Quick Hits: No. 1 Arkansas wins Game 1 pitcher’s duel

The consensus No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks secured a 1-0 victory Thursday to open a three-game road series against No. 23 Auburn thanks to another Hagen Smith gem and a first-inning home run by Wehiwa Aloy.

Razorback pitchers racked up 17 strikeouts against the Tigers, with 12 of those coming from Hagen Smith, 3 from Will McEntire, and another 2 from true freshman Gabe Gaeckle. This makes 14 straight wins for the Hogs and a perfect 4-0 start to conference play.

Scoring Recap

• Top 1: Arkansas 1, Auburn 0: With two outs, Wehiwa Aloy drives a pitch down and away and deposits it into the Arkansas bullpen for his fourth home run of the season, giving the Hogs their first and only run.

MVB (Most Valuable Bats)

Wehiwa Aloy & Hudson White: There wasn’t a whole lot to choose from when it came to “valuable bats” in this one-run contest. However, Aloy had a solid day at the plate. The Hawaiian got on base three times, including an HBP and a walk. More importantly, he scored the game’s only run with his first-inning home run, which was certainly the most valuable hit of the
game.

Hudson White also deserves to be put into this category with his impressive three-hit performance. He went 3-4 with three singles through the left side.

White and Aloy’s continued success will greatly benefit this lineup down the road, especially if they can start to lay off more pitches outside the zone, and their performances Thursday should be very encouraging despite the rest of the lineup’s struggles.

MVA (Most Valuable Arm)

Hagen Smith: Who else would it be? The Razorback ace continued to dominate in what has been an incredible season up to this point. Even when Smith didn’t seem to have total control of his stuff at some points in the game, he was able to work through several jams and show off the experience he has as a closer.

Through 6 innings of work, Hagen sat down 12 Auburn batters, walked 2 and gave up only 3 hits to the Tigers. Smith’s grit was put to the test in the 6th inning, when Auburn was able to get the bases loaded with two outs. Smith then got out of the inning thanks to a Mason Maners groundout.

This performance only adds to his already gaudy season statline, which now includes an ERA of 1.24 through 29 innings, with an unreasonable 62 strikeouts and only 4 earned runs allowed.

Other Notes & Observations

• True freshman Gabe Gaeckle gets the call to close the game in the bottom of the 9th with the Tigers’ most dangerous hitter due up. Gaeckle responded by striking out Cooper McMurray and secured the save by striking out Maners. Gaeckle continues to seem unfazed in big situations.
• Kendall Diggs really struggled at the plate, going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. Diggs is usually Mr. Consistent, so look for him to get his get-back in games two and three.
• Will McEntire looked fantastic in his 2 innings of work, recording 3 strikeouts without allowing a walk or hit.
• The lineup seems to be semi-set. I think Dave Van Horn trusts the nine guys who started the game, and their places as consistent members of the batting order appear to be pretty solid for now.
• Aloy is finally adjusting and seems to be learning how to lay off those pitches that wind up down and away in the dirt. This is key to Aloy’s success, which in turn could spark the Arkansas offense as a whole.

Up Next

The Razorbacks and Tigers will return to Plainsman Park on Friday for Game 2 of the series. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Central and will be streamed on SEC Network+.