No. 3 Arkansas (12-1) made quick work of the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-7) on Wednesday in Baum-Walker Stadium after Tuesday’s game was suspended. The Razorbacks swept the doubleheader on Wednesday to remain undefeated at home.
The first game was suspended in the bottom of the seventh inning with Arkansas leading 10-1, runners on second and third, and nobody out. The game resumed at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, with the second game starting at 2:30 p.m. right after the first game’s completion.
Arkansas - 14 ULM - 1 F/7: Game 1
The Hogs immediately loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning, with CF Charles Davalan getting hit by a pitch and SS Wehiwa Aloy and LF Logan Maxwell getting on with back-to-back singles. After DH Kuhio Aloy struck out swinging, 3B Brent Iredale drove in Davalan with a sacrifice fly to left field to put Arkansas on the board early, 1-0.
1B Camden Kozeal led off the bottom of the second with a solo shot to left center for his first home run as a Razorback to extend the lead to two. Wehiwa Aloy started the bottom of the third by ripping a double to right center and moved up to third base on a ground out. Kuhio Aloy drove in his older brother with an RBI single to right field to extend Arkansas’s lead to 3-0.
LHP Colin Fisher tossed three scoreless innings in his first start of the season (fourth appearance) while allowing a hit and a walk with six strikeouts on 41 pitches (26 strikes).
The Hogs erupted in the bottom of the fourth with a six-run rally. C Ryder Helfrick opened up the inning by hitting a solo shot off of RHP Zach Shaw, who had just been put into the game in relief of LHP Brennan Eager. 2B Nolan Souza roped a double to center field, Davalan drew a walk and Wehiwa Aloy singled up the middle to load the bases.
Shaw committed a balk that moved up each runner a base, with Souza scoring to make it a 5-0 game. After Maxwell struck out swinging, Kuhio Aloy legged out an infield single to third base to cash in Davalan and advanced to second on a throwing error by 3B Jake Haggard that allowed Wehiwa Aloy to scamper home. Iredale followed up by muscling a two-run home run to left center for his third dinger of the season to hand Arkansas a commanding 9-0 lead.
The Hogs strung together some two-out hitting in the bottom half of the sixth to lengthen their lead to 10. After Kuhio Aloy grounded into a double play for the first two outs of the inning, Iredale singled up the middle, and RF Kendall Diggs was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Kozeal plated Iredale with an RBI single to left field while Diggs moved to second.
ULM would not go away easily in the top of the seventh with a runner on first and two outs. C Marcus Aranda scored Michelle Artzberger with a double to center field off of LHP Cole Gibler to score the Warhawks’ first run of the game. Gibler struck out the next batter he faced to end the inning.
Arkansas started the bottom of the seventh with Souza picking up a single and Davalan reaching on a throwing error at second to place runners in scoring position. The game was put in a weather delay and suspended to Wednesday for a 2 p.m. resume time.
The Hogs loaded the bases with one out after Maxwell was intentionally walked. Kuhio Aloy hit a grand slam to left field to officially end the game in run-rule fashion, 14-1.
Arkansas 15, ULM 3 F/7: Game 2:
Arkansas kept its foot on the gas in the second game by scoring a run in the bottom of the first. Davalan led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by RHP Holden Hess. He moved over to third after Wehiwa Aloy lined out to left and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Razorbacks an early 1-0 lead.
ULM responded quickly in the top of the second on a two-run home run by DH Jacob Billings to give the Warhawks the lead, 2-1, with two outs off of RHP Ben Bybee.
Arkansas took the lead back in the bottom half of the second. Davalan worked a two-out walk and scored all the way from first on an RBI double by Wehiwa Aloy. He was plated by his younger brother Kuhio Aloy later in the frame on an RBI single to put the Hogs back up, 3-2.
ULM tied the game in the top of the third thanks to some two-out hitting and base stealing. SS Colby Lunsford singled to left center field and put himself in scoring position by stealing second base. CF Isaiah Walker drove him in with an RBI single and later stole second as well. Bybee forced Artzberger to ground out to hold off the Warhawks.
The Razorbacks were finally able to pull away in the bottom of the third on a grand slam by Davalan with one out to put the Hogs in front, 7-3. Arkansas extended its lead to five with a solo shot by Kendall Diggs with one out in the bottom of the fourth.
The Hogs put up another four-spot in the bottom of the fifth that started out with back-to-back walks by Thomas and Davalan. Wehiwa Aloy doubled to right field to punch in Thomas, and Kuhio Aloy blew it wide open with a three-run shot to left center with one out to lengthen the lead to nine, 12-3. He is now swinging for .556 (20-for-36) with six home runs, five doubles and 26 RBIs.
Arkansas ended it in the bottom of the seventh after pinch hitter Carson Boles and 1B Rocco Peppi reached on back-to-back two-out walks. Souza smacked a three-run homer for his first dinger of the season to end the day early.
The Razorbacks will remain at home and welcome the Portland Pilots for a three-game series starting on Friday in Baum Walker Stadium. The first pitch is slated for 3 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.