Quick Hits: Arkansas offense gets back on track in first midweek outing

After a rough two-game stretch at the plate, the No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks picked up a 21-1 win over the Grambling State Tigers in the Hogs’ first midweek game of the 2024 season. The Razorback pitching staff also kept up its strong start to the year, holding the Tigers to just one hit in the first six innings.

The Razorback lineup, which combined to hit .174 (19-109) in three games over the weekend in Arlington, got going early and often against a shoddy Grambling pitching staff, scoring seven runs in the first inning before finishing with 20 hits for the first time since 2018 against Dayton.

SCORING RECAP

• Bot 1 – Arkansas 1, Grambling 0: After a leadoff walk from Will Edmunson, Kendall Diggs goes the other way for an RBI double that gets to the wall in left field.
• Bot 1 – Arkansas 2, Grambling 0: With the bases loaded and nobody out, Hudson White grounds a tailor-made double play to the shortstop, but the second baseman drops the ball at second for an error and allows everyone to advance a base.
• Bot 1 – Arkansas 6, Grambling 0: After the error, Hudson Polk, who made his first start of the season behind the plate, mashes a 421-foot grand slam to dead center field, hit 113 mph off the bat.
• Bot 1 – Arkansas 7, Grambling 0: With two outs, Peyton Holt keeps the inning alive with a single up the middle, and Will Edmunson drives him home with a double off the wall in left-center field.
• Bot 3 – Arkansas 9, Grambling 0: After Wehiwa Aloy doubled to start the frame, Jayson Jones jumps all over a fastball and hits it 110 mph and 400 feet to left for his first home run of the year.
• Bot 3 – Arkansas 10, Grambling 0: Peyton Holt works a walk and comes around to score on an RBI single through the left side by Kendall Diggs after Edmunson singled to center for his second hit.
• Bot 3 – Arkansas 11, Grambling 0: With runners at first and third, Ben McLaughlin grounds into a 6-4-3 double play that brings home a run.
• Bot 3 – Arkansas 12, Grambling 0: Hudson White gets in on the action with a two-out RBI single to left field to score Jared Sprague-Lott, who reached with his fourth double of the year.
• Bot 4 – Arkansas 13, Grambling 0: Holt is hit by a pitch and Edmunson walks before Ross Lovich pinch hits and rips an RBI single up the middle.
• Bot 4 – Arkansas 14, Grambling 0: A wild pitch brings home Edmunson for his third run of the afternoon.
• Bot 5 – Arkansas 18, Grambling 0: After three walks loaded the bases, Jayson Jones hit his second home run of the day to left field. The grand slam was hit 108 mph off the bat and traveled 425 feet.
• Bot 5 – Arkansas 19, Grambling 0: Ross Lovich picks up his second hit of the day with a single to right field, and then Jack Wagner drove him in with a double down the right-field line.
• Bot 5 – Arkansas 20, Grambling 0: Jared Sprague-Lott rips an RBI single up the middle to score Wagner.
• Bot 6 – Arkansas 21, Grambling 0: Ross Lovich picks up his third hit of the day on a single to left field, and that will lead to Peyton Holt’s fourth run of the day.
• Top 7 – Arkansas 21, Grambling 0: Freshman RHP Tate McGuire made his second career appearance for Arkansas and allowed a run on three hits. Pinch hitter Lamarcus Jones drove in the lone Grambling run with his RBI single to left.

MVB (Most Valuable Bat)

Jayson Jones: There’s something to be said about reaching base in every plate appearance the way Peyton Holt (3-3, BB, HBP) did, but it’s not quite as cool as hitting 825 feet worth of home runs and pimping both of them as Jayson Jones did for the Hogs today.

The sophomore drove in six runs with his first two long balls of the year, which moves him into a tie with Ben McLaughlin for the team lead on the year with eight RBI. Jones made quite the statement for the starting left field job, though his primary competitors (Will Edmunson and Ross Lovich) combined for four hits as well.

MVA (Most Valuable Arm)

Cooper Dossett: It was a bullpen day for the Hogs as six different pitchers toed the rubber, but it’s hard to top striking out every hitter you face, and that’s exactly what Dossett did in his first inning of the season.

The sophomore right-hander from Springdale only made two appearances last season before a solid summer in the Northwoods League. His fastball velocity was up to 96 miles per hour in his outing this afternoon, and he got swings and misses with an 87 mph slider. Quite the statement for another talented arm looking to break into the back-end of the Razorback bullpen.

DON’T OVERLOOK

• Colin Fisher, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, made his second start of the season and worked around a two-out walk with a strikeout to get the day going for Arkansas. He has now gone 8.1 scoreless innings to start his collegiate career.
• Grambling pitcher Brett Washington threw multiple pitches at 58 miles per hour. His fastball was in the 72-73 mph range. He tossed a scoreless frame in the second before allowing three runs on three hits in the third inning before exiting with zero outs.
• It was a big day on the bump for Razorback sophomores as Dossett’s perfect inning came after left-hander Parker Coil tossed a pair of scoreless frames. Christian Foutch made his second appearance of the year and worked around a one-out walk in the fifth after Dossett, and Gage Wood closed the show by striking out a pair in a perfect sixth inning.
• Jared Sprague-Lott reached base four times and recorded two hits to raise his batting average to .458 on the year, which leads the Hogs.

UP NEXT

The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks will return to Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday to begin a three-game series against the Murray State Racers. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on SEC Network+ via the ESPN App.