The fifth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (43-14, 20-10 SEC) are headed back to Fayetteville following their elimination from the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., on Thursday.
The Razorbacks went 0-2 in the SEC Tournament, with a second-round loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday and an elimination-game loss Thursday morning to the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats.
Arkansas will now await its national seeding. The Razorbacks will likely be a top-8 national seed, meaning they would host both a regional and super regional inside Baum-Walker Stadium
Game Recaps
Second Round – South Carolina 6, Arkansas 5
The Razorbacks’ first game in Hoover was about as back and forth as it gets. The Gamecocks got on the board first with one run in the first inning off of Arkansas starter Ben Bybee.
The Hogs would respond an inning later via Jared Sprague-Lott’s RBI single. The Hogs and Gamecocks would trade runs again in the third and fourth innings before a two-run homer from South Carolina’s Cole Messina gave the Gamecocks a 4-2 lead heading into the seventh.
Arkansas would rally back in the seventh and tie it up 4-4 thanks to RBI from Peyton Stovall and Ben McLaughlin. Messina wasn’t done hitting two-run shots just yet, though, as he mashed another in the top half of the ninth off of freshman sensation Gabe Gaeckle.
The Razorbacks would mount a valiant comeback effort in the bottom of the ninth, scoring one run on a McLaughlin single. But they ultimately stranded the winning run in scoring position.
Third Round – Kentucky 9, Arkansas 6
The Cats jumped on Hagen Smith early in this round three matchup, putting two on the board in the first inning before tacking on four more across the next four as Smith was replaced by Gage Wood.
A Wehiwa Aloy RBI groundout in the sixth was followed by a three-run homer from Peyton Holt to give the Hogs some hope in the later innings. The Wildcats responded, though, in the seventh with a two-run shot and an unearned run to put them up 9-4.
Arkansas would round out the scoring with solo shots from Holt and Sprague-Lott in the eighth and ninth innings.
SEC Tournament MVG (Most Valuable Gorilla)
Peyton Holt: 2-7, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB, 2K
Arkansas’ spark plug continued his tear at the plate in Hoover, particularly in round three against Kentucky. After being named to the All-SEC Defensive Team, it was Holt’s offense that kept the Razorbacks hanging around in the elimination game.
Holt’s three-run home run in the sixth inning of the Kentucky game brought the Hogs within two runs of the Wildcats. That blast was followed by another, this time a solo shot, just two innings later. The two-homer day gives Holt six on the season.
The Razorbacks will need Holt to show up once again if they want to cruise through their home regional next weekend.
SEC Tournament MVA (Most Valuable Arm)
Mason Molina: 2.0 IP, 3 K, 1 H, 0 BB
After a quality outing out of the pen in Game 2 in College Station, Texas, last weekend, Molina got another opportunity in relief against Kentucky.
The lefty tossed two efficient innings in Hoover, fanning three batters without issuing a walk. Molina seems to have regained his command after being removed from the starting rotation last weekend. Expect to see more of Molina in relief during the postseason.