From @masonchoate
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Saturday night featured yet another Big 12 team sporting purple jerseys teeing off on Arkansas left-handed star pitcher Hagen Smith in an NCAA Tournament regional game.
One year removed from giving up eight earned runs on six hits in just one inning of a start in a 20-5 Fayetteville Regional loss to TCU in 2023, Smith was tagged for six earned runs — all in one inning — on four hits across five total innings Saturday in a 7-6 loss to 3-seed Kansas State at Baum-Walker Stadium in a winner's bracket matchup of the Fayetteville Regional.
ALSO READ: Kansas State outlasts Arkansas 7-6, sends Hogs to elimination game
The Arkansas battled with six runs scored on 13 hits, although the Hogs did leave 12 men on base, and the effort proved to not be enough to overcome the Wildcats' six-run bottom of the sixth.
"Thirteen hits, six runs, no errors is usually going to be enough to get you a W, especially when Hagen is on the mound," head coach Dave Van Horn said postgame. "Hats off to K-State for putting together a really good inning against him."
WATCH: Dave Van Horn, players postgame - Kansas State 7, Arkansas 6
A First Team All-SEC selection, Smith threw 92 pitches, walked four and struck out seven in what was his 16th start of the year. His season earned run average (ERA) now sits at 2.04 after Saturday after it dropped to 1.41 after Smith's first four innings of work.
"They had a really good approach against him," Arkansas catcher Hudson White said. "Hats off to them. They competed well at the plate. They got a few infield hits. But they did an awesome job."
Saturday was the first time all season that Smith allowed more than three earned runs in an outing, and it was just his fourth time to have at least four walks.
Smith tied the single season strikeout record at Arkansas with a punchout against the first batter he faced Saturday. A native of Bullard, Texas, Smith added his name to the top of another list with strikeout No. 156 on the year — the new single season program record — to leadoff the bottom of the second inning.
The 2024 SEC Pitcher of the Year, Smith began the bottom of the fourth with two quick strikeouts before he gave up his first hit of the game — a two-out single to center. Arkansas' ace left-hander responded with his sixth strikeout of the game to strand the runner.
Things got rocky for Smith when he walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom half of the fourth inning. After a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, the Wildcats put together back-to-back RBI knocks to tie the game at 2-2.
Kansas State took a one-run lead via an RBI sacrifice bunt and shortstop Kaelen Culpepper then crushed a three-run homer to right-center to give the Wildcats a 6-2 advantage. Culpepper also hit for the cycle in Kansas State's first game of the regional against Louisiana Tech.
Senior outfielder Peyton Holt said postgame that the Hogs had no reaction when returning to the dugout after that six-run frame from K-State.
"It's baseball," Holt said. "You can't throw a shutout every time you go out. You see it in the Big Leagues. You've got all those good arms and they can't have a good outing every time. It's part of it."
While Arkansas managed to string together some hits and make it interesting with a two-run ninth inning homer from Holt to make it a one-run game, a solo homer from K-State outfielder Nick English in the bottom of the eighth off Hogs' reliever Ben Bybee proved to be a critical swing.
Up next, the Razorbacks will play 4-seed Southeast Missouri State in an elimination game Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The Razorbacks beat the Redhawks, 17-9, to open regional play Friday afternoon.
Kansas State will play the winner of Arkansas and SEMO at 6 p.m. CT, and if necessary, a fifth game of the regional will be played Monday at a time to be determined later.
HawgBeat - Hagen Smith's bad inning helps lift K-State over Arkansas
Hagen Smith's regional woes against Big 12 teams in purple jerseys continued Saturday night in Fayetteville.
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Saturday night featured yet another Big 12 team sporting purple jerseys teeing off on Arkansas left-handed star pitcher Hagen Smith in an NCAA Tournament regional game.
One year removed from giving up eight earned runs on six hits in just one inning of a start in a 20-5 Fayetteville Regional loss to TCU in 2023, Smith was tagged for six earned runs — all in one inning — on four hits across five total innings Saturday in a 7-6 loss to 3-seed Kansas State at Baum-Walker Stadium in a winner's bracket matchup of the Fayetteville Regional.
ALSO READ: Kansas State outlasts Arkansas 7-6, sends Hogs to elimination game
The Arkansas battled with six runs scored on 13 hits, although the Hogs did leave 12 men on base, and the effort proved to not be enough to overcome the Wildcats' six-run bottom of the sixth.
"Thirteen hits, six runs, no errors is usually going to be enough to get you a W, especially when Hagen is on the mound," head coach Dave Van Horn said postgame. "Hats off to K-State for putting together a really good inning against him."
WATCH: Dave Van Horn, players postgame - Kansas State 7, Arkansas 6
A First Team All-SEC selection, Smith threw 92 pitches, walked four and struck out seven in what was his 16th start of the year. His season earned run average (ERA) now sits at 2.04 after Saturday after it dropped to 1.41 after Smith's first four innings of work.
"They had a really good approach against him," Arkansas catcher Hudson White said. "Hats off to them. They competed well at the plate. They got a few infield hits. But they did an awesome job."
Saturday was the first time all season that Smith allowed more than three earned runs in an outing, and it was just his fourth time to have at least four walks.
Smith tied the single season strikeout record at Arkansas with a punchout against the first batter he faced Saturday. A native of Bullard, Texas, Smith added his name to the top of another list with strikeout No. 156 on the year — the new single season program record — to leadoff the bottom of the second inning.
The 2024 SEC Pitcher of the Year, Smith began the bottom of the fourth with two quick strikeouts before he gave up his first hit of the game — a two-out single to center. Arkansas' ace left-hander responded with his sixth strikeout of the game to strand the runner.
Things got rocky for Smith when he walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom half of the fourth inning. After a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, the Wildcats put together back-to-back RBI knocks to tie the game at 2-2.
Kansas State took a one-run lead via an RBI sacrifice bunt and shortstop Kaelen Culpepper then crushed a three-run homer to right-center to give the Wildcats a 6-2 advantage. Culpepper also hit for the cycle in Kansas State's first game of the regional against Louisiana Tech.
Senior outfielder Peyton Holt said postgame that the Hogs had no reaction when returning to the dugout after that six-run frame from K-State.
"It's baseball," Holt said. "You can't throw a shutout every time you go out. You see it in the Big Leagues. You've got all those good arms and they can't have a good outing every time. It's part of it."
While Arkansas managed to string together some hits and make it interesting with a two-run ninth inning homer from Holt to make it a one-run game, a solo homer from K-State outfielder Nick English in the bottom of the eighth off Hogs' reliever Ben Bybee proved to be a critical swing.
Up next, the Razorbacks will play 4-seed Southeast Missouri State in an elimination game Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The Razorbacks beat the Redhawks, 17-9, to open regional play Friday afternoon.
Kansas State will play the winner of Arkansas and SEMO at 6 p.m. CT, and if necessary, a fifth game of the regional will be played Monday at a time to be determined later.
