Quick Hits: ‘Backs break out brooms on defending champs

The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks completed a three-game sweep with a 7-5 win over the No. 8 LSU Tigers at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Hogs improved to 23-3 on the year and an 8-1 start to conference play to remain on top of the SEC standings.

The Razorbacks finished with nine hits, scoring six of their seven runs across two big frames in the fourth and sixth innings. The Arkansas bullpen put together another big-time performance, allowing just one run in five innings, capping off a weekend that saw the unit allow three total runs across 13 frames.

Scoring Recap

Top 1 – LSU 1, Arkansas 0: The second pitch of the day from Brady Tygart was a fastball over the heart of the plate, and Tommy White went the other way it and hit it 354 feet to right field for a solo home run, his ninth of the year.

Bottom 1 – LSU 1, Arkansas 1: Wehiwa Aloy jumps all over a 1-1 breaking ball and rips it 112 MPH and 380 feet to left-center field for a game-tying home run, his sixth long ball of the season.

Top 3 – LSU 3, Arkansas 1: It looked like Brady Tygart was about to get out of a jam when he got White to ground into a 6-4-3 double play for the first two outs, but the next hitter Ashton Larson lifted a high fly ball to right field, and it slips just past the glove of Diggs and into the bullpen for a two-run home run. TrackMan had the distance at 315 feet, but it somehow got over the 320-foot fence at Baum.

Top 4 – LSU 4, Arkansas 1: After two quick outs, Mac Bingham swats the third LSU homer of the day, and this one was a no-doubter hit 414 feet to left field on a 3-2 fastball.

Bottom 4 – LSU 4, Arkansas 3: With two outs, Jared Sprague-Lott works a walk, and the Hogs followed with singles from Will Edmunson and Ryder Helfrick to load the bases, then Ty Wilmsmeyer ripped the first pitch he saw through the left side to make it a two-run game.

Bottom 4 – LSU 4, Arkansas 4: Peyton Stovall also goes after the first pitch and sends it through the right side to make it four straight singles to tie the game and get LSU starter Gage Jump out of the game.

Bottom 6 – Arkansas 5, LSU 4: Will Edmunson starts the frame with a double ripped down the line in left and moves to third base on a deep flyout from Helfrick. It was a close play at the plate as Wilmsmeyer grounded one softly back to the mound the following at-bat, but Edmunson hustled home and slid just past the tag.

Bottom 6 – Arkansas 7, LSU 4: After a video review on the previous play, Peyton Stovall wasted no time getting the crowd back into it with a towering home run to right-center field hit 379 feet.

Top 7 – Arkansas 7, LSU 5: Mac Bingham one-ups himself by hitting a fastball even further (434 feet) than the home run he hit in the fourth inning to cut the lead to two.

Gorilla of the Game

Will Edmunson: 3-3, 2B, BB, 1 RBI, 2 R

The game really turned in the bottom of the fourth when Arkansas strung together four straight singles to tie the game, and Edmunson got the party going with a nice opposite-field knock. His leadoff double in the sixth also wound up being the go-ahead run and set up the knockout blow delivered by Peyton Stovall.

It’s pretty remarkable that a guy who wasn’t even playing every day at the JUCO level as a freshman is now on the cusp of being a surefire starter on the best team in the country two years later, but Edmunson has now recorded five hits in four SEC games and appears to be on top of Arkansas’ left field battle.

Most Valuable Arm

Will McEntire: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

There were a few solid candidates for this category, but coming back and putting out a fire less than 48 hours after throwing 62 pitches is badass. Going on to get the save to finish off the sweep was just icing on the cake for McEntire, who is as valuable as any arm on the roster on a very consistent basis.

McEntire got his ERA back below two and down to 1.93 after getting four crucial outs. His three saves are now tied with Koty Frank (who also had a nice performance with three innings of one-run ball) for the second-most on the team behind Gabe Gaeckle’s five.

Other Notes & Observations

Hunter Dietz made his collegiate debut for the Razorbacks in the eighth inning. The freshman left-hander was a Top 20 prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, according to Preb Baseball Report, and he had been sidelined following a minor procedure in the weeks leading up to the season. Dietz wound up giving way to Will McEntire with the bases loaded and two outs, but it says a lot about the way the Razorback coaching staff views him to throw him right into a high-leverage spot against the heart of the LSU order. And McEntire helped him escape without a run allowed!

Brady Tygart pitched better than his final line (4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 3 K) indicated. His stuff was much sharper than it was last week against Auburn, but the Tigers of LSU made him pay for just about every mistake he made this afternoon. His pitch count only climbed to 68 in today’s outing, so we’ll see if he can pitch his way to a longer leash next weekend.

Ryder Helfrick hit the ball with authority today while getting the starting nod at catcher. Both of his flyouts were deep enough to right-center field to advance a runner from second to third, and his single to left field was hit 107 MPH off the bat.

Peyton Stovall capped off an outstanding weekend by going 2-for-4 with 3 RBI while hitting his fourth home run of the year. In 55 at-bats he’s now hitting .364 and slugging .636. He slugged .425 as a freshman, which dipped to .393 in an injury-shortened sophomore year, so the uptick in power is quite drastic in the early going for him. It’s also worth noting that nine of the 14 games he’s played this year have been against SEC pitching.

Up Next

The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks will be back inside Baum-Walker Stadium on Tuesday night to take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on SEC Network+.