Quick Hits: Arkansas pitching staff continues dominance in series-opening win over Ole Miss

The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks extended their program-long win streak at home to 19 games with a victory over the Ole Miss Rebels in Game 1 of the series at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Ole Miss starter Riley Maddox had delivered five scoreless innings of work before returning to the mound in the sixth inning, and the Hogs took their first lead of the game three hitters later. Here’s a closer look at the action as the top-ranked Hogs improved to 25-3 on the year and 9-1 in conference play.

Scoring Recap

Top 3 – Ole Miss 1, Arkansas 0: The Rebels loaded the bases with one out via three straight singles, two of which didn’t leave the infield, and Smith issued a walk to Jackson Ross to bring in the game’s first run.

Top 3 – Ole Miss 2, Arkansas 0: Ethan Groff lifted a fly ball to deep left field, plenty deep enough to score Andrew Fischer from third base on a sacrifice.

Bottom 4 – Ole Miss 2, Arkansas 1: Wehiwa Aloy reaches with a one-out single up the middle, and Kendall Diggs is walked before a wild pitch moves them both up 90 feet. Jared Sprague-Lott drove in Arkansas’ first run of the day with an RBI groundout to the shortstop.

Bottom 6 – Arkansas 4, Ole Miss 2: Peyton Stovall and Ben McLaughlin worked walks to start the frame against Maddox, and Wehiwa Aloy brings them home with a 107 MPH line drive over the wall in right field. The 346-foot home run is his team-leading seventh long ball of the year.

Bottom 6 – Arkansas 5, Ole Miss 2: Jared Sprague-Lott greets Ole Miss reliever Josh Mallitz with a solo home run just inside the left-field foul pole. The 342-foot shot marks Sprague-Lott’s third long ball of the year.

Gorilla of the Game

Wehiwa Aloy: 2-4, HR (7), 3 RBI, 2 R

The Razorback shortstop is starting to really find his rhythm and make it clear why he’s such a highly regarded prospect. He scored the first Arkansas run of the day after roping a 108 MPH single to center field and put the Hogs on top with a 107 MPH home run to the opposite field. Even his lineout in the seventh was hit 93 MPH off the bat.

Aloy is now hitting .286 on the year and is now up over .300 in SEC play (11-36). He’s also leading the team in home runs (7), RBI (29) and Runs (23) for the season while playing near flawless defense in the field. If he isn’t the Hogs’ most valuable position player, he’s extremely close to it.

Most Valuable Arm

Hagen Smith: 6 IP 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 11 K

Smith’s start featured some adversity, both with some tough luck on batted balls in the third inning and some self-induced trouble to inflate the pitch count. Him finding a way to still deliver a quality start and strike out 11 (fourth straight six-inning start with double-digit strikeouts) says a lot about the level he’s at right now.

Smith’s season ERA now sits at 1.76, and he’s got 83 strikeouts in 41 innings of work. He also improved to 6-0 on the year thanks to the Hogs’ explosion in the bottom of the sixth.

Other Notes & Observations

• After a huge night at the plate on Tuesday, freshman DH Nolan Souza carried that momentum into a two-hit night against the Rebels. Both of his hits went through the left side of the infield against the shift, and his batting average now sits at an even .333 (16-48) on the year.

• Against a righty starter, the left-handed hitting Ross Lovich got the start in left field tonight and went 1-for-4 with a really nice bunt single against the shift in the sixth inning. He started in place of Will Edmunson, who has five hits in his last two starts and is 5-for-16 (.313) in conference play.

• The Hogs went with a similar bullpen formula to their first game against LSU, with Will McEntire working 2.2 innings before Stone Hewlett came in to face the final hitter and vulture a save. McEntire was outstanding in his time on the mound, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three without allowing a run. In SEC play, McEntire has a 1.28 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 14 innings. Hewlett has now struck out 15 hitters this season in 6.1 innings while allowing just one run on two hits.

Up Next

The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks and Ole Miss Rebels will return to Baum-Walker Stadium tomorrow night for Game 2 of the series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on SEC Network+.