Arkansas rolls past Ole Miss, secures series win
The No. 1 Razorbacks extended their home winning streak to 20 games with an 8-3 series-clinching win over Ole Miss.
FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks (26-3, 10-1 SEC) won their 20th straight game at home with a 8-3 series-clinching victory over the Ole Miss Rebels (18-14, 3-8 SEC) in front of a a season-high 11,234 fans at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Arkansas scored four runs on the two hits right away in the bottom of the first inning and it then sprinkled four more runs throughout the game, including two from a 398-foot homer to center from shortstop Wehiwa Aloy — his second in as many games and team-best eighth of the year.
"That game was all about a great job by our bullpen and some timely hitting," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn play. "A couple of two-out rallies, some two-out hits, just kind of added to a lead there. Just a super good job by the bullpen. What else can I say? Our starter gave us 4 1/3 and the bullpen did the rest. So, proud of them."
Arkansas starting pitcher Mason Molina gave the Hogs 4.1 innings of work and he allowed three earned runs on three hits with three walks and five strikeouts on 83 total pitches. The duo of Koty Frank and Christian Foutch held the Rebels scoreless in middle relief, while sophomore right-hander Gage Wood closed things down with five strikeouts across two scoreless innings.
"It was really good to see Gage Wood come in and throw the ball like we know he can," Van Horn said. "That’s as good as he’s been this year. When you look at his numbers, he’s struck out maybe 21 or 22 and only walked a couple. But I like the way he kept the ball down, kept it around the knees. He mixed it up and pitched with a little attitude and I really liked that."
The Razorbacks left nine runners on base, compared to eight by the Rebels. Arkansas did have three two-out RBIs in the game, and it was 4-15 at the plate overall with runners on base.
Ole Miss slugger Andrew Fischer took Molina deep to left-center with one out in the top of the first to allow the Rebels to strike first. Arkansas' lefty issued a two-out walk later in the frame, but stranded it with his second strikeout.
The top-ranked Razorbacks responded right away by putting their first three runners on with no outs. Four runs crossed in the form of an RBI walk for Kendall Diggs, a two-run single from Jared Sprague-Lott and an RBI groundout from Ryder Helfrick to make it a 4-1 lead after one inning. Ole Miss starter Liam Doyle threw 37 pitches in the first inning.
"(Doyle) made a couple of borderline pitches and our guys laid off of them," Van Horn said. "We drew some walks and got his pitch count up, then we got the big hit from Jared Sprague-Lott that drove in a couple. Because it looked like he had a chance to get out of that."
Molina pitched the game's first 1-2-3 frame in the top of the second, and Doyle looked much improved by following suit in the bottom half.
Ole Miss cut the deficit to one run in the top of the third via Fischer's second homer of the game — this time a two-run shot to right that made it a 4-3 game. Arkansas threatened with a runner on second in the bottom of the third, but the Hogs couldn't capitalize.
Molina had a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth erased after centerfielder Ty Wilmsmeyer caught a fly out and then gunned the runner down for a double play. Molina retired the next batter to get out of the frame facing just the minimum.
Arkansas put three runners on with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and Ole Miss turned to reliever Mitch Murrell, who gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to Wehiwa Aloy that made it a 5-3 lead for the Hogs. The Rebels' righty allowed just the one run, though, to keep the deficit at two runs after four innings.
Molina issued a leadoff walk and then picked up his fifth strikeout of the game before he was relieved with one on and one out in the top of the fifth by Frank, a sixth-year right-hander.
"Just got a little wild there," Van Horn said. "That was kind of the kicker. The issue was the off-speed. The issue was that he was having trouble throwing the secondary pitch for a strike in the fourth and maybe most of the game, honestly. They were just sitting on his fastball. So… Yeah. He didn’t have a great outing, but he gave us a chance. So we appreciate that and we turned it over to the bullpen."
After loading the bases right away with a hit by pitch and walk, Frank benefitted from an inning-ending 5-4 double play that was the product of a runners interference on an illegal slide by Fischer.
The Razorbacks put the leadoff man — Kendall Diggs — aboard in the bottom of the fifth, but Murrell retired the other two batters he faced and Diggs was thrown out trying to steal third to make it the Hogs' third scoreless inning of the night to that point.
Frank allowed back-to-back one out singles and then picked up a strikeout to end his night with two outs and two runners on in the top of the sixth. Sophomore right-hander Christian Foutch came on in relief and induced a groundout to strand the runners.
Murrell retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom half of the sixth, and the Rebels then turned to left-hander Wes Mendes in relief with two outs and nobody on. Mendes issued a four-pitch walk to Peyton Stovall and then Aloy hit a ball 398 feet to center to give Arkansas a 7-3 lead.
Foutch worked around a pair of two-out baserunners in the top of the seventh inning, and the Hogs then put two of their own on with two outs in the bottom half to chase Mendes and bring in right-hander Mason Morris. The Rebels' reliever immediately gave up an RBI single to left field from Will Edmunson that extended Arkansas' lead to 8-3.
Wood pitched a 1-2-3 frame and picked up two impressive strikeouts for the Razorbacks in the top of the eighth inning, and the Hogs couldn't get more insurance after stranding two more two-out baserunners in the bottom of the eighth.
Arkansas trotted Wood back out in the top of the ninth and he worked around a two-out walk by striking out the three other batters he faced to end the game.
Up next, the Razorbacks and Rebels will meet for Game 3 of the series at 2:00 p.m. CT Saturday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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