FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 3 Arkansas baseball team (12-1, 0-0 SEC) completed a two-game midweek series sweep of the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) with a 15-3 run-rule win in Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium.
ALSO READ: Arkansas run-rules ULM, 14-1, in Game 1
Razorbacks' left fielder Charles Davalan, shortstop Wehiwa Aloy and designated hitter Kuhio Aloy all had multi-hit performances, and Davalan and Kuhio Aloy drove in four runs each to combine for eight total. Right fielder Kendall Diggs also hit his first home run of the season in the contest.
After the Hogs walked off the first game in run rule fashion with a grand slam from Kuhio Aloy less than 30 minutes before the second game started, it was Nolan Souza who walked things off with a 420-foot three-run home run for the run rule win in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 2.
Relievers Tate McGuire and Will McEntire pitched a combined three scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no walks after starter Ben Bybee allowed three earned runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts in the game.
Arkansas loaded the bases twice in the bottom of the first inning, but the Hogs' only run scored in the frame was courtesy of a wild pitch to make it a 1-0 lead. The Warhawks quickly took the lead, though, with a two-out, two-run homer from designated hitter Jacob Billings off Ben Bybee in the top of the second inning.
The Razorbacks regained the lead in the bottom half of the second with pair of two-out RBI knocks from brothers Wehiwa Aloy and Kuhio Aloy to make it a 3-2 advantage. Louisiana-Monroe knotted it make up at 3-3 with a two-out RBI single from centerfielder Isaiah Walker.
With the bases once again loaded in the bottom of the third inning, the Razorbacks capitalized the best they could in the form of a 417-foot grand slam from Davalan to make it a four-run lead with one swing.
After Bybee worked his first scoreless frame of the game in the top of the fourth inning, Diggs drove a one-out solo home run to right field — his first of the season — in the bottom half to extend the Hogs' lead to 8-3.
Razorbacks' sophomore right-hander Tate McGuire relieved Bybee with the team's first 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom half, Wehiwa Aloy drove in a run with a double and Kuhio Aloy scored three with his second homer of the day — the first was a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 — to make it a 12-3 lead.
Both teams went scoreless in the sixth inning before the Razorbacks turned to veteran right-hander Will McEntire to pitch the top of the seventh inning, which was a perfect frame with two strikeouts for the Bryant (Ark.) native.
Louisiana-Monroe reliever Hollis Huff issues back-to-back two-out walks in the bottom half of the seventh before he was chased for right-hander Jace Duhon. Souza then drove his first homer of the year off Duhon to score three and walk things off for the 15-3 win.
Up next, the Razorbacks will host the Portland out of the West Coast Conference for a three-game series starting Friday at 3 p.m. CT at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. All three games of the series will be streamed on SEC Network+.
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