The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks improved to 21-3 overall and 6-1 in SEC play with a series-opening win against the No. 8 LSU Tigers (20-7, 2-5 SEC) at Baum-Walker Stadium on Thursday.
The Razorbacks put together a well-rounded offensive showing while posting their second straight 10-hit SEC game. Each spot in the lineup reached for Arkansas, and the Hogs hit .455 (5-11) with two outs, .353 (6-17) with runners on base and .375 (3-8) with men in scoring position.
The Razorback pitching staff also finished one shy of recording its fourth 20-strikeout game of the season. Here’s a closer look at the action as Arkansas moved to 6-0 in series-opening games.
Scoring Recap
Bottom 3 – Arkansas 1, LSU 0: The Hogs load the bases with a one-out single by Ty Wilmsmeyer and two walks before Ben McLaughlin drives home the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to deep right-center (hit 105 MPH off the bat). It looked like a grand slam off the bat, but the wind blowing right to left may have done just enough to keep it in the yard.
Top 4 – Arkansas 1, LSU 1: LSU slugger Tommy White does the first real damage against Hagen Smith, dropping a home run just over the fence in left field. The ball was hit 91 MPH off the bat but to the right part of the park.
Top 4 – LSU 2, Arkansas 1: The next pitch is hit 105 MPH to right field by Hayden Travinski, and it didn’t need any help getting out of the yard. The opposite-field home run gives the Tigers the lead.
Bottom 4 – LSU 2, Arkansas 2: With one out, Jack Wagner, who made his second straight start at DH, gets a pitch to hit from Fidel Ulloa and rips it 100 MPH to left field and 364 feet for his second home run of the year after hitting his first on Tuesday.
Bottom 4 – Arkansas 3, LSU 2: Hudson White reaches via walk after the homer, and Ty Wilmsmeyer picks up his second single of the day. Then the Tigers bring in Justin Loer for a left-on-left matchup with two outs, but Peyton Stovall wins the battle and rips a 3-2 pitch 106 MPH into right field for an RBI single to put the Hogs back on top.
Bottom 7 – Arkansas 4, LSU 2: Jared Sprague-Lott leads the frame off with a base hit to right-center and comes around to score after three walks, two of which came with two outs. Ty Wilmsmeyer worked an eight-pitch at-bat and fouled off two 3-2 pitches before working an RBI walk against LSU LHP Cam Johnson.
Top 8 – Arkansas 4, LSU 3: After getting two quick outs in the frame, Will McEntire allows a single to White and issues a full-count walk to Travinski before Jared Jones lined an RBI single to left field, which pushed the tying run to third base.
Bottom 8 – Arkansas 7, LSU 3: After a pair of walks to Aloy and Sprague-Lott, Kendall Diggs makes the Tigers pay as he jumps all over an 0-2 fastball and hits it 101 MPH and 381 feet to right field for a three-run bomb. That moves him back into sole possession of the team lead with six home runs on the year.
Top 9 – Arkansas 7, LSU 4: After a strikeout to start the inning, McEntire issues a walk and allows a double to Steven Milam before a wild pitch brought home Ashton Larson from third.
Gorilla of the Game
Ty Wilmsmeyer: 2-3, BB, RBI, R
The Razorback center fielder joined Peyton Stovall as the only Hog with multiple hits in the low-scoring affair, and his seventh-inning walk with the bases loaded provided Arkansas with a huge insurance run. He had scored the game’s first run after his first hit in the third inning and then singled with two outs in the fourth to set up Stovall’s go-ahead knock.
Wilmsmeyer, who hit .311 at Missouri last season, hasn’t exactly been an offensive juggernaut in 2024, but he provided quite the spark out of the nine-hole in a close game. His job in center field appears to be fairly locked down, particularly with how well he covers ground in the outfield.
Most Valuable Arm
Hagen Smith: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 10 K
You could make an argument this was the “worst” start for Smith since opening weekend, which just speaks to the kind of season he’s putting together. The only runs he gave up came on back-to-back pitches to two of LSU’s top power bats, and he didn’t allow the Tiger offense to build any momentum outside of that.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Smith’s outing was him not issuing a single free pass, though he did have some help from the home-plate umpire. In exactly 35 innings of work this year, Smith is now up to 72 strikeouts and just 10 walks with a 1.54 ERA.
Other Notes & Observations
- Will McEntire wasn’t quite as sharp as he’s typically been this season, but he got eight big outs for the Razorbacks, all of which came via punchout to set a new season high. The Bryant native allowed his first run in over 10 innings of work and recorded his first two-walk game of the year, but he stranded the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning and turned it over in the ninth to Stone Hewlett, who picked up a strikeout to end it.
- A huge moment occurred in the bottom of the fifth as Hudson White singled with two outs and runners on first and second. Wagner tried to get to third base from first and was thrown out a split second before McLaughlin touched home plate, so it ended the inning and kept a run off the board.
- Smith has now allowed six runs this season, all of which have come via home run – three-run home run against James Madison, solo home run against Murray State and two solo home runs Thursday.
- The Arkansas lineup entered the game with the fewest strikeouts in the SEC during league play with 41, and the Hogs struck out 10 times against an LSU pitching staff that leads the nation in strikeouts. On the flip side, the Razorback pitching staff, which leads the country in K/BB ratio and K/9, racked up a whopping 19 punchouts.
- Tommy White, AKA ‘Tommy Tanks’, tried to single-handedly keep the Tigers in the game at the plate. His solo home run to left field was actually the softest contact he made all night. He had a 111 MPH lineout in the first inning, a 97 MPH flyout in the sixth and a 101 MPH single in the eighth, scoring two of LSU’s three runs.
- Wehiwa Aloy update: He extended his hitting streak to seven games with an infield single in the sixth inning and notched a career-high three walks. He’s now hitting .278 on the year overall and .304 during SEC play.
Up Next
The Razorbacks and No. Tigers return to Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday night for Game 2 of the series. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. (CT) and will be televised nationally on SEC Network.