [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag] walked the first three batters of the game and the Bulldogs scored on a sacrifice fly. Smith settled after that, though, ultimately going six innings while not allowing any more walks, striking out seven and giving up three runs.

Sticks of the game: Homers come up huge as Arkansas sweeps UIC

Chris Lanzilli’s walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth was the game-winner for Arkansas over UIC.

Arkansas baseball is mostly used to rolling through its nonconference schedule with sweeps. There may be an occasional two-out-of-three here or there, but generally Dave Van Horn teams run roughshod over teams from non-power conferences.

That hadn’t been the case in 2022 until Sunday. Cayden Wallace’s eighth-inning grand slam turned a two-run deficit into a two-run lead before the Flames re-tied things in the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth, after Michael Turner’s double, Chris Lanzilli walked-off with a two-run shot to left-center, lifting the Diamond Hogs to a 10-8 and a four-game sweep.

The third-ranked Diamond Hogs are back at it Tuesday and Wednesday for a two-game set with visiting Grambling. SEC play begins Friday at Baum-Walker Stadium with three games against Kentucky.

Arkansas bounces back, beats Southeastern Louisiana in Game Two

Kent State transfer Michael Turner hit a two-run shot in the seventh to lead Arkansas over Southeastern Louisiana.

Arkansas baseball evened its series against Southeastern Louisiana in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday, 4-2.

The Lions tied the game at 2 when they plated a pair of runs in the sixth on a home run by Preston Faulkner. Arkansas answered with a homer itself when Michael Turner sent a two-run shot over the fence to provide the winning edge.

Freshman left-hander Hagen Smith was excellent against for the Diamond Hogs, throwing seven innings while only giving up two hits and three walks and striking out nine Southeastern Louisiana hitters. Zebulon Vermillion and Brady Tygart finished the final two innings to shut things down.

Turner, a transfer from Kent State, was moved up to the 3-hole and went 2 for 4 with three RBI and the homer. His other knock-in came in the third to open the scoring when he doubled to left-center to score Zack Gregory.

The Razorbacks and Lions were set to get in game three of the series later Saturday afternoon in advance of the rain expected on Sunday.

Sticks of the Game: Bohrofen off the schneid for Arkansas

Jace Bohrofen’s two-hit game is a positive step for the Arkansas lineup.

Arkansas’ bats have struggled a bit in the early going of the 2022 season, including Friday against Southeastern Louisiana. But one expected key hitter may be coming into his own.

Oklahoma transfer Jace Bohrofen was one of the biggest additions to the lineup this year after being ranked as the No. 34 prospect in the country two years ago coming out of high school. He started 29 games with the Sooners last year and took hold of an outfield job at Arkansas quickly, though his bat had been slow to adjust.

He had a pair of knocks to break his hitless streak against Southeastern Louisiana and was joined by the reliable Cayden Wallace and fellow outfielder Zack Gregory as Arkansas’ Sticks of the Game in the opener against SELA.