The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks picked up their program-record 20th straight home win with an 8-3 victory over Ole Miss in Game 2 of the series at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Three pitchers in the Razorback bullpen combined for 4.2 scoreless innings of work to keep an early lead secure. Arkansas jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first inning and got a couple of two-out swings for insurance in the later innings.
Here’s a closer look at the action as the Hogs improved to 26-3 and 10-1 in SEC play.
Scoring Recap
Top 1 – Ole Miss 1, Arkansas 0: With one out, Ole Miss third baseman Andrew Fischer gets a fastball over the heart of the plate and sends it 104 MPH the other way for a 393-foot home run to give the Rebels a first-inning lead.
Bottom 1 – Ole Miss 1, Arkansas 1: Peyton Stovall leads off with a single, and then a tight strike zone started to kick in, and a pair of walks loaded the bases. Ole Miss starter Liam Doyle came back with a big strikeout for out No. 1, but a four-pitch walk to Kendall Diggs plated the Hogs’ first run.
Bottom 1 – Arkansas 3, Ole Miss 1: Jared Sprague-Lott delivers a nice piece of hitting in an 0-2 count and sends a base hit right back up the middle to plate two more runs with one out. That gives him four RBI for the series.
Bottom 1 – Arkansas 4, Ole Miss 1: Freshman catcher Ryder Helfrick gets jammed on a pitch inside and sends it softly to the shortstop, which does its job and allows Diggs to score from third while the play is made at first for the second out.
Top 3 – Arkansas 4, Ole Miss 3: It looked like Molina had fully settled in after retiring five straight Ole Miss hitters, but Luke Hill broke that streak with a single through the left side, and then Andrew Fischer struck again and ripped a 3-2 pitch 364 feet to right field for his second long ball of the night and 13th homer of the year.
Bottom 4 – Arkansas 5, Ole Miss 3: Ryder Helfrick started the frame with a double and moved to third on a groundout before walks to Ty Wilmsmeyer and Peyton Stovall loaded the bases. After Ole Miss brought Mitch Murrell in from the bullpen, Wehiwa Aloy lifted a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right field to bring in another Razorback run.
Bottom 6 – Arkansas 7, Ole Miss 3: Murrell held the Hogs down well in his five outs of work before leaving with two away in the frame and turning it over to Wes Mendes, who walked Peyton Stovall and allowed a two-run home run to Wehiwa Aloy to break this one open.
Bottom 7 – Arkansas 8, Ole Miss 3: Jared Sprague-Lott kept the inning alive with a two-out double, and Ryder Helfrick followed with a walk before Will Edmunson greeted new pitcher Mason Morris with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to add an insurance run.
Gorilla of the Game
Wehiwa Aloy: 1-3, HR (8), BB, 3 RBI, 2 R
The sophomore shortstop continues to solidify himself as the guy to fear in this Arkansas lineup. After working a walk and coming around to score in his first trip to the plate and picking up an RBI on a sac fly later in the game, Aloy extended his hit streak to 12 games (longest by an Arkansas player this year) with a 398-foot home run to dead center hit 105 MPH off the bat.
Aloy has now reached base in 19 straight games and is hitting .308 in SEC play, where he’s hit five of his eight home runs for the year. His plate discipline has reached a new level in recent weeks, which he displayed plenty of tonight with his home run after falling behind 0-2 and working back into the count.
Most Valuable Arm
Gage Wood: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
Koty Frank and Christian Foutch each did their parts well to keep the Hogs in front, but Wood put together a loud performance to close the show, and his outing provided a pretty notable development for the pitching staff overall.
Wood’s stuff was as good as it’s ever been, reaching as high as 96 with his fastball while getting some silly swings on his breaking ball. Perhaps the most encouraging part of his outing, though it came in a non-save situation, is that he walked around with the same confidence he carried at times while closing games as a freshman.
When things are clicking for Wood, he’s capable of being a game-changer for an Arkansas bullpen that seems to be overflowing with big-time options at the moment. After a strong scoreless of work on Tuesday as well, the Batesville (Ark.) native looks well on his way to getting more late-inning work for the Hogs.
Other Notes & Observations
- Mason Molina picked up four strikeouts in the first two innings, flashing an uptick in fastball velocity. He appeared on track for a nice, lengthy start before allowing a second home run to Fischer, and the command never really got to a consistent point. He finished with three earned runs on three hits and three walks on his line with five strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
- With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning, Ethan Lege grounded into a fielder’s choice to Jared Sprague-Lott at third base (5-4 putout at second base), which was upgraded to a double play after video review showed interference on the runner sliding into second base. Massive call to keep it a 5-3 game.
- After getting the unorthodox double play ball to end the fifth, Arkansas reliever Koty Frank returned for two more outs in the sixth inning before exiting with a pair of runners on base. Christian Foutch took over after him and got a quick groundout to end the frame before returning in the seventh and working around a single to toss a scoreless inning. Foutch has now put together five straight scoreless appearances, and he’s allowed just one run in 8.2 innings overall.
- After homering and driving in two runs yesterday, Jared Sprague-Lott had two more hits tonight and drove in two key runs to help the Hogs build an early lead. While his offensive production hasn’t exactly been consistent in conference play, his batting average for the year is back over .300 (24-79, .304) while his glove continues to be consistent at third.
- After walking three times tonight, Ben McLaughlin has now worked 29 free passes (28 BB, 1 HBP) with just 13 strikeouts on the year. He also added a base hit to raise his batting average to .312 and his on-base percentage to a team-high of .488.
- The announced attendance at today’s game was 11,234, which marks a season-high.
Up Next
The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks and Ole Miss Rebels will return to Baum-Walker Stadium for the series finale on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on SEC Network+.