The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks walked off the Texas Tech Red Raiders 9-8 Tuesday night inside Baum-Walker Stadium, extending their home win streak to 24 games.
The Red Raiders got to Ben Bybee early, but the bullpen picked him up with seven innings of two-run baseball. The Arkansas offense got a big lift in the fifth with a six-run inning of its own before Nolan Souza walked it off in the ninth.
Here is a closer look at the action as Arkansas won its 31st game of the 2024 season.
Scoring Recap
Top 2 – Arkansas 0, Texas Tech 6: To start the scoring, Texas Tech’s Cade McGee sent a ball into the left-field bullpen for a two-run shot. The Red Raiders would add to their lead by stringing together four straight singles, scoring two more. With the bases loaded and two out, Austin Green sent a double into right, scoring another pair of runs. The inning finally ended with a Christian Foutch strikeout.
Top 4 – Arkansas 0, Texas Tech 7: Gavin Kash scored on an infield single by Green to push the lead to seven for Texas Tech.
Bottom 4 – Arkansas 1, Texas Tech 7: The Hogs chipped into the Red Raider lead with an RBI infield single by Jack Wagner, scoring Jared Sprague-Lott from third. Unfortunately, that was it for Arkansas in the fourth.
Bottom 5 – Arkansas 7, Texas Tech 7: With Jayson Jones on second and Will Edmunson at first, Peyton Holt shot a single into left to score Jones. After a Peyton Stovall walk to load the bases with nobody out, Sprague-Lott grounded into a double play, scoring Edmunson. Wehiwa Aloy then stepped up and sent a ball high into the lights in left. The ball dropped and scored Stovall from second. Ben McLaughlin added to the big inning with a two-run oppo-bomb that went 377 feet out into the Hog Pen, cutting the Texas Tech lead to one. Hudson White tied the ball game against his former team with a double down the left-field line to score Jack Wagner.
Top 7 – Arkansas 7, Texas Tech 8: Green continued to kill the Hogs with a solo shot to right for his fourth hit on the first pitch from Will McEntire.
Bottom 8 – Arkansas 8, Texas Tech 8: Ty Wilmsmeyer represented the tying run in the eighth inning after pinch-running for Jones as Stovall brought him home via an RBI groundout.
Bottom 9 – Arkansas 9, Texas Tech 8: Sprague-Lott got on to lead off the inning via an E5. Aloy then reached on another error to put two on with nobody out. McLaughlin was then hit in the back before Souza walked off the Red Raiders with a sac fly to right.
Starters’ final lines
(ARK) Ben Bybee: 1.1 IP, 6 ER, 6H, 2Ks, 1BB
(TTU) Zach Erdman: 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 5H, 1K, 1BB
How The Story Lines Played Out
Let’s take a look at what current team storylines shifted after Tuesday’s contest:
The left field battle
Another day, another left fielder. On Tuesday, it was Jayson Jones.
Four Razorbacks have started in left field this year, including Holt, Jones, Edmunson and Ross Lovich.
With Holt getting the start in center, it’s clear Dave Van Horn wanted to give Jones another chance. Jones had a really solid day, going 2-4 with 2 doubles and 1 run scored.
Only time will tell if today’s performance from Jones was enough to earn him more opportunities in left field, but, for now, the battle still seems to be mainly between Holt and Edmunson.
Timely hitting
The Hogs have seemingly struggled all season to get that big hit or big inning. Often, they don’t really need it.
That was not the case on Tuesday as Arkansas got timely hits from bats like Jones and McLaughlin. This was a refreshing sight for Razorback fans, who have felt underwhelmed by the offense’s lack of big innings this season.
Could this be the beginning of an offensive tear for Arkansas heading into the final stretch of conference play?
Gorilla of the Game
Ben McLaughlin: 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, HBP
The Red Raiders jumped all over the Hogs early as they were up 7-0 through three innings. McLaughlin understood the assignment, that it’s one at-bat at a time, and kept his head down, notching three base hits on the day to lead the Razorback offense.
The swing of the day may just have been McLaughlin’s fifth-inning home run. The two-run shot not only gave the Arkansas crowd something to get loud about, but it also put him in the running for Gorilla of the Game, which he eventually clinched with another base hit.
Most Valuable Arm
Gage Wood: 2.1 IP, 1 ER, 2H, 4Ks, 0 BB
Van Horn called on sophomore Gage Wood in the third inning to hold down Texas Tech’s offense, which had provided the Red Raiders with six runs of support. Wood answered the bell, giving the Hogs a very strong 2 2/3 innings of relief while the offense mounted its comeback.
Wood’s gutsy performance earns him MVA honors and moves his season ERA to 2.12 through 17 innings of work.
Other Game Notes and Factoids
- Wagner’s RBI single in the fourth was the first time the Hogs had scored on something other than a solo home run since the third inning of Game 1 against Alabama.
- Wilmseyer pinch-ran for Jones in the bottom of the eighth, but his shining moment was running down a ball in center to keep the Red Raiders off the board in the ninth.
- Holt was the Razorback leadoff man for the first time this year. He was not at third, not at left, or even right field. Holt made his first career start in center.
- This was the 63rd all-time meeting between the two former Southwest Conference foes.
- Tuesday’s attendance was recorded at 9,770.
Up Next:
The No. 2 Razorbacks and the Red Raiders will face off again Wednesday at 4 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on SEC Network.